Duck The Bus, Trains a Pain

I have always believed in the value of public transportation...until I actually had to rely on it. For the past three days I have been dinking around with buses and trains trying to find a way to get to Killarney. The entire country has shut down because of a few flakes of snow, laughable really to us Wisconsonites. I was badly wishing I had my own car so I could just go and drive there myself...a freedom I didn't appreciate when I was in the States.

Anyway after all that trouble I was finally able to get to Cork last night, and stayed in a little hostel that was actually cold enough in the hallway that I could see my breath. At least the bed was comfy. Today I caught a 10:30 train to Killarney and checked in at the Sugan Hostel..a real cool place built in the 1870s with exposed stone pillars and timbers, and a nice open fireplace in front of me. Pretty awesome.

Killarney is the place of my great great ancestors; Grandpa Michael O'Donoghue I, II, III all were born in Killarney and there was a family farm that was about 460 acres, a substantial piece. You could imagine how pumped I was when I saw this pub within 10 minutes of my arrival. Tomorrow I'll hit that national park and am looking forward to it!