A Tour of Cork and a Whiskey Distillery

After being in Ireland for a week we had our first group trip!  The day started with a walking tour of Cork.  A man named Liam led our tour explaining the history of Cork City.  On this tour we learned that Cork had previously been one of the largest butter producers in Europe.  Farmers from all over Ireland would bring their milk to Cork City to be made into butter and sold.  After our informative tour of Cork City we took a bus and headed to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery.  Jameson Whiskey is one of the most well known Irish whiskeys and a big part of Irish culture.  We took a tour of the old distillery learning how whiskey is made and how much work is put into just one bottle.  We toured the old distillery; the new distillery is closed to the public, but the process has changed very little in order to keep the recipe as good as it was when John Jameson made it himself.  At the end of the tour we had a whiskey tasting, comparing Jameson to Johnny Walker (scotch) and Jack Daniels (Bourbon).  We all agreed that Jameson was our favorite!! 

Six Months, Two Suitcases and Procrastination

Bringing myself to start packing was one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do recently.  Wrapping my mind around the fact I would have to fit six months of clothes into two suitcases was the first task.  I thought the perfect time to start would be the day before leaving around 3 P.M. I figured the pressure from my procrastination would help get a semester worth of outfits into two enormous red suitcases.  Now that I’m finally packed I’ve realized it wasn’t that bad and if I forgot anything it gives me a great excuse to go shopping.  With Irelands economy on the rocks my last minute packing might be just the thing to help pick it back up.