Alright, I thought I was impressed with the Cahir Castle.
I was... BUT that was only because I hadn't seen the Blarney Castle yet.
Here is the view down from the top:
Oh and here I am posing in the WAY steep spiral staircase:
And a picture with all my friends and me in front of the castle.
Unfortunately that tree blockaded most of the view.
Now the best part about the Blarney Castle, besides all of the beautiful land it is on is the tradition of kissing the Blarney Stone.
At the very top of the castle you lay on your back, dangle your head upside down and smooch a the rock wall.
Someone took a real nice picture of me doing it, but I don't have that picture right now so here is a picture of my friend Michael doing it.
I looked the same, but probably better.
The whole tradition comes from back in the day some man was going to court and he kissed the stone so that he could speak eloquently and be let free.
It worked. So now people like me come from miles around to have the same experience.
Here were some plaques they put up to enhance the tourist experience.
While in the castle I took the opportunity to leave my mark.
All I had was a pink highlighter so that had to do.
And before you go thinking I'm a terrible person for doing graffiti you should know that this was a room dedicated to people's signatures. I was one of many.
The Blarney Castle was seriously LOADED with sweet stuff.
So many secret rooms and passages to crawl into.
And once again there was no supervision.
It was like a playground for adults.
If you can climb somewhere, then you're allowed to be there.
Now let's take a minute to talk about the castle grounds.
BREATHTAKING!
There is a fern garden that is so magical.
I'm pretty sure fairytale creatures live in it.
This isn't the best picture, but very characteristic of our garden adventure.
Hilary found a fern and gave Michael a neck tickle.
That's the kind of thing you do when you're in this place.
Months ago when we were first talking about going to Ireland our teacher, Dr. Corser, made Hilary and I promise that we would take a photo with him in the fern garden because it is his favorite place in Ireland and ferns are his favorite plant and we are his favorite students so of course we made it happen.
He was so much fun on this trip. I spent a lot of time riding in and/or following his car and I decided that he really just knows how to travel right.
Super relaxed.
Never goes hungry.
Takes detours.
Makes good jokes.
Listens to good music.
Stops for ice cream.
Everything good you could imagine on a road trip he was down for.
Back to the Blarney experience though.
What building is that, you ask?
It's Blarney Manor, of course.
The home in which descendants of the Blarney name still live as full residents today.
The home is open for tours some days though and lucky for us we got one!
It was a beautiful home.
No photographs were allowed so you'll have to visit yourself if you want to know.
They had a beautiful view out the parlor window of the lake.
And a trail nearby to walk to the lake.
Along the lake walk there was a cattle field.
I got real friendly with some of the cows and they wanted to take a picture with me.
So there you have it. My Blarney Castle experience.
One of the best in Ireland so far.
I was... BUT that was only because I hadn't seen the Blarney Castle yet.
Here is the view down from the top:
Unfortunately that tree blockaded most of the view.
At the very top of the castle you lay on your back, dangle your head upside down and smooch a the rock wall.
Someone took a real nice picture of me doing it, but I don't have that picture right now so here is a picture of my friend Michael doing it.
The whole tradition comes from back in the day some man was going to court and he kissed the stone so that he could speak eloquently and be let free.
It worked. So now people like me come from miles around to have the same experience.
Here were some plaques they put up to enhance the tourist experience.
All I had was a pink highlighter so that had to do.
And before you go thinking I'm a terrible person for doing graffiti you should know that this was a room dedicated to people's signatures. I was one of many.
So many secret rooms and passages to crawl into.
And once again there was no supervision.
It was like a playground for adults.
If you can climb somewhere, then you're allowed to be there.
BREATHTAKING!
There is a fern garden that is so magical.
I'm pretty sure fairytale creatures live in it.
Hilary found a fern and gave Michael a neck tickle.
That's the kind of thing you do when you're in this place.
Super relaxed.
Never goes hungry.
Takes detours.
Makes good jokes.
Listens to good music.
Stops for ice cream.
Everything good you could imagine on a road trip he was down for.
Back to the Blarney experience though.
It's Blarney Manor, of course.
The home in which descendants of the Blarney name still live as full residents today.
The home is open for tours some days though and lucky for us we got one!
It was a beautiful home.
No photographs were allowed so you'll have to visit yourself if you want to know.
They had a beautiful view out the parlor window of the lake.
And a trail nearby to walk to the lake.
I got real friendly with some of the cows and they wanted to take a picture with me.
One of the best in Ireland so far.
dude. i have made it on your blog like 4 times. i feel so lucky!!
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