BLARNEY!

Ah, I have kissed the Blarney stone, perhaps I shall gain from it the eloquence of speech granted to Walter Scott, or to Churchill? Or just the gift of gab? Whatever it is, it was so worth dangling upside down to kiss a random stone in a crumbling castle. C and I had a ball wandering the premises and crawling around smelly, dank corners of the castle Blarney. I've some breathtaking photos (to be posted later... I've got to get a flikr account set up!) of the scenery, and a few hilarious ones of C and I goofing off in tiny doorways and on outdoor installations. There was a tire swing at one point...

Blarney is about 20 minutes bus ride (6.20 euro for a student return journey, about 10 for an adult) from Cork, and not too shabby either. Fairly normal and industrial for a while, but there are some nice, picturesque Irish plots along the way. You get off the bus in a tiny little plot of a town with only a few shops and a pub or two. Follow the signs to the castle, and I recommend taking the long route-- the gardens are beautiful in the early summer.

The first thing you can see is green, just an explosion of greens. Kelly, Fern, Jungle, Forest, Pine, Hunter, Emerald, Teal, Moss... All the variegato Try here for ideas! It was a riot of green, and even the abundance of tourists couldn't ruin such splendor. If anything, they serve to point out how large and magnificent this estate really is. You'll walk around this huge, rather imposing castle, where the walls seem to grow out of the living rock, which they actually do because the architects used the large natural rock outcropping to their advantage.The castle itself is impressive, but yet more impressive is the view from the ramparts as you await your turn to dangle, the manicured gardens turn slowly into farmland and cultured forests. The town of Blarney is tiny and very tourism driven, but worth a bit of a walk through as you wait for the bus to pick you back up. C and I spent about three hours total there and back, so a nice quick jaunt.

Afterwards, we made burritos. Because I miss Mexican sooooo much. NACHOS. It must have been hilarious to see the three of us struggling in this industrial size kitchen to make half-hearted burritos. They were delicious nonetheless