The first stop was the Rock of Cashel, which was this castle, perched atop a hill. Way back in the day it was the seat to the Kings of Munster. The second picture is of another castle that was just behind the Rock of Cashel.
From there we traveled to the Blarney Castle in the Rebel County of Cork. From the pictures I had seen of the people kissing the Blarney Stone, I really was not prepared for the castle. The castle and surrounding landscape was gorgeous beyond anything I'd ever seen. But then you get in the castle. I expected that they had built modern day stairs to get up to the top so it would be easier for visitors, but that was so NOT the case. They had the original spiral stone staircase that you had to climb. It was barely wide enough for my fat booty to fit through and they just had a thick rope to hold onto for stability. The good thing is there were different rooms along the way up that you could step into and take a break from the heart-pounding stairs. So I got to see the kitchen and the girl's rooms on the way up just long enough to get my heart settled down and start again.
Eventually I did make it all the way to the top and here are the pictures that one of my tour mates took of me as I very nervously kissed the Blarney stone. Also, the most unflattering angle to ever be photographed at!!!After I kissed the stone I booked it back down to solid ground, the stairs were much more what I was used to and I was very glad that they weren’t like what they were going up. If they were I think I would have gone down on my butt hahaha. I hadn’t really had any Irish food since I arrived so I walked over to an Irish pub called Muskerry Arms and ordered Irish Beef Stew. OMFG that was the BEST beef stew I had in my entire life! I just wanted to keep eating it forever, but it was so filling. If you ever get to the Blarney Castle, for real stop at Muskerry Arms and have that stew!! You won’t be disappointed, well unless you’re vegetarian…
The next stop was Killarney and I laid down in the hostel for a bit to take a nap before going out for the night. So around 9p I made my way to O'Connor's pub around the corner to watch Pa perform. He's a very animated story teller that recites a story about a bartender that is closing his pub for the last time and is remembering all the characters that frequented the bar, while drinking Guinness and Bushmills Whiskey. All together we counted five Guinness he drank during the show, but there were quite a few cigarrette breaks so who knows if he had any more then, but it was still hilarious.
After the pub we headed over to the Grand Hotel which is like the local club for some drinks and dancing. Seán had "warned" the bus that the guys don't dance with you, but they dance "at" you, which was the funniest thing I ever heard lol. And the guys that the local girls packed a punch so be cautious when hitting on them hahah. A lot of the bus was married or engaged so it was pretty funny. But the people in our tour stuck together and danced in a circle so there was no weirdness. I didn't drink, but I did have a red lemonade which is the equivalent to carbonated lemonade with a bit of red coloring/flavoring. I tried to find some to bring back, but I could only find it in a 2L bottle and didn't have room for it :( Maybe when I go back I'll make sure I have room and get some then. It was about 2a when we decided to head back to the hostel. Right next door was the pretty much the equivalent of Denny's so everyone wanted to stop there and get some food. So we stopped for burgers and chips and laughed at all the really drunk locals as they stumbled in. Then off to bed as we had to be on the bus at 8:30a later that morning.
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