Everyplace we visited I was amazed by the greenery hills that surrounded us as we drove through the countryside. I thought to myself, those that live here and come to Boise to visit the USA would be disappointed. It is very brown here and not many trees. I came home from the trip and said, " Eww, I live here." I thought how lucky I was to grow up in Port Angeles where it was green, rain forest, ocean and mountains all in one area.
Anyways, moving on...the drive through Cork was neat. It had its own characteristics from the canal running through the middle dividing the town in half and using bridges to travel from each side. No one place is the same to me. There is always something there to make it different from one another. We also stopped to look at the outside of the Cathedral before heading to our main attraction.
We made our way to Blarney Castle, which is known for the Blarney Stone. The stone is at the top of the tower and it is said that if you kiss the stone you get the "gift of gab". Again, being in a tour group you are on a time schedule or your get left behind. Okay, maybe not left but you put the whole group behind and might miss an opportunity to see something else or late getting to the ship before it departs. With that being said we were given about 2 hours to see the castle, gardens and gift shop. You always have to have time to shop! The walk to the castle was on a path that went along side a creek and flowers. The path lead to an open area of grass that showed the view of the castle on the hill. The weather was perfect with the clear skies and sun shining.
The one thing I am not a fan of is battling for a spot to take a picture with other tourist. I rather not try and just look around. But, when you are traveling with grandma you have got to do it. Not just take a photo of the castle itself, but me posing in front. There was one man in our group that had a big fancy camera and he would literally step in front of me, well-knowing that I was in the middle of trying to get a photo. He didn't care and he would make his way, do what he wanted just to get his picture. By the end of the trip I wanted to say something, especially when we are walking along a path with him leading in front of me (yes, I was using my cane so he knew) and he would stop dead in front of me! Of course I walked right into him! He wouldn't step out of the way to let us by or nothing. Some people are oblivious. Here I go off topic again....whoops!
Once we got our photo of us in front of the castle we continued down the path, across a foot bridge and up the hill to the castle. There was a super long line coming from the castle, down a path and some stairs. We got in the line thinking it would go quickly since we wanted to see inside the castle and see what all the hype about the Blarney Stone was about. The line didn't move quickly and the sun was beating down on us. We decided to ask someone that was coming down from the castle how long it took them....drum roll please.....1 1/2 hours! That was going up the many, many steps in the castle to the top of tower, see the stone and back down another set of stairs. Oh, it was 127 steps to the top of the castle by the way and it was not easy! You think of stairs now, you think wide normal steps...not in this castle. You had to climb in some areas because the castle is not only tall but narrow. The stairway is just wide enough for one person to go through like a tunnel. The steps were tall and steep and if there was no rope in some areas it would have been tough getting up. So, it kind of reminded me of a hike that my dad took me on where we have been walking for most of the day, I'm dead tired, out of gas and I look up ahead. I see uphill only! In one area I had to climb with my hands because of a flat rock. Okay, okay it wasn't that torturous, but you get the idea. :) Once we got in the middle of the castle you were able to look up and see the sky. There was no roof and no levels blocking your view. If you looked up and to the left you could see the remains of a fireplace in the wall. They had build a normal set of stairs to go from the middle of the castle to where the original stairs started again. I think what saved us from injury or breathing hard from being out of shape, was having to move with the flow of the line.
As we climbed the steps there would be areas to the left or right that was like a hole you climb through. Each of these holes led you to a room, more like hole in the wall, that represented either a bedroom, kitchen or dinning area. None of the room were big, some might have been less than 10 by 10 room of dirt. The people back then lived in small and very narrow living environments.
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| Inside a Stairwell |
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| Made it to the Top Pose |
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| Poison Garden from Tower |
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| Bell and Walking Path |
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| Fireplace |
It is my turn and I step up to an area where there is a hole, which you look down and you see the ground. Don't worry there are iron bars across the hole, so you can fall through. Comforting thought huh? Now, laying on the ground before the hole is a rubber mat. You have to take off your hat, glasses or anything that can fall off your face easily. You lay on your back on the mat and the man helps your scoot your body back towards the wall over the hole. Then, you have to hold onto the metal pipes on the wall and arch your back down into the hole while he holds onto your hips. While you are arched back, far into the hole you kiss the stone. They would tell you if you needed to go further to reach the stone or not. Talk about blood rushing to the head! I got slightly dizzy trying to come back up. I'm thinking the stone is a hoax or I didn't kiss the right one because I was not blessed with the "gift of gab". I still struggle to find my words.
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| Kissing the Stone |
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