I finally finished my Ireland checklist today! I kissed the
Blarney stone and made it to Cork!
I took a guided day trip to Blarney, Cork, and Cashel. With
Blarney being our first stop it made getting up early and sitting on a bus for
a couple hours well worth it. The castle grounds were full of cute little
gardens and blooming flowers all over the place. At the top of the castle, you were able to
see the whole grounds and of course where you kiss the stone. The best part of
kissing the stone though is that you have to lie on your back and lean down the
edge of the castle to kiss the underside of the stone.
me kissing the stone
one of the gardens
view of Blarney Castle
After kissing the stone, I went on a walk through the
gardens and found the wishing steps. This is a small stone staircase that if
you walked backwards up the stairs then down with your eyes closed then
whatever you wished for would come true. The catch though is that it can take
up to a year for that wish to come true. I did the steps the correct way, but
while doing it I couldn't think of anything but not tripping over the stairs or
hitting myself on the rock overhang.
walking up the stairs backwards
We then took the short drive down to Cork for lunch and a
little look around the city. The one main thing that I wanted to do was visit
the old market there. It was this old brick building hidden off a side road and
full of little shops selling fruits, vegetables, meat, chocolate, and bread. I
found this bakery stand and bought some amazing sourdough bread. For lunch, I
went to a local café and bought a sandwich and some local chips.
Our last stop of the day was Cashel to visit the Rock of
Cashel. Since I already went there with my family I spent that time just
walking around the town and window shopping in the local stores. It was a great
end of the day to just relax in a small town and go shopping.
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