Today Luana arranged a side trip to Blarney Castle, home of the blarney stone. Her son had told her that it was one of his favorite places from his trip to Ireland. It turned out to be a wonderful stop because the sun was shining and there was no rain - yet! We had time to walk around the grounds and take pictures, and I got a diet coke. Geez, they are in short supply here and if you do get one there is either no ice or you get two cubes and it's a 10oz bottle or a small glass of the stuff and the price is outrageous. But I digress....
Blarney castle grounds are just beautifully kept and it was a real pleasure to be able to be there. And no, I did not climb the 150 stairs up the tower to kiss the blarney stone!
From there we headed to Cobh, the last port of call for the titanic. We grabbed a quick lunch with hopes of a good long wander through the main road, however weather being as unpredictable as most anywhere, the heavens opened with a heavy downpour. There was an exhibit in the building we were in about the Irish immigrants so we looked briefly at that. Then as the rain had slowed a bit we decided to walk a ways down the street to get a few pictures. Very wet, but we still enjoyed the opportunity.
After Cobh it was on to the Rock of Cashel. I hadn't done a lot of research prior to the trip, and was thinking this would be ----a rock---- but what it is is a massive cathedral built high on top of a rocky hill. Again it was raining and the stop was shortened to allow us to make it to dinner and our hotel before too late.
We had dinner tonight in the town of Bray on the Irish sea at the Hibernian inn. Good food and views of the sea.
We are now at the Druids glen resort and it is a lovely place - very upscale. So it's off to bed for me. We don't need to be on the bus till 9:30 tomorrow which will mean a little extra time for sleep.
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| This is a statue of the first Irish immigrant who became a US citizen (I think) |
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| Cobh (pronounced Cove) - beautiful seaside town - and it's raining - again!! |
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| Blarney Castle??? |
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| Such vivid colors |
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| Cobh - we had a delicious lunch here |
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| Cobh - JFK Memorial Park |
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| Blarney Castle |
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| On the way to Blarney Castle |
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| Blarney Castle |
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| Round Tower in Blarney Castle |
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| Cobh |
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| Blarney Castle |
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| Blarney Castle |
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| Another favorite shot - through the arched doorway |
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| Janelle at Blarney Castle |
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| We took so many pictures |
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| Dinner spot - at Shay - a little seaside town - reminded me of being in HMB, CA |
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| Path at Blarney Castle |
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| Loved this bench |
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| Cobh |
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| bridge at Blarney Castle |
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| Blarney |
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| Another Zoom shot with the new camera - this is at Shay where we had dinner. In the distance Janelle noticed the cross on top of the hill at the far side of town. I had no idea there were people up there till I downloaded the photo later. This would not be a hike for the faint of heart. |
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| Cobh - Cathedral in the distance - rain on the camera lens |
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