Ireland Travel Log Day 3

Today was the day to visit Blarney Castle and kiss the stone to gain the gift of gab. I wasn't expecting us to spend more than an hour or so there, anticipating a quick visit. I was mistaken. The castle is situated on a huge estate that houses the castle, the Blarney House, caves, a lake, gardens, and several Druid artifacts.

We started by walking the grounds and visiting Rock Close. In Rock Close, you could see the Druid's Cave, a sacrificial altar, the Witche's Stone, a waterfall, the fairy glade, and more. It was a nice leisurely walk around the grounds. We then stopped at the stables for a bite to eat. That's right, the stables had a small cafe in it. After that, I got to use the restroom in the stables. That's right, I peed in the stables and proud of it.

After that, it was the castle proper. By this time a line had formed, and we took a while navigating thorugh the narrow corridors to the top of the castle to kiss the fabled stone itself. A word of advice; if you don't like enclosed places or steep steps, this is not the place for you. After reaching the top, we kissed the stone, got our pictures taken, and made our way back down.

We then walked the poison garden. Here, they had all sorts of dangerous plants growing. There was wolfsbane, mandrake, and even a marijuana plant. Sorry, but it was caged so no smuggling in grass for my stoner friends. Maybe next time. We did some more walking around the estate, seeing the Blarney House and walking to the lake at the far end of the estate. All in all, we spent most of the day just at Blarney itself. We then made our way back to the hotel and made dinner reservations for the formal dining room.

OK, now this is how you eat dinner. We got a six course meal and we spent two and a half hours making our way through it. I can honestly say it was the best meal I have ever had at a dining establishment. I couldn't even tell you what half of what I ate since I had no idea what it was, but it was freakin' delicious. After dinner, crawled back to the room to pass out.