V5 travels: All the bla bla about Blarney!

We had read that we needed to get to Blarney Castle early in the morning before the bus tours arrived. So we enjoyed an early full breakfast at our Guesthouse in Cork before hitting the road. It was an overcast day and damp, so we rugged up.

We picked our timing just right, being amongst the first dozen or so people to arrive for tickets, we walked quickly from the gateway to the tower and climbed the tower stairs….we had both forgotten how treacherous and narrow they were. The lady in front of us barely made it to the top, and had she fallen, she would have crushed us both!.

As we were watching and waiting our turn, we calculated that it had been 48 years since we had last kissed the stone….a trip with our parents and Nanna. We have both been blessed with eloquence, so we double dipped and kissed the stone again.

After the kissing, we then took our time and toured the gardens….far more spectacular that we have any memory of. We walked the paths through Forrests, around lakes, through fern glens, around walled kitchen gardens, sat in a bird/wildlife hide. There were oaks, yews, elms that must have been hundreds of years old. Bird life was abundant if the noise was anything to go by…twitters were all around us. At one point, I kept getting a whiff of an oniony smell….I kept thinking it was the people in front of us expelling wind and thought they must have had a rich dinner the night before…..a little later there was a sign that the ground covering was wild garlic all over the place…..that was the smell! I laughed so hard when I realised!

We had a quick lunch in the stables and then spent the next few hours in the Rock Close of the gardens which was full of faerie glens, stone circles, druid alters and rock rings and wishing steps - if you can walk down and back with your eyes closed, making a wish the whole way, then it will come true within the year. Both F and I did it!

There was also a witches rock, where an offering was left for good luck and a witches kitchen. We both channeled our late Irish Nanna, who entertained us as children with stories of fairies and leprechauns.

It was a beautiful time and we were both so pleased to have visited and made the time to enjoy it.

We then drove to Kinsale on the coast to find a lovely little seaside village with brightly coloured buildings that lift the spirit. Had they been painted in whites/browns or traditional colours it would have been dull and boring, but the colour just made it so special, although being a dull day it was hard to take a photo that did it justice.

We skirted the harbour and then visited an old fort, opting to walk around rather than enter another building in ruins.

After the drive back we enjoyed sundown drinks overlooking the port at our lodgings (Gabriel House Guesthouse) and then a light dinner in our room with watching a movie….The art of driving in the rain. Great little movie that had me in tears!

It was a day full of emotion!