What a Load of Blarney..

Today was Cork Day 1 (or 2, depending on how you look at it) and we had decided to go to the Blarney Castle. So we hopped on a bus, for the half hour or so trip from Cork, and headed on our merry way.

The castle itself is located a 2 or 3 minute walk from where Bus Eireann drops you off, in the main street of the village of Blarney. Entrance is €10 per person and for that you get access to the whole of the grounds, the castle, and the opportunity to kiss the stone.

So we did that, and overall, found the castle massively interesting, as it's kind of turning out we do. Kissing the stone was.. well, kind of dizzying.. looking down, seeing green grass and going "That image just isn't right." We also loved the grounds though. For those who haven't been, Blarney has miles and miles of grounds to walk around through - we must have used close to 2 hours, walkin around the lake, through the woodlands, and stuff.

After that, as we wandered back into the town, we stumbled across Blarney's 'inaugural music festival' - this was about 1:30, and so we spent the next 4 hours, just lazing around in the Blarney square, listening to local music, under the most gorgeous blue sky, warm sun kicking down on us, and nice soft green grass. It was a most unexpected, but gorgeously relaxing afternoon. I had to more or less drag Rhiannon away to catch our bus back to Cork.

Overall, we loved the day - not so much for kissing the blarney stone, but for the castle itself, and the grounds, and then the music in the square. It would have been nice to have just stayed at Blarney, drinking in the pub, listening to the music, and staying locally.. instead, we came back to Cork...

So photos soon, hopefully.