Ireland
Hey all! Thanks for following. This post depicts our travels in Ireland. Hope you enjoy the video at the end :).
The next portion of our journey brought us to Ireland for one week. We spent a night in Rosslare before making our 7 hour journey to the small fishing village of Cobh (pronounced cove), just outside of Cork.
Pictured here is the B&B we stayed in. Oh my goodness it was so nice, and the homemade full Irish breakfast was the best way to begin our time here. So we checked out and off we went to the train station arriving about 10 mins before our scheduled departure (plenty of time after our months of train travel). So we wait for 5, 10, 15 then 20 minutes and still no train. It was at this time that some train attendants came over to us (a small group of people had accumulated now), and informed us that the train was not coming because it had issues with its brakes. So, ok, off on a random bus we went to the next city. By this time I was trying not to worry about our next three connections that we had to make in order to arrive on time in Cobh where our ride would be waiting to pick us up, and I had no way of informing her otherwise. Gotta love it! These experiences are all a part of traveling. It was just hilarious that this was our very first train travel experience in Ireland. 
So all went well, we somehow by the grace of God made it on time into Cobh and easily made ourselves at home. Our first full day in Ireland we made the trek to the Blarney Castle. Pictured above and below is the view from the top of the castle.
Here is a bit of info about the castle as found on wiki: "The castle is now a partial ruin with some accessible rooms and battlements. At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting Blarney Castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence. There are many legends as to the origin of the stone, but some say that it was the Lia Fáil—a magical stone upon which Irish kings were crowned.
Surrounding the castle are extensive gardens. There are paths touring the grounds with signs pointing out the various attractions such as several natural rock formations which have been given fanciful names, such as Druid's Circle, Witch's Cave and the Wishing Steps. Blarney House, also open to the public, is a Scottish baronial-style mansion that was built on the grounds in 1874."
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| So yes for our BF picture is there any better way to represent Ireland than slapping a big old smooch on the world famous Blarney Stone? Well yes, of course there is...but this was the best we could do :). I was a bit surprised how far you actually have to stretch out to actually reach the stone, all the while trying not to think about how many thousands of pairs of lips have smacked the same spot that I am about to kiss. But hey? Acquire the gift of eloquence... why not give it a try? |
The ritual of kissing the stone is an interesting tale. Let's direct our attention back to the super reputable Wiki. "The kiss is not casually achieved. To touch the
stone with one's lips, the participant must ascend to the castle's peak, then
lean over backwards on the parapet's edge. This is traditionally achieved with
the help of an assistant. Although the parapet is now fitted with wrought-iron
guide rails and protective crossbars, the ritual can still trigger attacks of
acrophobia, an extreme or irrational fear of heights.Before
the safeguards were installed, the kiss was performed with real risk to life
and limb, as participants were grasped by the ankles and dangled bodily from
the height."
So yes we kissed the stone, enjoyed the views then made our decent in order to explore the remainder of the property grounds. However, on the way down I couldn't help but cease to opportunity to scare some poor foreigners making their own ascent up the steep castle stairs. This small opening was just so perfectly placed. I lied and waited there on the floor for someone to come up the stairs, I really had no idea what I was going to do when someone did actually walk by. However, it turned out I didn't have to do anything but lie there...well and of course stare. I think it was one of those moments when you can actually feel someone watching you before you see them with your own eyes, but this woman did let out quite a noticeable shriek once she met my eyes. Muah ha ha! But she was a good sport about it and laughed as she continued up to the Blarney Stone.
Lexi holding up a boulder in the Stone garden.
Our next outing took us to the fishing village of Kinsale in West Cork on an absolutely gorgeous sunny day!
The view from inside St. Colemans Cathedral in Cobh. Below is the view from the worlds oldest Yacht Club which is also located in Cobh. However, is was not the Cathedral nor the Yacht Club that really got Cobh on the map (in recent decades). It was the fact that Cobh was the last port of call for the Titanic before she headed on her first and last voyage, which surprisingly happened 100 years ago on April 14, 1912.
On our last full day in Cobh we were able to hitch a ride with some locals on a boat to Spike Island. It was an awesome experience with amazing views of Cobh from the water, as you can see in the photos.
Pictured above is our first airbnb(.com) host, Helen. She made us feel right at home for the week we stayed with her. We even enjoyed some high quality movie nights which included Twilight and New Moon. There were some great times of laughing and making fun of these incredibly well made movies (intense sarcasm).
Hope you enjoy the video, we were in quite a giggly and immature mood for pretty much the entire duration of our trip in Ireland...as you will soon see :).
Also I included a song that I feel goes along with our journey here, or just a song that I loved at the time of writing this.
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