Today we woke up and loaded the mini bus. We made plans to visit the Blarney Castle and the Woolen Mills. The Blarney Castle was the first (and only) castle we visited while on our trip. It was beautiful! To get to Blarney, we drove through a small town with tight roads and all of a sudden - bam! There's the castle. The walk up to Blarney reminded me of something right out of a movie. The gardens and lawn are well kept, there are large trees, and small brooks.
We thought this tree was so neat!
We felt like Forrest and Jenny in the tree
It was a lot of fun to imagine how the rooms might have been set up throughout the castle. The spiral staircase to the top of Blarney was tight, narrow and the stairs were short. At some points, I had to walk up on all fours. I don't know how they were able to walk up with armor or large dresses on! Once we arrived to the top, I had to catch my breath. Not because of the dizzy, claustrophobic walk but because of the height! I'm not usually afraid of heights but I was standing on the roof of an ancient castle with holes all around the perimeter. I got two stories of what these "holes" were for....my Uncle Vic told me he thought the holes were for pouring hot water or grease down onto intruders trying to scale the castle. My dad told me it was their gutter system..........I'm believing the hot grease story because it's more imaginative! We all took turns kissing the Blarney Stone!
Kurt kissing the Blarney Stone
Maxine's turn!
**Everyone else is on our other camera
After the castle, we took a tour of the Blarney House. It was a gorgeous house that is on the grounds of Blarney Castle. The tour was "o.k." because a family still lives in the house so rooms were limited to tour. Once we finished our visit to Blarney, the girls were anxious to visit the Woolen Mills for sweaters! This store was enormous! Filled with Irish wool sweaters and linens. We must have spent a good hour or so combing through the racks and racks of various souvenirs. I saw my dad hauling a cart behind him at one point.........These sweaters or linen are really the best souvenirs for your visit to Ireland. They are something you will actually use and might even pass down.
The Blarney House...can you believe people really live in this house??
It's true.
We jumped back into the mini bus and started out journey to Killarney. We stayed at an amazing B&B! Sheila, our host, served afternoon tea and cookies and would sit down for conversation. Once we rested up, we went into town for dinner. Tooooo much Guinness this night......
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