Dublin & Blarney Part 4

We drove pretty uneventfully towards Cork. As we neared Cork, we plugged the hotel address that Bertha Dale had made on Tuesday night into the GPS and continued as we were directed. None of us had any idea that Cork had hills like San Francisco. As we rolled along the road gor narrowere & narrower. It appeared to be a one way (thank goodness) road because our vehicle was scrapping bushes on both sides. As we arrived at the hotel, there were tour buses that prevented us from getting to the front so Richard let me out while he stayed in the car. The drive up the steep, winding, narrow road had my sister in a nervous frenzy. She wanted to go someplace else, but we couldn't get money back so I said "we're here, let's stay tonight & go elsewhere tomorrow". The rooms were nice, clean and quiet and okay for one night.

Thursday morning we took off toward Blarney Castle. As we arrived in town, we sae the "Blarney Castle Hotel" and I checked for availability for Thursday night and we were in luck. Bertha Dale & Ollie both have trouble with steps so I asked for something on the first floor. I was assured that would not be a problem. Only thing is I forgot in Europe the first floor is actually the second floor. Their first floor is "ground". So I goofed by agreeing to first floor rooms. I guess Bertha Dale & Ollie will eventually forgive me. We asked if we could leave some of the luggage there instead of carrying it around as we toured. They agreed to do that. Everyone was extremely accommodating and carried all the luggage up to our rooms before we got back. Even though it was drizzling, we went to Blarney Castle which was within "spitting" distance of the hotel. Bertha Dale & Ollie decided not to climb the castle so Richard & I took off. The stairs going up were extremely narrow, but we made it to the top. I didn't know the "Blarney Stone" is at the top of the castle and you have to lay on your back, grab onto handles and lean down, kiss the stone and the attendant grabs you and pulls you back to a sitting position. As we visited the souvenir shop there was a woman fro Staunton, VA (almost a neighbor to Luray). We laughed because Mom almost always would meet someone that she knew or was from our county in VA and Bertha Dale & I knew she would have gotten a kick out of our coming to Ireland and meeting someone from Staunton.


Then we couldn't decide where to go in the afternoon so finally we headed to Waterford. It was still raining off & on, but we saw some beautiful land, houses, views and sites on the drive. We stopped long enough for a potty break (better facilities this time) and light snack before heading back to Blarney. We arrived, rested a bit and had dinner and then went to the bar for a drink, then to bed for a good night's sleep.

On Friday we went to the "Blarney Woolen Mills" to shop. We found some things (it's only money) then went back to the hotel and loaded up the car (AGAIN).


When Richard & I went to Europe in 2000, I took a kite and flew it over as many countries as I could (Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands (I think) so I have now flown the same kite in Ireland. When I was going to fly it in England, it was raining and/or we were busy.


Again we climbed into the car and headed towards Tipperary. It was a busy town, but we couldn't really find any shopping places so again we had a potty break and drove to Limerick. We had picked a hotel, but decided (after we drove by), that we would rather be in a smaller town so we headed to Bunratty and found this neat B&B that is all on one floor (maybe Bertha Dale & Ollie will forgive me for the hotel in Blarney). Ollie wasn't feeling well today so once we checked in, he thought a peppermint schnaps might help so we went to the pub next door. He ended up with Creme de Menthe instead. Ollie came back and went to bed. After a little rest, Richard, Bertha Dale & I went to dinner.


Today we went into Limerick to shop and then back to Bunratty Castle. This castle had some large rooms for banquets and even bedrooms with some furniture. There are thatched roofed buildings that have been restored to represent life in the period time of the Castle. In the afternoon we drove to the Cliffs of Moher. Richard & I walked part of the area, but because of the wind, Bertha Dale & Ollie stayed in the car.


We got back to Bunratty and went to Durty Nelly's (I think this pub is listed as the oldest, but I'm not sure if that is just in Ireland or world wide) for a drink. I could get used to Murphy's Beer with Black Currant.


Well, I really need to get to bed so I'll close with hopes of being able to add more either Sunday or Monday.