Day 13 - Blarney Castle

Today started with a "wee" drive to Blarney Castle. We arrived shortly after the park opened so that we would not have to wait in a long queue to "kiss the Blarney Stone." There are about 127 steps to reach the top of the tower where the Blarney stone is. All of our students partook in the ritual of of lying backwards, grabbing the iron bars, and giving the stone a kiss-a-roo. If the conversation at dinner evening is any indication, the myths surrounding the stone and the gift of gab certainly came true.

With that out of the way, we were able to enjoy a stroll around the grounds. We walked through Rock Close and the Water Gardens. Rock Close supposedly is a mystical place said to be on the site of an ancient druid settlement. We were able to see where the fairies hung out in Fairy Glade and are still protected there today (that is, if you believe in fairies). Many of the students made wishes on the Wishing Steps, as they walked backwards up the stairs with their eyes shut hoping their wishes would come true. We saw Witches Stone and Witches Kitchen. The Stone is thought to have magic powers and many left a small sacrifice (1-2 p) on top of the stone. Witches kitchen is thought to be one of the first earthen kitchens constructed.

More walking around the gardens of Blarney looking at the flora and fauna of the area on our way to lunch at the Blarney Woolen Mills. We had a lovely lunch of tea sandwiches of many varieties and tomato soup with a giant blueberry muffin for desert. YUMMY!!! After lunch, we took an hour to get some shopping in or just look around the shops.

Then it was on to our next destination, the Lawlor Hotel in Dungarvan, County Waterford. On the bus, Matthew (our delegation manager) decided to sing to us in honor of the 4th of July. The only problem is that he wanted to sing God Save the Queen. You would be proud of us - we didn't stand for that and broke out in our own rendition of God Bless America. :-) On the way, John (our bus driver) was kind enough to stop in Cork and let us all go play on the beach. The water was freezing in the Irish Sea, but we just could not resist getting our feet wet - and some of us more than just the feet.

We have now arrived at the hotel, had dinner and the kids are already in bed as we have an early wake up tomorrow 4:45 a.m. so we can catch the ferry to Wales. I can't believe tomorrow we will be saying Good-bye to Ireland and John, as we will get a new driver once we arrived in Wales.