After a good night of sleep (finally) we arrived early at the Blarney Castle to avoid the long lines that would come later in the day.  The Castle is one of Ireland's top tourist destinations.  Some of the guidebooks I read advised skipping Blarney Castle because they consider it such a tourist trap.  We would have made a mistake if we had taken their advice.  The castles in Ireland were on my "must see" list.  Although kissing the Blarney Stone is rather touristy, the castle itself is very interesting.  Little remains of the castle itself, except for the keep, which is the tall square structure in the picture.  Usually the tallest and strongest building, it was often used for defense in a siege or attack.  The castle was built by one of Ireland's greatest chieftans, Cormac MacCarthy over 600 years ago.

 

 

The view from the top.   Look at all the shades of green

The circular staircase, 127 steps, takes you to the top.  The staircase was very narrow and the steps were worn smooth from all the years of use.  A thick rope was suspended from top to bottom to use as a handrail.

 

 Looking at the inside of the castle. 

 The people in those days must have been very small.  All the doorways and openings were not very tall and extremely narrow.  Almost makes you believe there were leprechauns.

Were they cruel or just trying to survive?

 

 

 You can't visit Blarney Castle without kissing the Blarney Stone.  I wasn't sure if I should have let Ken do it.  They say that once you kiss it you will never again be at a loss  for words.  :)

 

We walked around the grounds and through the garden that contains only poisonous plants, then walked across the street to the Blarney Woolen Mills for some shopping and lunch.  We bought some nice woolen scarves for the girls and trinkets for the kids.  Lunch was interesting-I ordered vegetable soup and Ken had cauliflower and brie' cheese soup.  The vegetable soup was pureed so that it resembled baby food.  I had some very good soup in Ireland, but that wasn't one of them.  Most of the soup we had on the trip, other than the Irish stew, was pureed.

 

We left Blarney, travelling the scenic route to Killarney.  We passed through towns, such as Balleylickey, Glengarriff and stopped in Kenmare for a bakery  break.  We had gorgeous scenic views along the route.

 

 This was our ride for the two week trip.  Four adults and luggage and surprisingly, it worked very well.  I am finally learning how to pack for trips without taking my entire wardrobe.

 The town of Kenmare.  Most of the towns looked a lot like this.  Most of the downtown buildings are the same height and all connected.  There were a lot of bright colors and pretty flowers.  They were also very neat and tidy.

 Typical of the signage in Ireland.  Again, I am so thankful we didn't have to do the driving.  

 Before checking into our B&B for the night we visited Ross Castle.  They didn't allow pictures on the inside.  It has been restored to show how castle life may have been.  It was interesting and gave us a better idea of how the rooms in Blarney Castle may have been used.

 I don't know if this wedding was taking place at the castle or if they were just shooting their pictures there, but what great wedding pictures these will be.

 

 Click on this picture to read the sign on the dumpster.  Don't see that too often in the states.

 Colette said she wanted proof that were actually on this trip so here is a picture of Ken and me in the Killarney Lakes region.  She said our pictures looked like a travel brochure and she wanted to see some people shots.

 We had a lovely room at the Larkinley Lodge B&B in Killarney.  We were excited to be spending two nights in Killarney.  It was another city I wouldn't mind visiting again.  The B&B was within walking distance of the downtown area so we walked to dinner and then enjoyed our first taste of Irish music in the Danny Mann Pub where we listened to this great band.  They were called the Molly McGuire's.