The Gift of Gab

I've avoided Blarney on my previous time in Ireland, dismissing it as too touristy, however, with the sun shining and the spring flowers in bloom, Blarney was an impressive stop. The grounds of Blarney are extensive with various paths and walks, around the castle, through gardens and waterways and past fields and a lake. The castle itself is an interesting ruin but remarkably well organized. Two sets of spiral staircases run the height of the castle, one used for upward progressing visitors the other for downward travelling visitors. Each has access to various rooms, windows and offshoots. At the top we waited patiently in line to kiss the stone which is supposed to give one unfailing eloquence. One has to lie on ones back, scooch back and bend your head back and down through a whole in the castle wall to kiss the stone, while a castle employee holds one by the hips for health and safety purposes (not for the faint of heart, or those with a fear of heights). After touring the castle we walked the grounds and enjoyed the sunshine before heading west to dingle.

Lost in a Fog

Friday 8 April- We woke after a peaceful nights sleep to a lovely, if quiet breakfast. I had scrabbled eggs with smoked salmon on toast and Ian had the ubiquitous Irish breakfast. The most striking thing about breakfast was that our juice was served in stemmed glasses on a saucer, complete with doily. We finished our dinner then decided to tackle the town. When we stepped out of the house we were surprised to find the streets shrouded in fog. The harbor looked entirely different from the evening before and we could just make out a few boats here and there. We wandered around the town, poking in a few shops and waiting for other to open; took a walk up to Esmond Castle and the carmelite monastery then circled back to the post office, which seemed to be the main attraction of the town, at least for the locals, so we had to queue for awhile to purchase stamps. We walked along the harbor as the fog began to lift and the sun soon made an appearance. We joined a walking tour of Kinsale and learned of its many connections to Bristol (the two both being major port towns) including the Kinsale/Bristol giant. After our tour we checked out of the B&B and made our way back through cork to Blarney.

Arriving in Kinsale

After much driving and a brief tour through Cork, we arrived in Kinsale. What a lovely, peaceful little town. Nestled around a harbour full of picturesque boats the town hosts a number of promising restaurants, quaint shops and scenic views. We checked into out guesthouse which despite being quite close to the harbour and main road promised to be much more peaceful than the previous evening. We got some recommendations for restaurants then made our way into town (everything in Kinsale, our host told us, is about 5 minutes walk from everything else). We examined our options for dinner and settled on the highly praised Fishy Fishy Cafe. We had an excellent meal there (oysters and champagne to start, A spicy seafood salad for me and brown bread and smoked salmon for Ian followed by sticky toffee pudding and rhubarb and custard) and were practically falling asleep while they tallied up our bill. A brief walk back to the guesthouse, a few presents to open then some much needed sleep.

Cashel and Caramel

We left Dublin at about quarter to one and were headed to a small port town south of Cork, Kinsale. However the halfway point on this journey was a stop at the Rock of Cashel. We could see the impressive structure atop the hill as we approached the city. The fields all around were bursting with late daffodils and carpeted with dandelions as we walked up to the Rock. We joined a tour that had just started and our guide was excellent. After the tour we roamed around the rock on our own. Then we walked to the nearby monastery ruins. On our return to the rock we walked toward town and decided to treat ourselves with sweets at a little cafe. The desserts were quite fancy and an excellent stand in for birthday cake. Ian had a hazelnut brownie with vanilla ice cream and berries and I had homemade caramel ice cream with caramelized bananas, hazelnuts and caramel sauce. Then we did a tour of the village. At which point the sun decided to come out and we rushed back to get some sunny photos of the rock and neighboring monastery before pushing on further south

Guinness is good for you

Thursday 7 April - Despite our less than relaxing night, we got up early and made the most of it. Our guesthouse was just down the road from St. Stephen's Green and this was our first stop of the morning. We enjoyed the warm spring air and all the lovely flowers in bloom. We had breakfast at a lovely Oriental cafe on the high street. After our pastry and coffee we visited the campus of Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells which is housed at the college. Next on the list of Dublin attractions was St. James Gate and the Guinness brewery. We had a very good, if slightly rushed tour through the Guinness factory, splitting a pint at the skybar before rushing back to the guesthouse to check out in time.

Away in Ireland

Wednesday 6 April - To celebrate my birthday, Ian whisked me off to Ireland. We flew into Dublin late on Wednesday night. We got horribly lost driving in Dublin as the street signs are so small and washed out that they are near impossible to read in the dark. To further complicate the matter most of the streets in Dublin are one way and for our purposes that was generally the wrong way. Nevertheless we made it to our Guesthouse and had dinner. After dinner we walked to Temple bar and had a drink at the Auld Dubliner before calling it a night and returning to the guesthouse. We had rather a rough night of it as there were loads of clubs along the street so we didn't get much sleep.

A Pretty Posy

Saturday 2 April - We had a very relaxed weekend as we are getting ready for my birthday trip to Ireland. However, we did make it to the farmer's market where we picked up some nice vegetables and Ian bought me this lovely posy of spring anemones. We visited our usual charity shops and I picked up a number of lovely and interesting books.