Today was a bit less busy than the last. This morning half of our tour group embarked on an optional tour while the rest of us ate an early breakfast and explored the city of Cork. Julia and I walked to the downtown area to check out the English Market, however, since it was 9:30AM it was not very busy. We caught a cab back to the hotel to meet up with the coach and headed out to Blarney.

We arrived in the afternoon and were dropped off right at the entrance to the grounds of the Blarney Castle. Julia and I enjoyed exploring the castle and were surprised of how preserved it still is to this day. The view from the top of the castle was commanding; the expansive landscape was incredibly green and the clouds seemed to go on forever. At the top of the castle sits the infamous Blarney Stone. Legend has it that if one kisses the stone the gift of eloquence will be bestowed upon the individual. However, in order to reach the stone, one has to first wait in a very long line of kissers and then lean backwards nearly upside down to reach it with your lips. Julia opted to sit this one out while Ryan dove back and planted a kiss on the stone. We left the castle into the Poison Garden just outside of the castle walls. Here we saw a number of various poisonous plants and herbs some of which were even caged so that no one can touch them (like the marijuana). After our trek, we were both really hungry and headed down to the café inside the Blarney Woollen Mills where we grabbed a quick bite. Afterwards, we hoped on the coach and took off to our hotel in Killarney.

One and a half hours later we reached the Killarney Plaza Hotel and went in to drop everything off and get ready for a traditional Irish dinner at a local family’s guesthouse. We took a short ride around the block and were greeted by Freda and her husband John. John a chef and Freda a pastry chef, they had prepared an extravagant dinner for all forty of us consisting of braised Irish beef stew, potatoes, salads, and ending with teacake. Julia and I both agreed that the dinner was the best we’ve had on this trip so far; between the homemade dinner and eating in the living room, we felt very much at home. Their family was incredibly hospitable and it was a really nice opportunity to mingle and get to know everyone in our tour group better. After a nice evening, several of us were dropped back off at the hotel while the rest went onto another optional tour. Julia and I walked the main street of Killarney for about an hour before returning to the hotel to call it a night. We will be staying for two nights in Killarney and we are excited to explore the town more tomorrow.

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