Bus Tour - Day Six - Killarney to Dublin

Our last tour day starts with a short drive to Cork and the Blarney Castle. We were both excited to see this landmark, and had decided that we would both kiss the Stone. However, after getting a look at the staircase that you have to climb to reach the top, I changed my mind. Jolene went ahead, and made it up. Her turning point was seeing how far you had to lean back over the edge, she too changed her mind. It was still a beautiful sight, and we took our time touring around the grounds, the Blarney House, and the poisonous plant garden. Then it was shopping time at the Blarney Woolen Mills.
Back aboard the bus, we traveled up the freeway to our next stop, which wasn't on our itinerary, but John felt we needed a break. So we were lucky to get to see the Rock of Cashel, a castle atop a large outcropping of rock, dating back to the 12th century. We didn't have enough time to tour the castle, but just seeing the outer walls was very impressive.

The rest of the trip back to Dublin was uneventful, aside from our impromptu Eagles sing-a-long to help John stay awake. We stopped momentarily in the city to allow me to fetch the key for our next AirBnB rental, which we had just learned was nowhere near where the apartment is. Along the way into the area of our tour start, we dropped members of the group off when needed. Except for Karen. She wanted us to turn around to take her way out of the way to her spot. Needless to say, that didn't happen. At the final dropoff, we said goodbye to John and the quiet woman (Laurie Anne, though we

didn't learn her name until near the end of the trip), who gave us a surprise honeymoon gift and card signed by our fellow travelers. We then dragged our luggage up the street to our apartment building and made it through the many gate codes and keyed doors to what would be our home base for the remainder of our time in Ireland. In the heart of Dublin...