Ireland Day 2 Cont'd: Blarney Castle

We did reach Blarney Castle eventually & we headed in on the heels of a large student tour group. So instead of going directly into the castle, we walked off into the grounds.

This wee girl wandered into the tower by the castle when Sarah was inside.

But as we got deeper into the grounds, the vegetation reached serious heights.

That's David in one of the gigantic trees.

The "Druid Tree". A famous spot on the grounds.

Finally, we emerged from the grounds and once again approached the castle.

So, beyond David in the next photo is the actual Blarney Stone.

This is where you are supposed to lie down on the roof of the castle, bend over backwards through a hole that is 6 stories high (or so it seems), and kiss the outer wall of the castle.

Right... sorry, but - don't think so.
And we admit, even though our Irish-born friends had warned us that young Irishmen like to breach the grounds and piss on the Blarney Stone, Sarah was still considering kissing the Stone. But after we climbed narrow stairway after narrow stairway, and then we saw folks bending backward through that hole, her resolve crumbled under the weight of her fear of heights.

However, the view from up there was spectacular!

This is looking down to the path that we started off into the grounds on.

And remember the student tourists that caused us to go backwards through the grounds up to the castle? Well, we did manage to avoid them... by the time we got to the top, most of them were milling about just below the castle, waiting to head back to their bus.