First, the three of us headed to blarney to do the tourist-iest thing in Ireland, kiss the beloved stone. Despite rumors that it potentially has swine flu or that locals pee on it, we were dedicated to receiving the gift of gab. Blarney Castle was not what we expected. It's huge! And absolutely gorgeous. Quintessential 14th century castle/fort with quite an Irish touch. We had so fun just exploring the castle. Honestly, nothing they let you do here would be allowed in the United States. Chances are, it would all be roped off. In the castle you could venture into old chambers and rooms and climb winding staircases and lean over balconies. It was incredible. And the view was stunning, just fields and fields of green with streams weaving in and out, ruins disrupting the ever-flowing colors, and cows and sheep grazing everywhere. You have to climb all the way to the top to kiss the stone, and then they lower you in upside down and backwards. A little intimidating, but well worth the ability to brag.
From Blarney we moved on to Cobh (pronounced Cove) a small harbor town where the Titanic was last seen. It is beautiful, with colorful townhouses lining steep cobble stone roads leading to the ocean. The houses colors just pop, with green, yellow, and orange all making an appearance. But the most striking aspect of the town is the towering cathedral on top of the hill, overlooking the downtown area and the harbor. It is absolutely huge, complete with flying buttresses, rose windows, and stained glass. It really seems out of place in this small fishing village that houses palm trees and marble fountains. But just amazing. The entire town is built on a hill (reassuring me that not applying to Lehigh was in my best interests as I huffed and puffed my way up and down) and form the bottom of the hill looking up all you see are the colorful houses and gothic cathedral, quite a skyline.
We then took a ferry to Passage. Again, 5 euros for a 2 minute ferry ride and no safety precautions. After a few wrong guesses on navigation (I am no longer allowed to dictate directions or hold the map) we made it to Summer Cove, home of a 16th century fort, Fort Charles. AMAZING. (I promise to stop using the word amazing after I describe this.) It's shaped like a five-pointed stars over looking the harbor of Kinsale, rocky beaches, about a billion (exaggeration) sailboats in the water, the entrance to the ocean, and miles upon miles of rolling hills. The fort is just ruins now, with trees growing where British soldiers used to guard their empire, but Ryan and I loved running around looking for hidden passageways. Mom got bored (tired) of climbing up and down stairs, so we finally conceded and headed to Kinsale.
Again, a gorgeous water town, complete with a yacht club and sail boats galore. There were little winding roads bordered by colorful town houses (fast becoming my favorite part about Europe) galore, and we wandered here and there. Kinsale is also the gourmet capitol of Ireland, which we fast discovered with a plate of sesame-baked brie, pate, and a few glasses of Chardonnay at The Blue Haven. After a little wandering, we settled down for dinner at La Jolla's, a cave-themed restaurant with a giant fire place and eager-to-please waiters. The drive back to Cork was quick and painless (besides this nonsense of driving on the left hand side of the road) and we're all crashed in the bed and breakfast (a theme of our trip.)
A theme I noticed about our trip thus far is how we expected everything to be so little, each town a pub and a church. But, each town is so much larger than we expected. And, unlike a stereotypical white-washed, green pastured Ireland, we're seeing small fishing villages and colorful settings. Today, I felt more like I was vacationing in the Mediterranean than the Emerald Isle. Who knows what we'll get in the next villages though! I'm sure we'll see some more land of the famed leprechauns.
Tomorrow it's on to Kilmar and a few more days of adventures with the family!
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