That's a bunch of Blarney!

Today we traveled out to Blarney Castle which is about 3 hours from our cottage in Dingle and it was totally worth the drive. We were so lucky to have beautiful weather all day. Not a speck of rain or a cloud in the sky. We took our time, stopping off to take pictures of surrounding towns and reading about local legends in each place. There was a little driving lesson as well, and it was not Brian that needed to be trained on how to drive on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. Not only was the weather gorgeous, but Blarney Castle was almost completely empty. It is usually jam packed with tourists because it is home to the Blarney Stone and every American that visits usually goes about 2,000 people per day during busy season. We were shocked when we arrived that there was not a single person in line. It was so quiet there that the staff let us each smooch that filthy rock not once but twice! Once you make the decent back down from the top of the castle where the famous stone is located, there are several amazing trails to walk through. We decided to walk through "Rock Close" which is full of ruins, Irish folklore, waterfalls, gardens, etc. The original plan was to go to The Ring of Kerry on the way back to the cottage but it had gotten too dark so there will be more to come on that tomorrow. Instead we stopped off in Killarney for some shopping and dinner. The "Failte" Pub had amazing food, plenty of rowdy Irishman and great music. Now we are back at the cottage, settled in for the night and will sleep well knowing it was another day very well spent in Ireland!