Today was the day! The day I have been waiting for. The day I could cross an item off of my Bucket List. The Day I Kissed The Blarney Stone!
Needless to say, I was pretty excited to get there. After another fabulous breakfast, we loaded up on our coach for a 2 hour drive to Blarney Castle. Speaking of the coach, which has been our only form of ground transportation, it is the way to travel! We have large seats, plenty of room, a bathroom, and a professional driver to get us exactly where we need to be. We have absolutely no worries about drivng.
ColletteVacations (our tour company) has taken care of everything. They take our bags to our rooms and then come and get them to take back to the bus when we leave a hotel. Our tour guide takes care of all our entrance tickets. We are able to go around long lines and not have to wait. Anytime we have a dinner, the restaurant is ready for us with a room specifically for our group. If we have any questions or concerns, our tour guide is always availalbe. This is the first tour I have ever taken with a group and I am completely impressed. All of the worry and concern about how to get where, how long it will take, what it will cost, or any other problems are gone. Completely gone. This entire trip has been so easy and worry free. We have felt safe, secure and taken care of the entire time.
I got a little off track there, but I felt it needed to be said. Tours are the way to travel!
Okay, back to the castle.............it was all I ever dreamed it would be. The grounds were absolutley beautiful! Not only was the castle completely amazing, but the "Rock Garden" was ever bit and extraordinary as the castle. Unfortunately, it was POURING as soon as we got to Blarney. It is to be expected. After all, we are in Ireland, but we haven't really experienced that much rain until today. It rained off and on all day long and we even had a bit of hail while we were inside the castle. I didn't want to damage my camera in the rain,so I wasn't able to get as many pics as I would have liked.
Ray, Michael and myself were the only ones who kissed the Blarney Stone. We climbed 80 feet of small, wet, sharp angle/corner steps to the top. From there, we waited in line to give our kiss. We layed on our backs, bended backwards, hung upside down and kissed the stone where millions have kissed before. The legend states that we will be blessed with eloquence. Who doesn't need more of that?
After playing in the castle, we explored the grounds. As I said before, these grounds were every bit as entertaining as the castle. Streams, ancient trees, stones, waterfalls, stone steps and caves were all at our leisure. By this time, the rain had let up and I was able to get many pictures here.
From Blarney, we traveled on to Killarney where we were treated to a traditional Irish jaunting car ride (horse drawn carriage). We rode through the beautiful Killarney National Park and that alone was a treat, but the real treasure was in our driver, Patrick. He told us many stories in his intriguing Irish accent along our way. I could have spent the entire day with him! Soon we arrived at our destination.....Mucross House!
The Mucross House was built in1843 and was owned by several private owners before it was donated to the Killarney National Park. Unfortunately, we weren't allow to take pictures on the inside of the mansion/castle but trust me when I say, "it was impressive!" The Queen of England traveled here for a visit. She gave the owners an arrival date of....are you sitting down....get ready for this......wait for it.....
6 years (1861)! That's right! So for the next 6 years the owers renovated the home and grounds preparing for her arrival. Since the queen was afraid of fires, she requested to be on the first floor. So they prepared private quarters for her on the first floor. The renovation practically bankrupted the family. There were many amazing characterists about the home, but what was impresseive to me were the servants quarters. Located on the basement floor on the opposite side of the castle there were over 50 bells mounted to the walls and attached to strings. Each bell had a different sound. So when a lady or gentlemen of the house needed something, they rang the bell from their room. The servants had to know which ring belonged to what room. Think about that for a moment. There were over 50 bells all with a different sound. Clearly, their servants didn't get paid enough for what they had to accomplish. There were holes worn in the flagstaff floor from their constant running back and forth.
I could have explored that home all day long. It was so interesting!
When it was time to go, we walked outside and, you guessed it, our coach was waiting for us. We loaded up and headed to our hotel in Killarney. For the next 2 nights we will be staying at the elegant Killarney Avenue hotel where we have been treated like royalty. Our hotel keys are always given to us while we are on the coach in route to the hotel. Once we arrive, we walk up to our room where our luggage has been placed. We have been completely spoiled throughout this entire trip! We were prepared an excellent meal once we arrived at the hotel.
Tune in tomororw to hear about the Ring of Kerry!
Go to the WPU Alumni Facebook page to see all the photos at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/William-Penn-University-Alumni-Association/153962729433?sk=wall
Our entire group at the Blarney Castle.
Michael Pacha giving the stone a kiss!
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