Tuesday, June 11, 2013

UK Adventure: Day 16 Blarney Castle, Cork, Rosslare, Ireland

Day 16 found us in Blarney, in a Castle, looking for a rock to kiss.
The castle is now a partial ruin, but at the top of this castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, more commonly known as the Blarney Stone. Tourist visiting Blarney Castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give you the gift of eloquence.
There are many legends about the origins of the stone, the most popular being that it was the Lia Fail -- a magical stone upon which Irish Kings were crowned.






We had to wait in a 45 minute line to kiss the stone, and it started in what used to be the basement of the castle ...


 ... and made its way all the way up the four levels ...



... to the roof where the stone was located.




My wife kissing the Blarney Stone.





And then it was my turn.




Thank goodness for handiwipes!


Exploring the rest of the grounds.





We had to get back to the east side of Ireland to catch the ferry to the UK the next morning, Cork seemed liked the perfect place to stop for lunch and a look around.









And then it was onto Rosslare, a small beach town by the ferry docks we would be using in the morning.
It was surprisingly, the only beach with sand that we saw on our entire trip.


It says: "Last beach in Ireland", which technically it was.


The ferry port.




We had to drive 196 miles to get here.

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