Blarney Castle, Ireland

9/16 Christy and I were going to kiss the Blarney stone no matter what! A bunch of us got in a fast moving line going through the broken down drafty castle. When we finally got to the top it was a death defying assembly line! You had to lay down on your back while some burly old man threw you backwards and gave you .5 seconds to give the wall a kiss. Then he practically threw you out to get onto the next person! There was hardly time for pics, but you could certainly buy the ones they provided. We didnt. There was a bottle of supposed disinfectant next to the burly old man that I never saw him use. Thank goodness I had sanitizing wipes, and just enough for everyone in our little group! Since christy wasn't going to get dinner we went in search of food. It was hopeless. There was a cruise ship in town adding 4000 peoplet to the normal total for that time of day! Lines wereally so long everywhere we went. We got chased off line when a member of our tour let is in with them. The food stand only sold hot dogs. Shopping was disappointing and expensive. Finally Claudia suggested buying food at the Super Value market across the park. Not satis-fYing for my poor sister but was the best we could do. The food search took up the rest of our time at the castle. We weren't very happy by that point. Simply not enough time, so was a disappointing visit. Pretty much the most disappointing of the whole trip. I still have a sour feeling about it.
On to Waterford. We stopped at the smugglers pub on the way. They gave us irish coffee and we got serenaded by an older gentleman who sang and told stories. When we got to Waterford we toured the Waterford Crystal factory. It's not the "real" thing anymore as the company had to sell out in 2009. Now it's the House of Waterford Crystal, not the original. However, the process to make the stuff was no less fascinating! I didn't realize how many sports trophies they made, including the NBA champs basketball!
After dinner that night a local guide came in for some history. He was so funny! He also made it interesting with a bit of audience oarticipation, which included me! I hope to get some pictures from others since I couldnt take any myself. We went on a walking tour after that. Being at night made it pretty cool! There was some sort of community band concert on the way and it seemed so out of place with the history!Read more