Ireland Day 5

Ginger count: 6 super gingers and 11 regular gingers

On the agenda: St. Finbarre’s Cathedral, Cork City English markets, Blarney Castle, and Kinsale

So I catapulted my lazy butt out of bed and got up for a run at 05:45 in the morning. The city center was mostly deserted except for a few delivery drivers and two drunk old guys that catcalled me. I ended up passing them twice and was very relieved that they didn’t opt to catcall me twice as I probably would have had to tell them to shove it where the sun don’t shine (yes, I know that isn’t safe, but that kind of behavior grates on my nerves).

After I got back to the hotel and showered, I proceeded to have nasty food poisoning (or maybe it was a reaction to all the alcohol consumed previously?) for the next four or so hours. Oh, joy. Dani also informed me of the fact that I was making weird gurgling noises the night before.

While I was laid up in bed contemplating my mortality, Dani went gallivanting to check out the cathedral and market. She said that the cathedral, advertised to be as old as 606, was built in the 19th century as it is currently standing. The ground has been hallowed since 606. Lame. However, Dani met Harvey Wallbanger and his human Timmy in front of the cathedral. Best dog name ever.

After that, she went to the market. It was nothing special. She also went to the pharmacy (a.k.a. chemist) and got me medicine so I would feel better. Gotta love my bestie! Overall our opinion of Cork can be summed up in one word: Meh.

After I rallied because I’m young and fabulous, we decided to drive up to Blarney Castle on our way to Kinsale for the night.

We got very lost trying to find Blarney Castle. You would think it would be hard to miss a castle, be we are indeed the most special snowflakes I know. We finally made it, waited in line with a bunch of confused old people for tickets, and finally made it into the castle!

We decided to go check out one of the Blarney Gardens instead of attempting to get in the line to go up and see the Blarney Stone. The garden had a fairy hollow, witch’s kitchen, witch’s stone, sacrificial altar, and a Druid circle.

After the gardens, Dani decided to attempt the queue. I was late catching up to her in the line only to realize the damn thing was half a mile long and would take at least an hour and a half to reach the foot of the castle. I decided I didn’t feel like waiting and found Dani about four people up from the end to try and convince her to leave to see another part of the property.

Me: “I’m not waiting in this line.”

Dani: “But we have a good spot!”

Me: *looks pointedly at the four people separating her from the end of the line* “WHAT spot??”

Dani: “We’re not last!”

Me:……….

Dani: *grins*

Me: *turns and huffs away*

After we exited the line, Dani and I found horses and donkeys!

After wandering some more, we finally decided to brave the line so Dani could kiss the Blarney Stone (I refrained, because ew) at the top of Blarney Castle. It had some spectacular views!

Dani kissed the Blarney Stone, although I’m not sure she needed the gift of eloquence…After that, we went exploring some more, got lost in the woods, and found a cave. Also, a note on the Blarney Stone: you climb up all these sketchy stairs (although you get to explore the castle and learn about its history on the way up, which I enjoyed) only to come out on top of the castle to an exciting scene. An old dude taking your picture while another dude holds your feet, so you don’t fall out of the side of the castle. And you get to lay on a cushy mat thing. Where’s the danger and intrigue of it all?

After 5 hours at Blarney, we continued our journey to Kinsale where we stayed at Perryville Guesthouse. It was a magnificent building in the center of Kinsale with twenty rooms. There was a lovely concierge from Poland. I didn’t feel like moving Seamus to designated parking, and he offered to drive him for us. Yay!

We had delicious seafood at a restaurant called Fishy Fishy right on the pier and then had another early night. Dani was snoring by 21:30 while I stayed up and tried (and failed) to catch up on le blog.

Well, I’m done nattering. Make like a Palla’s Cat and floof!