Hello from Merrie Olde England,
Last night in Blarney Dennis and I wanted some dinner. The hotel
dining room is closed Monday and the desk clerk said that all the
restaurants in town were reserved because of Valentine’s Day. He
gave us the directions to a place about 2 miles away, Blaire’s Inn,
which he had called for an American couple. We didn’t want to drive
even 2 miles so Dennis and I walked the half block to the town center
and sure enough each restaurant was fully booked. We tried the pub
across the street and all they had left was lamb stew, all the other
non-reservees had already hit that pub. We got in the car and drove
a very, very long 2 miles, in the rain, to this other place that
turned out to be another pub. We had to wait 20 minutes while dining
room shut down so that the kitchen could take care of pub orders.
As it turned out, the food was very good. Apparently Valentine’s
Day is a bigger event in Ireland than in the US.
After breakfast this morning we toured Blarney Castle. Dennis
and I now have the gift of eloquence, we kissed the Blarney Stone.
This is no mean feat. First you have to climb to the top of the
old castle using very narrow, very steep circular stairways and
walk around the battlements to the opposite side of the castle.
Then you have to sit down next to an opening in the floor. An attendant
holds onto your legs while you lean back, grasp two iron bars and
lower yourself so your head is much lower than your waist and kiss
a particular stone in the outer battlement.
Blarney Castle was built in the 1400’s as a fortified castle and
was apparently used as a dwelling until the mid 1700’s when the
owners decided it was too cold and drafty. It is located in an absolutely
beautiful location.
It started to rain as we left the car park and began a long day
of driving. We drove through Cork and Waterford on our way to the
ferry port of Dun Laoghaire, just south of Dublin. It rained almost
the whole way and most of the trip was on narrow country roads and
through small towns. The countryside was beautiful and as everywhere
else, very green. It is spring in Ireland. The birds are migrating
north, and we saw crocus, snowdrops, mountain laurel, and many trees,
shrubs and flowers that I can’t identify, all blooming.
As we traveled across the south of Ireland, at one point, we could
see the Atlantic Ocean. As we traveled up the east coast we saw
the Irish Sea.
We drove onto the ferry and it took 1 ¾ hrs to get to Holy Head
on the west coast of Wales. Since we have an afternoon flight tomorrow
we decided to try and get through Wales and into England in order
to be close to London. Dennis chose the route through the mountains
as shorter. The roads were very windy and narrow and there were
a lot of road repair areas. We had to turn around and find another
route when we came upon and accident that had closed the road.
We drove to just south of Stratford and will visit there tomorrow
before going to Heathrow.
Here’s the proof of our gift of eloquence!
Marty
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