Blarney Castle

Blarney is gorgeous. The Blarney Castle is truly wonderful. We arrived on a day when the sun was shining and even though it is still winter the grounds seemed to shine with the green and life of Spring. The grounds has a couple arboretums with so many different trees. I personally love trees, their shape, color, height and even their biological makeup. The Castle is gorgeous but monsterous in height. The dungeons have tiny places you can crawl through, but the ground is muddy and damp and me and Molly decided not to go down that way. The caves are more spacious but a big puddle blocked the pathway so we climbed along the slippery rock for a while and then turned back. I had my camera bag on my back the entire day and with the weight it is extremely hard to maneuver in small spaces. Speaking of hard to maneuver, once you are ready to kiss the Blarney Stone, which gives you the gift of gab. It is at the top of the castle and you must climb a winding stairwell to the top. I believe it is around 100 steps. This is the most nerve racking part because the stairwell is extremely small, like obese Americans would not fit. A rope runs along the side which you have to hold on to to feel secure in the least. I had my camera bag on my back and it was scraping the wall. Once you get to the top it is gorgeous though. The Blarney Stone which is a slab of rock given to Cormac McCarthy (one of Ireland's greatest chieftains). To kiss is you must face a fear of heights. You have to lean back while laying down and hold on these two bars to stabilize yourself and then you kiss the rock. A guy is there holding you so you don't fall because there is a gap below yourself that you can see all the way to the ground, however there are two bars that prevent people from dying. The rock is also cleaned every once and a while. I will upload my picture kissing it soon. A photographer is there taking everyone's picture to sell in the giftshop for 10 euro a piece. We took a picture of the picture, even though that's not aloud
As for the rest of the grounds. It is beautiful. You can have a picnic, walk around for hours. Visit the gorgeous Blarney House which looks like a mansion and has its own private grounds. I cannot describe the beauty you will see on a clear day. It something you have to feel, have to experience, because I could write forever on the topic. Look at the soundslides posted to get a small sense of it.