Kissing The Blarney Stone
After 3 weeks on a bus traveling through Europe, one would think the idea of getting on a bus for a whole day would be out of the question…
But no!
The first of 4 day tours I would be taking from Dublin to explore the grandeur of Ireland was a 9 hour tour to and from Dublin through to Cork and a few other places.
There were only 2 other people on the tour with Irish Day Tours, which being Winter was not a surprise; it was myself and another Aussie and an American and it was an early start beginning at 6:50am!
Our first stop was the Rock of Cashel, which was really pretty. The Rock of Cashel is a very historical site as it was the seat of the Kings of Munster (in the Kingdom of Munster in Southern Ireland) for many years.
After that, we made our way to Blarney Castle which was built almost 600 years ago. It is most famous for the Stone of Eloquence which is found at the top of the tower. For over 200 years, many millions of people have kissed the Blarney Stone, which is apparently supposed to give you the gift of persuasiveness. It is quite a walk up to the top, but it is a nice view once you get there.
Back in the day, people kissed it by being held by their ankles. These days, a person helps push you down to the stone, which you do laying on your back, holding onto the metal railings, and once face to face with the stone, you kiss it and then get pulled back up. The stone is the darker patch you can see in the photo near my head. You are at the top of the tower, but you can’t fall through the hole…it is as safe as you could hope for!
It sounds a lot more scarier than it actually was!
After Blarney, we had lunch and then had an hour or so in Cork to look around.
It was a very long day! But being able to explore Ireland made it so worth while, and kissing a stone millions of people have also kissed, well that was just priceless (and a little gross!)
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