So we bid farewell to the eco-friendlies; and headed to Kinsale. Kinsale was lovely. It was a cute little harbour town, first time we had actually seen the water besides the various lakes. However; it was madness. absolute madness, There were TONS of tourists, 10 times more than we've seen anywhere else. They had their cameras out every 5 minutes "OOOOH! (seagull) *camera click* another 5 minutes- "OOOOH!" (bright colored buildings) *camera click* " OOOOH!" ( friggin lightpole) *camera click*. Geez! We could understand why people got annoyed with us, lol. But we loved it, then decided to head to Blarney. We didn't plan on going through Cork City because one of the only things that were in our books as "attractions" was the "Cork BUTTER Museum."......What the eff? So we decided to heaad right for the Blarney Castle, however, first we had to drive through City Centre. Dun dun DUN!
It actually wasn't so bad, we got there after ots of lane switching, bridges and stoplights. We found the Blarney Castle fairly easily and admired the sight. Completely amazing. Took some great pics of it, climbed quite possible the NARROWEST sstone steps ever (there were so narrow and steep you have to read a "We are not responsible for injuries) agreement and hold onto a rop to get the the ROOF pf this castle haha. But we got there, kissed the thing, and got some pictures of it :)
We got to our B and B and were greeted by the friendliest man we have met so far. His name was tom and he was a complete delight, SO funny and so outgoing. He carried our luggage up the stairs saying "Randi who are you kidding? You are weak as a church mouse! I will get it for you!!" So funny. We totally enjoyed him. We went out for a night on the town after having read for such a small town, this was "Full of festive music and nightlife!". Well, tat part was true. But Frommers should mention "Sometimes the locals of Blarney are utter assholes and will make you feel unwelcome". True story.
No one was outright rude, at first. we grabbed a table and while waiting for the band to start up some guys came over- been like that the other 2 times weve gone out- and asked to join us. We said "Sure- go ahead" I of course found it necessry to mention I had a boyfriend, which Nicole thinks is annoying since its the first thing I say haha, but I figure hey lay out the cards right? Well they all kind of filter off- oddly- because in Killkenny they were all fine with being friends, but we thought "well, whatever" and decided to just enjoy our pints. well one of them sticks around and asks if we are lesbians. haha. we explain that we're not and have just been best friends since childhood and he decided to tel us of his "life experiences".... well....he'd had a few more drinks than us and started telling us all KINDS of stuff. when he decided that we really weren't going to be anything more than friends, he went to leave, said "The pleasure was all YOURS" to which I replied "Not hardly" and Nicole and I crossed tthe street tp try our luck at another pub.
Well this one was just as crowded but of the older crowd, they werent as welcoming as Killkenny, but probably because ho doesnt visit Blarney? Im sure they are sick of tourists. We mainly listened to the live band ( a beautiful girl who had a norah Jones-ish voice), and I watched an man irish dance with Nicole. That was hilarious, and I have video haha.
We went back home,stayed up with Tom's son 9Tom owns our B and B and 's, daughter and niece) who are 18, 15, 17 and 19 I think, and just drank a few beers and talked about ireland and the States. It was awesome. Very homey. they are great people.
sorry everything is a day behind, there just isnt enough time in the day lol, love and miss you all
The mermaid statue and ones around it that are found in Kinsale, my friend Ken made. :) I hope you saw them!
ReplyDelete