A Blarney Weekend

Well, the weekend out was wonderful. The drive, not so much, as it was a close to 6 hour trip, but it was well worth it once we got there.

We started the day by turning in the application for our new house (hurray!) and having a quick (but very filling) breakfast. Then we were OFF about 11am.

Hazel was asleep before we even left Larne, she got up at 4am and was exhausted, so we said a little prayer that she would sleep for most of the trip. No go. She slept until we got through Belfast and then screamed for the other 5 hours. Informing me that I brought the wrong blanket and that she didn't want the "yeyo bankie" (the one she normally wants) she wanted the "big bankie" which is her green duvet. It was a long trip down. At one point, the Sat Nav lost us, and I thought Brett was going to throw it out the window. But we got straightened out. We drove through the Port town of Cork, which was just really cool as I've never really been that close to where large ships dock. But our trip through Cork was quick and took us through some very tight streets and alleyways , then before you knew it, we were on the short drive to Blarney. It was shortly after 5 when we arrived in Blarney, which is a very small village just outside Cork. The cool thing was that we found a very very good deal at the Blarney Castle Hotel which was across the street from the Castle entrance, and around the corner from the Blarney Woolen Mills, so we parked our car in the hotel parking and didn't move it for the rest of the weekend. Our room was suprisingly nice, the owners kindly put us up at the top floor to avoid any excess noise come bedtime. I really recommend this hotel as the room was spaceous, cheap and clean. The staff was absolutely wonderful. We took HAzel over to the park across the road so she could run and stretch her legs, had dinner, then headed up to bed. Hazel passed out within 15 minutes which is a record for traveling. Brett and I followed not to long after...

Saturday we got up, had breakfast, then headed early to the Blarney Castle. It was just across the road, so it took less than 5 minutes to walk there. The estate was massive, and simply breathtaking. I'll let the pics talk for themselves...

The castle through the trees at the entrance.Not sure if the top sign is directions or a warning...The ground level entrances. The large door is the door to the dungeon!The front entrance of the castle. Lots of people huffing and puffing. Should have been a warning.This is the view of the blarney stone from the outside. Yah, the whole is where you drop into upsidedown and backwards. The bars around the wall are what you hold onto in order to drop, UPSIDE DOWN and BACKWARDS. Sounds logical to me...The castleHazel and I sitting in the dungeon (sorry I forgot to rotate the pic)Brett, Hazel, and Peppa Pig (Hazel's best friend). Peppa had to come on the tour of the castle.Many many steps for us to climb. Brett did them all. Each and every skinny and warn step, carrying our not so little daughter.You can actually see our hotel from this picture. I just don't know how to tell you where to look...it's also the very first thing I saw when we got to the top of the steps. I quickly changed my mind about kissing the stone.

Taking a rest while in the line for the stone...Brett kissed the stone (again, sorry for the rotated pic)I sucked it up and kissed the stone. Not without freaking out a bit, though. Brett said he thought I was going to cry.The Lookout tower*Sniff* A pretty flower for me...This tree had the coolest branches. A few of them were wrapped tightly around the trunk, I wanna know how they grow like that!The lime KilnThe Blarney House. Still a residence today. It's huge and a very short walk from the castle.
After walking the grounds and kissing the stone, we headed to get lunch and the stroller, then headed to the Blarney Woolen Mills. It was a cool old warehouse. Massive in size. 3 stories tall and just went on for ages. It had almost everything you could want to purchase from Ireland. I deperately wanted an Aran sweater (it's the souvenier of choice here in Ireland) but even with an entire floor of Aran sweaters and cardigans, I couldn't find one to fit the boobies. Boobies are great until you have to fine clothing for them. So I got a t-shirt. :)


Brett bought me my one and only piece of Waterford crystal. It's a heart-shaped ring dish. Just so you know, Waterford crystal is expensive. EXTREMELY, even from here where it's made. I have no desire to own 6 juice glasses that cost roughly $50 each. I'll stick to my dainty ring dish. It's perfect.

It was a really mellow weekend, after dinner, H had her bath and I think we were all in bed asleep by 9. The trip home seemed a lot easier, even though H only slept about an hour of it, she was content to watch Horton Hears a Who on the DVD player.

We're home, and I have lots of packing and unpacking to do :) Laundry here we come!