Allcorn's Country Home Blarney

During a chance telephone conversation with my life long friend Donal McClement, he told me that the recession in Ireland was not doing much for his sales as a yacht broker and that he was going away next year for up to six months with Cork architect Stephen Hyde on his beautiful Oyster 56 yacht 'A Lady' to participate in part of the World ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers).<br><br>I fortunately knew Stephen quite ...

... very big but is known for a few monuments that were recognizable such as St. Anne Shandon Cathedral. Not too far away is Blarney which contains the Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone. We took yet again another bus into Blarney and hiked up to the Castle. This was the first castle I have seen so it was pretty amazing that something that grand could still be standing and everything in tact. It looked out over fields and fields of green ...

Probably one of the best known things in Ireland.<br><br>The Blarney Stone is at the top of the castle. You have to sit down and bend over backwards to kiss the stone below you. I made sure I went further down than then other people up there. I guess one advantage of being tall. Don't think I caught anything from the experience.<br><br>Also walked around the grounds and saw the house they live in now.

... has increased substantially and I take corners at steeper angles. I was back at the B&amp;B by supper time. I started re-reading my "Paul's Journey" blog for the umpteenth time, needing a reminder of what I experienced on my "Journey of Discovery" and then continued re-reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I also chatted a while with Michael about Galway, the economy and Ireland. Then I chatted a bit with Amy and Keira and their Aunt Karen who ...

... cause de l'orteil en tant que tel) Si ça ne s'améliore pas d'ici mercredi ou jeudi, je vais bien devoir m'avouer vaincue et dire « yes » à Roy quand il va me demander si je veux aller voir un médecin. Un autre pick-up aujourd'hui (note pour les non-sauveteurs : pick-up = une personne qui ne sait pas nager qu'il faut aller chercher dans l'eau). Heureusement, c'est la fille dont je ne sais toujours pas le nom qui a été chercher la jeune demoiselle. J ...

... The castle is all broken-ass (not just old, it's just a rubble heap really) and you kiss the blessed stone (that has some lore behind it). What I found hilarious, was that it was just one part of the stone wall in the Blarney castle that is blessed with the 'gift of the gab', yet in the gift shop that they sell 'certified stone from Blarney that (bla bla bla bla)' as a souvenier. Yep, selling people useless rocks. Still trendy to do and it ...

... was fabulous. So many fantastic photo ops. Like that area with all those tall skinny trees, blown up in sepia tones...fabulous. Or the Faery Glade, Wishing Steps and Witches Stone, and all the turning colours? So pretty. Ha! The German gal in my room tonight met the guys who's bikes were damaged on the plane. Helloooo guys from Germany, who pumped me up on that day into hell.

... and strolling Cobh&#8217;s steep streets we rounded off our time by checking out St Colman&#8217;s Cathedral, where co-incidentally one of the architects was also named Coleman. <br><br>We spent most of the afternoon walking around the city centre of Cork. Other than it being a busy Saturday afternoon for locals going shopping, the only other noteworthy thing was seeing Nanna walk along for hours without too much trouble after we&#8217;d ...

There is definitely both a good and bad going on a trip and taking it as it goes. The good thing is you just enjoy the time you have and don't worry about the next move. However, the bad thing is when you have a 40lb. pack you don't want to walk miles in the wrong direction. However, this is what I seem to do. First in London I walked 3 miles when I should ...

... dark passage which obviously continued much further than the daylight reached. All the other castles we have visited have passages and stairwells and dungeons that either have crumbled away to nothing or are barred to the public - finally there was an intriguing long passage that we could get into and which led somewhere, and it was ...