The White House 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 ...

... action and by this point we realized that we were very tired and it seemed better to rest at this point. A few of us spent the night researching for the trip ahead. We used the Let's Go Europe 2009 book and I would highly recommend this to anyone who is even thinking about traveling. It is so helpful and points you to all of the things you would want to see and how to get to all of the spots in the most budget and time efficient manner. <br>

My Thanksgiving day was spent in beautiful Blarney. It was just a short bus ride from Cork to the Blarney Castle area. We were in awe as soon as we entered the grounds. Granted, it was just lots of greenery, a river, and some trees, and our awe was soon exceeded by the even more beautiful castle grounds. The old castle was really neat. There was a cave-like area that we explored like little ...

... side of the road here as they do back home. We have made it to Blarney and to the DaveMar B&amp;B. We checked into our room before heading off into Blarney Village for dinner and a drink. Both Lib and I had potato &amp; broccoli soup followed by Irish stew (corny I know but we had to do it). Then we went to Blarney Castle Hotel for a Bailey on ice. Now we are back in our room ...

... maybe it was coming down from the drugs that I have now stopped taking, but I'm sure I saw Bilbo Baggins amongst the trees !!! There wasn't anything left to see, so we finished our visit and jumped back into the car and returned to Cork. It's funny, I want to return, even try and kiss the stone next time, but if I do, I think I will wear plastic lip covers and give the stone a good scrubbing !!! Oh well, sometimes it's hard being Uncle Davros

... your lips to an old rock can give you the power of Blarney (brilliantly tactful B.S'ing). I think maybe the Irishman who decided to spin this tale to the locals was the only one speaking Blarney!!! The town of Blarney was full of folklore, and we spent the morning ...

... a fun time. When we got back to Cork, we grabbed our stuff and caught the 3 hour bus to Galway. When we arrived in Galway, we checked into the next hostel which was a really fun place. They had a ton of young adults working there from all over the world who had basically formed a small tight community. Of course when we had finally arrived, all the shops were closed so we went for a walk around the town. It is really pretty and is located along a harbor ...

... that most of them are on an express journey to get there as quickly as possible, have a quick stony pash, and then bugger off elsewhere before spending the time to really admire the castle properly. Amber certainly had no problems leaning right back and smooching the grey stone of the castle, but I conscientiously objected. Perhaps it was because it&#8217;s the epitome of tackiness. Or perhaps it&#8217;s because I can imagine the affable ...

... Ladies Gaelic Football team tonight, I am looking forward to the excercise but honestly not looking forward to joining a new team, either in rugby or Gaelic, I was perfectly contented with my teams in Calgary. However I am stuck now and was falsely introduced to the coach as a great player(oh wait till they see how wrong that intro was....but no effen pressure!) Please send Sun. Love and miss you all! Blackie or Jackie(as Maggie and family call me accidentally 5 times a day)