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With Jessica's school requirements completed, today was the day for the Ring of Kerry. We needed to start out early because we had a long trip ahead of us. We picked Jessica up at about 8:30am (yes, she was actually up and ready). As with any trip with Jessica, we had to make a side trip. She had just finished writing a paper on the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary (it is a long way to Tipperary). Buildings on this rocky stronghold date back to the 12th century, and Cormac's Chapel is one of the most outstanding examples of Romanesque architecture in the country. The Hertiage Society offers guided tours of this important piece of history, but we were treated to a personal tour with an extremely beautiful and knowledgable guide, but we are a little prejudice. After touring the site we grabbed a quick bite at King Cormac's Cafe and headed for Blarney Castle.
Since we were in the area, we decided that a trip to kiss the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle was a must. The castle grounds were beautiful but it was definitely a tourist destination...kind of like an Irish Gatlinburg. Near the entrance to the castle
was the tunnel to the dungeon. Jessica cannot pass up seeing a dungeon so she decided to explore the passageway. The ceiling in the passageway was very low so this involved walking like a duck for quite a distance...she paid for it with sore legs for two days, and we paid for it by having to listen to her complain about being sore for two days. We all walked the 127 steps to the top of the castle keep to see the Blarney Stone. During the climb, I realized that Pam did not know the legend of the Blarney Stone. Kissing the stone is supposed to give the gift of gab...since Pam is already blessed with an abundance of this gift (could be her Irish ancestry), she need not bother kissing the stone. In order to kiss the stone, each person must lay on their back and be held while suspended backwards. Jessica and I decided that when in Ireland.....
We finished at Blarney Castle around 4pm and headed to Killarney to start the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is a 112 mile trip around mountains and coastline through County Kerry. We are approximately 4 hours from
Blarney Castle, Blarney, County Cork, Ireland
Taken soon after I made the comment about kissing the Blarney Stone. Galway, it has started to rain, unknown to us there is a road rally in progress...and so begins our trip through the Seventh Circle of Hell. Our first sign of trouble is the traffic in Killarney; we are delayed for about an hour trying to get through this town about the size of Helena. We head out of Killarney and up into the mountains. The fog sets in and the roads narrow, and Pam's anxiety level is rising with each turn in the road. I literally could not see more than 10 feet in front of the vehicle. Cars are passing me because I won't do 100km/hr in the fog, and oncoming traffic is flying by in the other lane (remember the road rally). We are sure the scenery must be lovely, but we couldn't see any of it. Once we got out of the mountains and it cleared up, we had a decision to make...continue the Ring or turn around and go back the way we came. The super delegate in the back seat overruled the popular vote, saying there is no way she could or would go through that again. We continued our decent into Hell. It soon
Blarney Castle, Blarney, County Cork, Ireland
What were they doing in Earl's Bedroom, and why do they have such a big smile? became dark and foggy, the rain continued and we needed a bathroom. About half way through the Ring we found a hotel and made a pit stop. We finished the Ring of Kerry around 10pm and headed back to Galway. We stopped in Limerick to eat dinner about midnight (we had not eaten a meal since 1 pm). The only thing open was a SuperMac fastfood at a gas station. When we tried to order they told us that they only had 2 chicken sandwiches. We looked at each other as if deciding who was not going to eat. At this point it all seemed so ridiculous that we started laughing and couldn't quit. Not wanting our hysterical laughter to turn to violence, the manager decided to cook another chicken sandwich and some chips for us. We ate without incident and got back in the car. We pulled into Galway at about 2am and collapsed into our bed, thankful we had survived!
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