I kissed the Blarney stone!

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(I added two entries today, so dont miss the one from yesterday!)
Thursday we went horseback riding in Killarney national park and walked around the town. The horseback riding was great, and I was surprised at how well mom did! She almsot fell off once because her horse tripped, but she stayed on well. The guide for the trail ride was a 20 year old girl from France, I was talking to her most of the time. She told me what pub to go to later that night, and one of her friends was in the band playing. Although it wasn't traditional Irish music (was rock) it was still really fun. The group of people I ended up hanging out with was very diverse. There were 5 French, 1 Finnish, 1 Swiss, 2 Irish, 2 English, and Me, the American! You can imagine how hard it was for all of us to communicate, because even speaking English, accents were so heavy! We actually started playing sherades instead because we all gave up talking! The two English guys were from the rock band that had played and apparently they're semi-famous so they got to pick about 10 people to stay in the bar after it closed and hang out. I had a great time! I didn't get many pictures though. Before we left today we went to the Muckross house (Mansion) and took a jaunty ride around the grounds, theres a great waterfall and lake!
We left Killarney this morning and now we are in Kinsale. It's right below the city of Cork. On the way here we stopped at Blarney Castle. The grounds are absolutly georgeous, and even though theres not much left of the castle it was still great. You have to walk up 127 stairs, in a tight and steep spiral staircase to get to the top, where the stone is. You lay down on the floor and someone holds your legs and back as you hang off the top of the castle upside down to kiss the famous stone. Mom and I both did it, and now we have the gift of eloquence and the luck of the Irish! Now we're at the hotel, just got home from a beautful dinner. The town is very Mideval feeling, very narrow roads, low buildings and such. I can see the water with all the boats on it out the widow, it's just accross the street.
Time for bed, thanks everyone for writing!!

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