Blarney Castle and Waterford

We had a wonderful meal on the final night at Killarney, I especially recall the salmon and a duck dishes I discovered at the hotel buffet. The meal was 'included' with the tour. The next morning we awoke to this scene (see left) from our hotel window. We seemed to be in for a wet day. We set off for Blarney Castle and a chance to kiss the famous Blarney Stone. We kept fingers crossed for an improvement in the weather and it seemed our wishes had been granted. The rain eased as we arrived at Blarney Castle.

However there was still some slight drizzle so wet weather gear was still required. Blarney Castle is a Norman Castle, built like a tall square block seen here to the left. We climbed the damp stairs to the top where we would see the famous Blarney Stone. I am not at all keen on heights so I had already opted out of kissing the stone. Just as the line of Blarney Stone kissers hit the open air at the top of the castle, the heavens opened up with steady cold rain! There was nothing to do but follow the queue and there was no escaping the wet weather. To kiss the stone you actually needed to lay down and partially slide outside of the castle walls. There are two guys there to ensure you come to no harm! You get an idea of what happens from this picture below. The lady in white is about to 'kiss' the stone. She will lie on her back on the 'yellow' sheet and then be slid out via the gap in the wall where she will kiss the stone. The two guys either side of her will slide her out and ensure she gets back safely.

I left Blarney Castle as quickly as possible and told Trish, "You will find me in the pub!" We still had another hour or so at Blarney so I reckoned by the fire in the pub was a great spot for the rest of my visit to the Blarney Castle! I was just starting to get over my severe head cold and I considered fireside at the pub a medical imperative! I even ordered a hot cup of coffee when I got there!

Eventually we were back on the bus, drying out and heading to Waterford, the home of Waterford Crystal. We visited the Waterford Crystal display rooms and shop. There was some fine glassware to see and purchase if you wanted. People purchased some small pieces. From there we went to our hotel and settled in for the night. We were only staying at Waterford for one night before boarding a ferry to return across the Irish Sea to Cardiff in the south of Wales the next day. The hotel room we had at Waterford was quite comfortable for us as you can see below.


At 4 am the phone rang to inform us the ferry we wanted to take had been taken out of service for repairs! We all had to be up, on the bus and on our way by 5 am. We had to drive all the way north again to Dublin (about 200klms) where we could cross back to northern Wales. We would then need to drive all the way down to Cardiff where we were due to stay that night. The driving distance was over 600k's and in the middle of that was a three hour ferry trip! We eventually arrived in Cardiff at about 6 pm thoroughly exhausted. The picture to the left is Millennium Stadium, we got this snap from the bus as we drove past! So much for our tour of Cardiff. The tour company provided our meal that night as compensation for our troubles. It was the worst meal of the tour!

We collapsed into bed ready for the next day's tour which would take us to Bath, Stonehenge and back to London! Bath would turn out to be a highlight of the tour!