Monday 23 July 2007

Just a quick 'hello' from Killarney before my sisters and I cruise the downtown streets. I've made the discovery that the popularity of a particular site in Ireland for tourists is directly proportional to how many American tour buses and large groups of Spanish and/or Italian teenagers are present. This really isn't news; it's just becoming more obvious with the more places we visit.

Today was a great day. It started with a visit to the Irish National Stud in Kildare where we learned all about the birds and the bees when it comes to Irish racehorses. Our tour guide showed us a few of the stallions who are used for breeding, some of whom have, ahem, "covered" up to five mares in one day. It'll cost you €35,000 for this horse to knock up your female horse. If that's not some serious horse prositution, I don't know what is.

After the Stud (ha ha), it was off to Cashel to see the "Rock of Cashel" (an impressive and stately castle) and take a lunch break. As has become custom, my family and I cruised around the main square area and popped into a bakery for sandwiches and soup. We've occasionally hit a pub instead as "pub grub" is a great, inexpensive way to get a quick and hearty meal. My last pub grub included cheese and tomato toasties (i.e., grilled sandwiches) and potato & celery soup.

Following Cashel, we stopped off in Blarney to see the infamous castle and perhaps kiss the stone. Unfortunately, the line to kiss the stone was over 45 minutes long. as much as I love tradition, that really is a ridiculous amount of time to wait in line in a narrow castle hallway to kiss a part of a castle that a billion other people have puckered up on as well. Bridget and I also decided that, having already kissed the stone back in 2003, we didn't want to see what happens when someone kisses the stone twice. Maybe the gift of gab is reverted...or maybe it's doubled. For your sakes and ours, we took a pass.

After Blarney, we arrived in Killarney which is where we're crashing tonight. Tomorrow's agenda includes a brief trip through Killarney National Park and then the Ring of Kerry. As incredibly touristy as both of these places are, they are incredibly beautiful. The Park includes lovely lakes surrounded by green trees, and the Ring offers spectacular views of both mountains and the sea.

Now that we're in the west of Ireland, the weather is getting sunnier, the grass is looking greener, the cliffs are now present, and the mountains and hills are everywhere. This is what makes Ireland famous, among other things...and rightfully so.

On a closing note, I mentioned yesterday before I signed off that I probably would only have one or two Guinnesses while I'm here. Granted, I will still sample as much Bulmer's cider as I can, but I'll make it a point to get in some Guinness North Star Limited Brew as well. Think Guinness Draught but much, much smoother. DELICIOUS, and free in a sample glass while touring the Guinness Storehouse. Since it's a limited edition only to be found in Ireland, I'm going to rotate it into my sampling for the rest of the trip. If any of you make it to Dublin in your lifetime and you have any appreciation for Guinness or beermaking, GO TO THE STOREHOUSE. It's a seven-level interactive experience on stout-making, and the tour ends with a free pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar--the seventh-floor bar with an almost-360-degree view of Dublin. Simply amazing.

Speaking of Guinness, I'm out.

Slainte,
Tara