Cork - Blarney Castle

I did it. I kissed the Blarney stone. Quentin (the lad i climbed the mountain with in kilkenney) has been taking me around Cork and showing me the life of an Irish college student. He lives in a house with 4 other mates, all of whom are really interesting and really friendly. They come from all over ireland, which keep in mind is smaller than the state of washington, and all have different accents. im really starting to understand and differentiate between the different accents and am able to tell where people are from.

backtrack to wednesday now, i went and saw kilkenney castle, while i was waiting for the tour to start i was sitting on a bench with all my backpacks and camera. an older lady came and sat down next to me, she was american and asked me where i was from, i said seattle (this is what i tell everyone, if i say washington they think DC) she said oh really me daughter over there is from washington. She called her over and told me she was from chehalis and that i probably had never heard of it. I just started laughing. For those of you who dont know Chehalis is about 15 minutes from Rainier. The woman owns a couple of Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shops, one in centralia, and the other in lacey by hawk's prarie. we talked for a while about how small the world really is and about travelling in general. it was very good to meet someone from so close. Kilkenney castle was nice, very big and almost fully restored, but i wanted something old, something ruined. So in Cork today Quentin drove me out to Blarney, which even though he is a local has never been to. We made a stop first at the old county jail. we went through a walkman taped tour and saw what it was like for people who were there then. At the end i asked the receptionist if there was anything else to see on the grounds, she said but quentin and i decided to walk around anyway... im glad i did.

at the back of the jail there was an entrance to one of the wings that had not been taken care of for many years, along with several stone buildings which had been taken over by plants. this was the sca (irish slang for scandal) i had been looking for. we had a grand time imagining what it would have been like in the cold stone building, then made our way out and headed for Blarney.

we stopped at mcdonalds, the only place around, for a quick bite, i asked for rootbeer (they have none in ireland anywhere) then decided to go with my second choice lemonade. As i was leaving i tasted it and was confused, it was sprite. They call 7up and sprite type of stuff lemonade and lemonade they call lemon,lime juice drink or something. It was very strange. keep in mind they also call fries chips here (and yesterday i was able to go into a chipper and say fish and chips please).

At Blarney we first made our way up to the castle through a very beautiful grassy scene, then came to an underground cave that run a bit under the castle itself, it was so cool. the castle itself was smaller than i had imagines but still quite impressive, from the ground floor all the way up and the view from the top was incredible. There also is a bunch of very cool sites to see around the castle itself on the grounds. Quentin and i had a great time and it was very nice to have a friend to share the experience with. Tomorrow i think i am going to go to the cliffs of Mohir, then head to scotland in a couple days. it is tough with my backpacks to worry about and my camera especially, but i do wish that i had a car to store stuff in and to make my own time, and maybe a co-traveller. All of these things i am hoping to have on my next euro-trip. Apply within. Though i did drive Quentin's car today in the parking lot, it was quite weird having the wheel on the other side. and the streets are narrow over here and in many places, even on the main ones, there is only room for one car, so they have to pull over frequently to let the others go. This is very confusing and i dont know if i could handle city driving. Especially in France as they are not so skilled at driving.

and i did just get an e-mail from my tech professor, i passed the class, now the only thing i am needing is a way out of my math class, i have the complete 180 credits i need now to be a graduate of college.

well anyway, its a quarter past one in the morning and im ready for bed, going to the Jameson distellery tomorrow with quentin and then who knows where.

Ive still been having a blast and its so amazing seeing these different things and experiencing the life over here. most of the fun i am having is learning the culture, not neccesarily the history. I can't wait wait for Rome though, the history there.. brilliant. Well i must be off now.

I do miss you all and can't wait to fill you in on more of my adventures when i get back.

Cheers
Jeff