Although it is probably one of the corniest bits of all lore about Ireland, we did indeed go to Blarney Castle, which is actually rather impressive. You can see it in back of Chris in this photo.
Only half our group decided to climb all the way to the top of the castle where the Barney Stone is located. My brother Jack, Sandy, Chris and I all trucked up a very narrow, windy circular stair to the top. Sort of standard fair in tall castles, but this one seemed even narrower than most. Ironic since it gets among the heaviest traffic.
Once we got to the top, there was quite a line of people waiting to kiss the famous stone. Fortunately the view is nice.
At that point, both Sandy and Jack opted out of the actual stone kissing. It involves lying on your back, leaning out over the edge of the castle downwards and backwards, holding on to a couple of nice metal handrails, and trying to kiss the silly stone. However, it was fun. One of those 99 things to do before you die.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Kissing the blarney stone
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3 comments:
Hey, I already kissed the Blarney Stone back in '75. No need to do it twice. (Maybe the second one would cancel out the effect of the first, like the pillar of fire that makes you immortal in _She_.)
Sandy
I was hoping for a comparison photo to the one I have of my grandfather in 1919 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/morgno/1266130092/in/set-72157601740319304/
You have to pay them 10 euros to take that picture now. Monetization not only abides, it gallops forward.
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