Irish Celebration: The Gift of The Gab

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure."

-Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

It's absolutely crazy to think that I only have a total of 43 days left abroad. I honestly feel like it was just December and I was at Gustavus, getting everything ready to move to Ireland! Jenni and I have been talking about this a lot lately, and how we still have a lot of things that we want to see in Ireland. At the end of last week, we were having this conversation and spur of the moment decided that we should visit Cork and kiss the Blarney Stone - two things that I have been wanting to check off my "Irish Bucket List."

We woke up early and hopped on an 8:30am bus to Cork. It was about a 3 hour ride so we arrived in Cork around half-past eleven. Molly, my friend Caitlin's best friend from high school, read my Facebook status about our venture to Cork and kindly offered to show us around! Molly is an awesome girl and a great tour guide. She brought us around the main streets and to an English food Market. Cork is a huge city and really beautiful.. a river runs through the center of it and there are many large hills with houses on them surrounding the city. Molly then took us to her favorite specialty hot chocolate place. She wasn't lying when she told us it was the best hot chocolate in the world! The menu consisted of "classic" hot chocolates (milk, white, dark, espresso, etc.), and "specialty" which were infused with all kinds of flavors; fruity, spicy, exotic, and just plain weird. We all got classic cocoas and they were SO good. After chatting for a while, Molly walked with us to the bus stop where she explained how to get to Blarney. It was only $6 round trip to Blarney and the bus ride was about 15 minutes. We hugged Molly and thanked her for spending time with us, and then caught our bus to Blarney.

The town of Blarney is an adorable, touristy town that is obviously centered around the Blarney Castle. We followed some signs that led us straight to the entrance of the castle, and went inside the gates. Immediately, we were greeted by lush, green gardens, lovely walkways, and an enormous castle. We walked to the castle, admiring the picturesque scenery and were surprised by how huge the castle actually was! In order to get to the Blarney Stone, one must climb up and through the castle. The winding stone staircase got smaller and smaller as we neared the top of the castle and I felt like I had to use both hands to make sure I didn't fall back down! When we got to the top, we entered the "roof" area where the Blarney Stone is located. According to legend, if one kisses the Blarney Stone, they will be given "the gift of the gab" (great eloquence/skill at flattery). You have to walk around a large rectangular shaped roof with an open center and railings to get to the stone on the opposite side of the stairs. There was no line when Jenni and I reached the top and excitedly ran over to the men working at the stone. One helped you kiss it, and one took your picture. I have talked to people who have kissed the stone before, so I was expecting that you had to lay on your back and bend your head over to kiss the stone, but I was not expecting to be able to see hundreds of feet below me or feel like I would fall right through the skinny metal bars if the man helping me dropped me! The stone itself is a couple feet long and about a foot wide and a different color from the rest of the castle. I gave it a quick kiss and although I didn't immediately feel "gabbier," it was exhilarating and I was so happy we got to do it!

Jenni and I climbed back down the stairs and left the castle.

We weren't in any rush, so we meandered around a few of the many beautiful gardens surrounded the castle. Each garden had a different theme which was so cool! We started to get hungry on our walk and decided to grab lunch at a pub before heading back to Cork. The rest of the day, we shopped around Cork and walked around the crowded streets until we caught our 7pm bus. It was a wonderful day and I'm so thankful that we are able to take exciting day trips like this one!