Blarney Castle and the Cliffs of Moher

Yesterday we made stops at Blarney Castle and the Cliffs of Moher on the way back from Cork to Galway.  The bus ride along the coast was incredible, but the stops we made were great and I was thrilled that the rain held off while we were on the cliffs.  Blarney Castle is a tower house built around 1446 atop a solid limestone mound.  The famous Blarney Stone is at the top of the castle and to kiss it you have to lie down on your back and lean backwards and downwards to the edge of the castle opening.  I didn't realize it would be such a feat just to kiss the stone!  Hopefully the pictures will make it clearer how high up it was!  The legend behind the stone is that kissing it will give you the "gift of gab".  Queen Elizabeth I used this term to refer to Lord Blarney since he would talk relentlessly but never actually agree to her terms. 

Some creepy art installations of eyeballs looking at you

The stairs were quite a tight squeeze!

The bottom rock there is the Blarney Stone!

I had to grab the iron bars to lean back and down to kiss the stone.  Luckily there is an attendant there to make sure you don't fall through the crack.

I kissed the stone! (and now I need purell for my lips)

There is a garden on the grounds of poisonous plants such as: opium poppy, marijuana, wormwood, wolfsbane, foxglove, hemlock, nightshade, and many more!  The leaf I'm holding is not poisonous, sorry to disappoint.

 For lunch we stopped in Lahinch which is small surfing town on the coast.  I had an amazing turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sandwich for lunch!  The view from the beach was great but I can't imagine how cold the water would be for people who were actually going out to surf. 

The shore of Lahinch, a popular surf town on the west coast of Ireland.

 Last stop: Cliffs of Moher!  The rain slowed to a sprinkle, the wind relaxed, and it wasn't too crowded.  The views were breathtaking, but I wish I had seen it in the summer.  From April-midAugust there is a puffin colony that dwells in the cliffs to lay their eggs before they fly to lower latitudes for the winter.  This isn't even a fraction of the pictures I took, but if you're ever in Ireland the Cliffs of Moher is a must-see.  It was truly a natural wonder, but it was kind of funny to see herds of cattle grazing so close to the cliffs.  The cliffs that we were all so impressed with have become a common sight for the farmers of the area that they must have to remind themselves every now and then how lucky they are to be surrounded by the awesomeness of nature.  It was definitely sobering to look down and think of the thousands of years it took the elements to create these formations.  There was not much in the way of barrier protection for visitors, so I cannot imagine how many people have lost their lives by falling, or jumping, off the cliffs over the years.  Signs throughout the park had the number for the Samaritans, and there was a memorial at one end dedicated to all the lives lost.  On a windier day I would have been hesitant to get as close to the edge as I got, because it was a long way down!  We all tried throwing rocks off the cliffs and into the water but it was such a long fall that we were not even able to see where the rocks landed since the wind took them away.

This week should be a quiet week, but I will be going to Dublin on Friday to meet a friend visiting from Barcelona.  Maybe my second time in Dublin I'll feel a little more comfortable in the city!