The gift of gab: 18 June 2008

Welcome to the first tourist trap of the 2008 JMU Ireland program: Blarney Castle. The weather was typical for Ireland, a mix of rain, mist and wind with a mild to slightly chilly temperature. I was prepared and motivated for an Irish experience and the weather was not going to get me down. Following the same path that we have walked so many times before, we headed to Cork city centre to catch a bus at the bus station. Apparently there is a bus that takes people directly to Blarney Castle. I did not realize the castle was such a typical place for people to go, now I know.

I could tell we were in for a long day of touristy adventures as we sat down on the bus. The warming up of the cameras began as the group began fiddling with their cameras in preparation for a long day of use. As we arrived and stepped out into the quaint town of Blarney the cameras began documenting every step of the journey between the bus stop, the Blarney Stone, the gift shop and back to the bus stop. It was a glorious sight.

I stuck with my trusty accomplices Amy, Emily and Jaynell. We immediately broke away from the group and took the path less traveled. This led us to caves beneath the castle. Of course we had to traverse every possible step of cave because there were unlimited numbers of pictures to be taken. So after a few photo shoots and near decapitations we left the underground and headed for the sky.

Following our tradition of exploration, we walked into every possible room in the castle and took pictures of the castle and landscape from quite a few potentially unique angles. We extended a twelve minute walk to the top of the castle to at least forty minutes. I was proud of our progress.

We reached the zenith and I nearly lost my head and not in the decapitation sense. Being on top of a castle is not something you can really prepare for. I caught myself after a minute or so and began the debate as to whether I should actually kiss the Blarney Stone. It was a debate because I had heard that locals would often urinate on the Stone. According to rumor they thought it was funny that so many people came from around the world to put their mouths on a piece of rock. I came to the conclusion that I had already climbed the castle and was on the line, so I may as well follow suit. I kissed it and have photographic evidence, as could be expected. Jaynell has a fantastic shot of me with the Blarney Stone. Upon removing my lips from the Stone I felt a wave of eloquence rush through me as I began a new life with the fantastic gift of gab inside of me.

Pictures taken during the trip: 25