Is it Blarney or Baloney? - Aug 16

Today we explored Cork county.  We drove through the city of Cork and worked our way to Blarney.

Boy playing Irish bagpipes

Blarney Castle

Just outside the Blarney castle, there was a young boy playing the Irish bagpipes. I didn't even know the Irish had their own bagpipes. There are two bags (or bellows) and a fife-like piece that you finger (called a chanter). It's not a wind instrument. The music of made by squeezing the bags with your arm.

Me kissing Blarney Stone

I climbed the steep, circular stairs to the top of the Blarney Castle to kiss the "Stone of Eloquence" (what they call the Blarney stone). Therefore, I will become more eloquent. Or get herpes, one or the other.
Our guide took great pleasure in informing us after we got back on the bus that the stone was used by the castle guards as the toilet (not sure if it's true, since it seems to have believed to hold powers for many years). But i join the ranks of Winston Churchill and many others who kissed the stone.

Jaunting car tour

After Blarney, we drove to Killarney, where we took a jaunting car tour (horse drawn carriage) through town and out to the Killarney National Park.  The park is the oldest national park in Ireland, starting in 1932 when the original 11k access was donated to the state.  it has since been expanded to 25k acres.   We saw a herd of red deer (the only native here in Ireland) on our way to Ross Castle which also sits in the park.
We spent a while at Ross castle, a 15th century Castle on Lough Leane.

Red deer

On our return ride, the driver told us we were coming up to their version of the white House (just a white House with a sign on the typical rock walk). As we passed the floor garden, he informed us theirs is "occupied by the bushes".
After a quick look at the st Mary's Church, which has beautiful stone work.







Then off to the hotel.  Before dinner, we went to a pub in the middle of nowhere, where a couple of locals came to lead us in a sing aloneg shared some stories, and generally entertained us.