Blarney & Kinsale, Ireland

Thursday morning we had a quick breakfast and then wanted to get to Hertz Rental car to get our car that we would have for the remainder of the trip. The rental place wasn't within walking distance so we knew we would have to take a taxi to get there. When we asked the hotel to call a cab for us they informed us that the taxi's were on strike until 11 am.

I had never heard of a strike where they determined the time period ahead of time. Regardless, we waited around for a few hours and luckily we got a cab to take us to the rental facility.

When we got to Hertz they tried to have us upgrade for an additional cost. We were fine with a small car, so they gave us this car below.

It was definitely a European looking car. Something you see on all the movies when everyone goes on a road trip through Europe. We had all of our stuff packed in the car and then they decided to give us a free upgrade. Apparently another couple came in after and they just had backpacks, so they decided they could have the small car and they gave us a Saab instead.

Our free upgrade

We drove to Blarney and Sean got his first experience driving on the "other side" of the road. Once we left the rental place we realized that the tank was only half full and the check coolant level light came on as well. We were like great! It was too difficult to turn around, so we decided to just chance it. We ended up being fine.

The GPS we had told us to take the N8 although we later realized that there was a M8 that was a much faster road that road parallel to N8. We stopped at a little gas station type store and I had ice cream for lunch (I love vacation!) and Sean had a sandwich.

We got to our B & B checked in and took a 2 hour nap.

The sign leading up to our B&B

We checked into our room and the owner told us to check out Blair's Inn for dinner. We asked if we needed a key to our room and the house, and she said we did not. We thought that was kind of strange but we figured that we were far enough in the woods that no one would come steal us.

After dinner on the back patio at the Inn

At dinner we met another couple visiting from Wichita, Kansas. They were going the opposite direction in their travels and told us about some of the stops they made on the way. They also informed us that the best thing to do in Kansas is go to the movie theaters. Apparently one of the guys that comes up with all the new ideas in theatre technology lives there.

They told us about going to the Dingle Bay in Kerry and then about some Dolphin that had a funny name as well. We weren't going to Kerry so we weren't able to check it out.

The food at Blairs Inn was good but the server never came back after dinner to ask about additional drinks or desert. We eventually went inside because it was chilly outside and then they said something about us not paying. We weren't ready to leave though, so we got another drink inside and visited with the couple while we enjoyed one more drink.

We left and went back to our B&B and our room was locked. The rest of the house was closed up, and anyone that was staying was either not there or sleeping. We were thinking, great now what. We walked around in the dark and eventually found a cabinet with room keys in it. Apparently we were supposed to have a key after all. We found our key, luckily all the rooms were named, and we got into our room.

Friday morning after breakfast we decided to drive down to Kinsale. It was a town known for it's food. The roads were very narrow and made me super scared. We found free parking, but this was after we went down this narrow road, that I literally had to get out and direct Sean through so he wouldn't hit the cars parked on the sides of the road.

We walked around main streetand got a chocolate snack to hold me over.


We decided to go on a Harbour cruise to view the town from water. It was a little chilly, but luckily they had blankets on the boat to wrap up and keep warm. While on the ship they played Pachel's Cannon, and it made us think of our wedding. Then at the end of the cruise they played the theme song to Titanic. I'm not sure if that was a good choice in song to play on a boat.

We past two Forts Charles and James

The Spirit of Kinsale, our Harbour Cruise ship

After the cruise ride we had lunch at this really cute place. We had a really good steak sandwich and some of the best seafood chowder either of us have ever had.

After lunch we decided to walk to Charles Fort since it looked pretty neat. It was about a 2 mile walk. This was a stop on the way.

The scenery in the entire country is so beautiful. I loved taking pictures of the landscape and the sailboats that sailed by.

Sean outside of Charles Fort

We stayed at the Fort for a few hours, did the tour and then decided to see what else we could do before we drove home. We found Desmond Castle, which was a complete waste of money. It had some small prison in it, but seriously it was nothing exciting on the inside.

Desmond Castle

We walked around Kinsale and decided to stop and have a drink at Mark's Pub. This place didn't take credit cards and the guy told us to enjoy our drink and come back and pay later.

We enjoyed our drink and made sure to hit up an ATM and come back and pay later, after dinner. Never in the US would they let you do this. Dinner was really good. We went to a place called Vintage, which ironically didn't take credit cards either. Luckily Sean had gotten enough out of the ATM to cover dinner as well.

We called it a night fairly early and went back to the house. We found British Tabloid gossip magazines in one common room of the house and curled up in bed and read them. It was a fun evening.

Outside the B&B

The "Alice & Wonderland" breakfast area

Our room

Saturday morning we checked out of the B&B and drove to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone.

Blarney Castle

A view from the top of the castle looking inwards

Sean kisses the stone

I pretend to kiss the stone, I was too worried based on one of Sean's friends telling me locals pee on it. I later found out Sean did kiss the stone, and then we did see the staff wiping it down when they had a break. Regardless I was a little wierded out, so I just pretended.

A view from the top of the castle