8/12 – 3rd Irish Shore Excursion

Cork - the Blarney Stone

The next day, we were again in Ireland, in Cork, where we would take a bus to the Blarney Castle, presumably to see the Blarney Stone. First, the bus took us to a little shopping center about a 2 mile hike from the Blarney Castle. This was where the bus would be parked.

Each of us was given a coupon to take to the pub and get a free Irish coffee. So I got into line, and somehow lost Hubby. Probably, he went to find a bathroom, or to take some pictures. So I got an Irish coffee for each of us and sat down at a table in the courtyard for him to find me. I didn't like the Irish coffee. All I tasted was very hot coffee. Whenever I drink coffee (hardly ever), I like it with lots of cream and sugar, to tone that coffee taste down. Eventually, Hubby found me, and tried his own cup. I don't know if he liked it or not; he usually drinks his coffee black and strong, so maybe he did.

We were supposed to meet the tour guide in the middle of the shopping mall in about half an hour, so she could get us all through the castle gate as a group. I was worried about missing her, but found some other members of our group, so my nerves settled down. But where was my hubby? He finally reappeared out of a store, having bought a bottle of coffee beans and 1 bottle of mead to thank the neighbor for watching our house while we were gone. Somehow, I wound up with that sack to carry during the hike to and from the castle, so that he could take pictures.

So we were forced marched guided to the castle gateway, where the staff counted us in order to let us in. Once we were inside the grounds, the tour guide said we had 1 hour to walk the rest of the way to the castle and get back to the bus. We were turned loose. Hubby—and most everybody else in the group—soon left me in the dust as they hurried towards the castle. I traveled at my own speed and enjoyed the walk.

When I finally got up the hill to the castle, there was a line snaking out the castle door and around the courtyard. The people were there to climb a steep set of stairs up to the top of the castle, where the Blarney Stone was located. We could see it from the outside, but of course, you had to be on the top of the castle to have any hope of touching it. And the markers indicated that the line was an hour long. We only had about 45 minutes left to get back to bus.

We had our picture taken in front of the castle, but didn't get in line. Instead, we wandered off to view the 'Poison Garden'. John was snapping pictures like crazy. It wasn't long before I told him, "Well, I have to start back, because I move slower than you do." So I left, and hoped he kept an eye on his watch.

When I got back to the parking lot, all the several tour buses had rearranged themselves. I checked in with the tour guide, and then started down the line of buses, looking for #17, for that was my group. It was the next-to-the-last bus, of course. I found our seats, and then started worrying about John getting back in time. He wasn't the last member of the group to get back, and then we had an uneventful bus trip back to the ship.

I wouldn't mind going back again, perhaps not on a shore excursion, to spend a night or two at the local tavern and do a long walk around the castle, perhaps even check out the stores in that little shopping center.

Thursday, 8/11 – 2nd Irish Shore Excursion

Dublin – Dublin Highlights

Hubby seemed to be feeling better in the morning. He climbed out of bed about 6 and got dressed. We needed to gather in the Stardust Theater by 7:50, so I got up shortly after he did. We went to the buffet once again, and then he wanted to go out on the deck to get some pictures. And probably do some walking. He tries to walk 10,000 steps a day. I went back to our cabin to get our tickets for the day’s excursion.

7:40, I went out into the hall to catch sight of him as soon as possible, keeping an eye on both the corridor and the nearest bank of elevators. About 7:45, I finally saw him walking towards me down the corridor, so I started walking that way, because it was the opposite end of the ship that we needed to get to! We barely made it there on time, and then had to go down to the very front of the theater to find any seats to sit on. But we had just gotten situated when they called the first tour of the day. It was us! So we had to climb back up the stairs halfway, to the deck 6 exit, where we were given stickers to tell us which bus to get on. Then we had to walk down 2 decks, halfway to the rear of the ship, cross to the port side, and finally climb out to board the tender.

It was a 20- or 25-minute ride to get to the pontoon pier. Then a rather long walk to where the buses were waiting. But once we got aboard, it wasn’t long before we were on our way. This was to be a 4-hour tour, with most of it being on the bus. It sounded delightful. No struggling to keep up with a speedy tour guide, no stopping to taste or shop; just sitting on a bus and looking out the windows. Mostly.

Our tour guide was full of information; history, architecture, current events, more history, even a quick lesson in speaking Gaelic.

Our one stop was at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. After the bus parked in the back of the cathedral, we walked about 2 blocks to get to the front, where we were organized to go in as a group. We were given 45 minutes to look around at the many, many displays, and if we had any questions, we could find the tour guide and ask her. I should have asked her about the circular staircase that seemed to go up through the ceiling. Its outside was decorated with ornately carved columns, but the stairs seemed scarcely wide enough for a child to use, and the entire staircase’s diameter seemed to be about a yard.

I didn’t want to hurry back to the bus, so I left the cathedral after 35 minutes. It took me 6 minutes to saunter back to the bus. Before I left, I had warned Hubby that it was nearly time to go, and to not forget to leave time to walk to the bus. He wasn’t the last to get to the bus, but he was among the last 5 to arrive there. Happily, they weren’t late.

We zig-zagged through down-town Dublin for some time, looking at bridges, statues, Georgian squares and other examples of architecture. Eventually, we left Dublin to head to the pier a few kilometers away. We boarded a tender and rode back to the ship, where we went to the buffet for a quick lunch.

As we left the buffet, Hubby started to complain that he had a stomachache again. When we got to our cabin, he sat down to watch some tv. I plugged in my computer, and then his camera battery, which had run out of juice in the middle of Dublin. Then I laid down and listened to the tv for the better part of an hour.

When I did get up to take my computer to the internet café, I asked what he was thinking of doing, and he said possibly go walking. I wondered if he might have developed an ulcer, and he asked, “Starting yesterday?” Well, those things have to start some time. He came back with the suggestion that maybe he’s been without coffee for too long. He hasn’t been drinking it because the coffee served in the buffet is amazingly bitter. Now, I’ve ‘broken’ my caffeine addiction 2 or 3 times, and I don’t remember a stomachache as one of my symptoms. I hoped he felt better by evening; we had a reservation at the Japanese restaurant.