after our wonderful breakfast, we headed out of lismore to continue our trip west. our first stop on the somewhat overcast morning was at blarney castle. it was sprinkling during our visit (one of the two times we had a little rain during our trip) but we still enjoyed climbing through the castle and exploring the grounds. of course we both kissed the blarney stone and i was amazed that there was no line whatsoever for us to do so! there were two people ahead of us who were done by the time we had walked across the walkway over to where the two men stood.
after blarney, we drove on to cork city so that my husband could visit st. anne's church. st. anne's is home to the shandon bells which, for a small fee, tourists cans ring. my husband was very excited about his chance to play church bells and enjoyed playing a couple of songs while we were there (they provide some sheet music in the tower). you also climb the tower and can see the bells as they are rung if someone comes in behind you. the views over cork from the top are lovely.
after our brief stop in cork, we continued on to kinsale where we planned to spend the night. kinsale is one of those towns that gets highly recommended on many tourist sites and in many tourist guides, but honestly, i'm not sure why. it's a cute town, but i don't necessarily feel that it's worth a trip unless you have a very specific reason for going. but anyway-- we arrived in kinsale in the early afternoon, and had quite a time finding a place to park. we ended up in the free park just outside of the main town which is not a far walk, but it's a little cumbersome with luggage. we checked in to our hotel, the blue haven, and headed out to explore the town. it doesn't take a terribly long time to walk through the streets and around the harbor. we enjoyed visiting several shops including the silver shop and kinsale crystal. eventually we decided on dinner at ned kelly's. it's a nice pub, frequented by lots of colorful locals. after dinner, we crossed to street to have a nice ice cream dessert at sundays. i will say this- kinsale has its fair share of ice cream shops, you have to love that! if you do make it by sundays, i highly recommend the chocolate sundae with brownies, fudge sauce, chocolate covered honeycomb, and malt ball sprinkles. i'm still dreaming of this treat, ha!
after dinner we headed back to the hotel and went to bed. we stayed in room 1 at the blue haven, where the hallways are a litle worn but the rooms are spacious and clean. i loved our room at blue haven, including the window seat overlooking the main street. it was a great place to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of kinsale in the evening. the bathroom was a nice size and the beds were very comfy. i would certainly stay here again if i were back in kinsale.
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