We left Kilkenny and made our way to Tipperary to the fabulously situated Rock of Cashel. Talk about views! It was nice and empty so we could easily roam (and dance) around the grounds. The only disappointment was finding the much-hyped-by-Rick Steves "Granny's Kitchen" closed.Our next destination was Cork, but Gretchen talked Steph into a little, well, umm, detour that became the LONG way around Tipperary as we went in search of Andrew Lloyd Weber's castle in the teeny, tiny town of Fethard. The castle was the site of early episodes of my new guilty pleasure, "Any Dream Will Do," aka the casting show for London's new production of "Joseph...Dreamcoat." (Go Keith, Lee or Daniel!). Anyhoo, having just a picture in my head from what it looked like on t.v., we went driving around til a friendly local pointed us in the right direction. We finally found it, but alas, it was pretty much blocked off. All we caught was a glimpse of the turrets! Oh well, at least we can say we, um, turned around in his driveway!
After a long day o' driving we were thrilled to hit Cork and stay at the BEST B&B of the trip! Tom/Tony (long story, but it's really Tony, sigh... loved him!) and his wife Avril, their nice daughters and cute dog were the friendliest of hosts, sending us to a fantastic restaurant for dinner, cooking us a wonderful breakfast and providing the nicest/biggest room of the trip. If you're heading to Cork, don't stay anywhere else but Fernroyd House. It's smack-dab next to Cork's lovely University and a 7-8 minute walk into the city.
Next up was Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney stone! We scored on this as well as we were a 10 minute drive away so got there right when it opened. Steph passed on trekking to the top to kiss it, but I made it and now possess the gift of gab (or well, perhaps an even more intense gift of gab?) Guidebooks had said the castle was not much, but it's on GORGEOUS grounds, with a beautiful park and sets of druid stones throughout.
We wrapped up our Cork stay with an open-air bus tour of the city and a lunch stop in one of Europe's biggest markets - the Old English Market. Two words: Tas-ty!
The photos for this part of the trip are now on Snapfish.
Next up? Kerry is so very.....breathtaking!
