July - August, 2013
August 2 - Weather: Mostly sunny, high temp in upper 60s (turned clocks back 1 hour last night)
HAL arranged for a shuttle to take us from the port into the city of Cork. We left the ship around 9:00 with Ilan and Dahlia and took the shuttle, then went to the bus station to catch a bus to Blarney Castle. The bus got us to the castle around 10:00 and we spent several hours walking around the beautiful grounds. We didn't climb the 120 steps to the top of the castle to kiss the Blarney stone, as we did that some years ago. Back then lying on our backs to kiss the stone wasn't much of a challenge. There were a few raindrops, but for the most part it was a great day for a walk around the lake and through the fern garden and the poison garden. Blarney House, where the owners of the estate live, is very nice. When we arrived back in Cork we found a pub and had fish and chips and Harp beer. Ilan andDahlia, who live south of San Francisco, are very interesting and good company. They grow grapes and have their own cabernet sauvignon made for them. After lunch we walked through the English Market, where they had quail eggs, kangaroo meat and pigeon filets in a display case. We had dinner on the ship and went to the Irish comedian's show. Here's one joke: Murphy was a Jehovah's Witness and his wife was an atheist. Their children would knock on doors for no apparent reason.
© Jay 2020