Powers Court, Ireland

Hi Everyone!

  On Tuesday we went to Powers Court. It's an old estate that is beautiful inside and has fabulous gardens. It is also where they filmed outdoor scenes in "The Count of Monte Cristo". We were there for hours, just walking around. There was lots to do there, gardens, ponds, flowers, and wait...more flowers. There was even a pet cemetery.

I saw this and thought, "Juliet's tower"

Flowers up close

This reminded me of a heart

Hello Count of Monte Cristo

Ok, remember I mentioned a pet cemetery, well I was a bit morbid and took pictures. I was curious what people named their pets back in the day. The gravestones were very sweet. I also noticed that they started burying their pets in the early 1900's.

                                               

                                                     More flowers.                         

Ring of Kerry

Hi Everyone!!

    Taking a rest after a long amazing day today! Thought I would try and show you my adventure from a few days before. I'm trying to catch up, but I end up way too tired at night when we get home from the days goings-on.  Monday morning we left Blarney village a bit late, close to noon, and decided to drive the "Ring of Kerry" on our way back to Ferns, where we were staying in a cottage. The Ring of Kerry is a bunch of amazing sites that are scattered throughout the County Kerry. We were only able to see about half, and even then, we didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked. However we were grateful to see what we did.

I loved this tree. It reminds me of faeries!

Amy didn't know I was taking her pic! She was staring at the waterfall.

Not that you can tell, but there were a million bugs buzzing around my head when we were trying to take pics.

We were driving and saw this from the road. How lucky are we!

I was so proud of myself for taking this pic. I was scared of where I was standing, so close to the edge, straight down the mountain.

Heather, I haven't seen any Leprechauns yet, but this one is for you!

We had to turn around and take this pic. As I was driving around this bend, he just popped out. Freaked me out!

Just before we grabbed the camera, the sheep had taken over the road so we couldn't cross.

  

That's all for now!

Cork & Blarney Castle, Ireland

Greetings from Ireland, I finally made it, a day late and via Zurich! It's hard to believe that Amy and I have already been here four days. Driving on the opposite side has been challenging, yet doable. Our first day here we relaxed and enjoyed being here. On Sunday morning we headed to Blarney, with a quick stop in Cork.

                          Above are a few pictures of Cork, the poles were kind of cool I thought.
We only spent a few hours in Cork, on the way to Blarney. I would love to go back to Cork and spend more time there. We are already talking about making another trip to Ireland in a few years.
   It took a few hours, but we made it to the village of Blarney, and after checking in to our B & B, we walked over to Blarney Castle.

Some passage ways were this small.

Amy standing by where you lean over and kiss the Blarney Stone. We did not kiss it, you have to lean over on your back, and hold onto bars, while your back, neck, and head are hanging on air. A lovely man helps hold you, but frankly I don't like strange men holding me while I kiss a stone.

Along the top, this is to show how high up we were.

Narrow steps, I was worried about slipping and falling to my death. Ok, maybe a little over the top, but I was worried about broken bones.

A ground view up to where you lean over and kiss the stone. Yep, and people wonder why I didn't get excited and do it.

Amy, checking out the room.

We are checking out the grounds and gardens at Blarney Castle.

It was rumored that this little pond, and the rocks around it are the homes of the fairy folk.

This was way fun to walk through. The walkway was actually very roomy, and beautiful.

Some of the gorgeous flowers in the gardens. I feel as if I took a million pictures of flowers so far.

I loved these plants, I thought they were so cool because they were sooo big. I imagined rain puddles inside of them.

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

There are eyes everywhere!

 I took about two hundred pictures of Blarney and the surrounding gardens, but didn't think I should bore everyone with posting all of them. I don't think they would be as exciting for you as they were for me, because I was actually there. The grounds were lovely and peaceful to walk around. It made me think of people who actually lived back then, and how they had everything they needed on the grounds, so that they did not need to leave often.

Now I'm off on another adventure...sleep!