Kissing the Blarney Stone.

One thing I've always wanted to do was kiss the Blarney Stone. And as of yesterday I can officially cross that off my bucket list.  The Blarney Stone is located on top of Blarney Castle, in the town of Blarney and there are a couple of theories on how/why the stone exists.  Nobody really knows for sure, but legend has it that if you kiss the stone you will be blessed with the gift of eloquence. 

The line to get in the castle was ridiculously long, but I was bound and determined. After an hours wait I was in. I meandered up the 100 spiraled stoned steps touring the castle as I ascended. On the top level is where the Blarney Stone lays. It's embedded w other stones on the vertical, exterior wall of the castle.  All the other stones are smaller in size and rough in texture. But the Blarney Stone is long and smooth... perfect for a smooch. 

And achieving that kiss is no easy task. You must lay on your back, hang on to the railings, bend backward upside down, slide down to the rock and pucker up. There's one guy who hangs on to you as your dangling 10 stories above the ground, while another guy snaps unflattering photos of you in very uncompromising positions.

One things for certain, its a good thing I'm not a germaphobe.  The amount of mouths and germs that have been smeared all over that rock is a bit much for some; including my uncle and my mother.  But God less them,  they waited in that stupid line with me w/out any intentions of ever kissing the rock. Thanks family!

We have since made it to Listowel.  We are staying in my Uncles friends house. They live in the States and only use this house a couple weeks out of the year so we have free run of the place. This will be our home base for the next week and we plan to make day trips to other sights and attractions.  Not sure what's on the agenda for the next few days but if its blog worthy you can bet you'll be hearing about it.