Day 3 of our Amazing European girl’s trip started in Kilkenny, Ireland. We hit the road early after an amazing Irish breakfast at the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel. With our bellies full of eggs, black pudding, and scones we headed out towards the Rock of Cashel!!!
The Rock of Cashel is a 5th Century Castle that has been the seat of many of the Kings of Ireland for hundreds of years. Read more about it here at http://www.cashel.ie/rock-of-cashel/ . Seated atop a high hill, with commanding views of the entire County Tipperary, this castle ruin is more than amazing. It is located almost in the center of the country between Dublin and Limerick. So, it’s the perfect stop when heading to the west coast of Ireland.
My sisters, mom, and I wandered around the castle ruins for at least an hour. There are twists and turns everywhere. It easy to imagine that this was once a grand, lively castle. It was another misty, cloudy day. But, that didn’t stop us!! I could have wandered the grounds for hours. I love the other castle ruins you could see thru the narrow opening in the outer bailey walls.
There is a steep hill to walk up to the entrance of the castle and you have to park at the bottom of the hill where there is this cute little café. So after we wandered around for a while, we headed back down the hill and grabbed a little lunch for the road at the café.
Our next stop was Blarney Castle!!! We got lost a few times, missed the turn for the castle, and ended up in downtown Cork. So, after a quick drive around the colorful, coastal town we headed back to Blarney Castle. By the time we reached Blarney Castle and paid our admission, it was pouring down rain again. We climbed the five, winding flights of stairs to the top of the castle that is all exposed to the open air and rain. You have to walk around the top to the side where, one-by-one, they lower you backwards off the slippery side to kiss the Blarney stone for the ‘gift of gab’, so they say. It was very scary, but a MUST DO in Ireland!!! The gardens and gift shop are awesome too!! I’ve been told that the Woolen Mills down the road are worth a visit too! Though your wallet might not thank me!
We had booked our 3rd night’s stay at the Ballyseede Castle Hotel in Tralee. It was only about an hour and a half drive, but took us almost 3 hours because we got caught in a flash flood!!! We were driving down this county road when we saw a little water over the road in front of us. We stopped to make sure it wasn’t too deep. But, within minutes the water was rising and heading right towards us! We had to back both cars up almost a block before we could turn around and find a detour.
Just this little detour took us almost 40 min out of the way. We had to stop for some fish and chips at a roadside restaurant because we were starving instead of attending the nice dinner reservations we had at the Ballyseede Castle that night. We arrive at the castle at dusk with only time for a quick glass of wine in the castle lounge and off to bed in our awesome triple rooms. The resident canines, Mr. Higgins the Irish Wolfhound and Einstein the English Bull Terrier, welcomed us to the hotel and followed us around all night.
In the morning we had an amazing full, Irish breakfast in the castle and explored the beautiful grounds before we headed off for our drive around the Dingle Peninsula.
Stay tunes for my next blog all about driving around the Dingle Peninsula!!
