Kissing Blarney

When we arrived at our B&B in Galway, we couldn't figure out why a single man would own/run a B&B. It all made sense when we found out the woman who made us breakfast was his mother. She served us another traditional Irish breakfast of bacon (Canadian-style), sausage, tomatoes, eggs, and mushrooms.

We had a little bit of a drive to attend the ward in Limerick that morning. When the Garmin couldn't find Doradoyle Road, we made a stop for directions. Come to find out, G thinks there are two o's in Dooradoyle. Go figure. Sacrament meeting was great. A young almost-deacon spoke, a young lady from Ghana, an enthusiastic black man, and a sweet lady all discussed talks from the recent General Conference. The girl from Ghana talked about when she lived there, how the Book of Mormon was banned. The church faced so much opposition, but there is now a temple there. Amazing!

After church, we drove to Blarney... and probably went through our hundredth roundabout. The B&B we stayed at here was a beautiful country farmhouse with the cutest decorations. Next we explored Blarney Castle, seeing the family room, kitchen, great room (banquet hall), dungeon, priests/lords and ladies chambers...

... kissed the Blarney Stone, gaining the gift of Blarney.I really hope that's not slobber.The stone is at the very top level of the castle, by the way, and you have to lay down, bend backwards, and dip your head through the crack. A man is paid to stand there and hold/help the lines of people over and over again. I wonder how you get that job... I'm glad he's there, though. I'm a little afraid of heights.

We strolled around the grounds and gardens, seeing the Blarney House and limekiln.

The gardens were magical... with waterfalls...

Wishing Stairs...

Witches Kitchen (that's Michelle by the chimney) and Stone...

Druids Cave and Circle...

and Fairy Glade.

I would have loved to be a child growing up with those gardens as my playground. We met some interesting people there as well; a couple from Texas on their honeymoon, who didn't realize that their chosen picnic spot was in the middle of the path; a boy (with his mom) looking for the Wishing Stairs and stopping just short of finding them.
We did a little shopping and ate dinner in the local pub/restaurant. I had Shepherd's Pie (which left something to be desired) and Michelle had cod. Everything was served with fries. There was quite a crowd watching the football game. Go Ireland!