Adventures with Tyler - Vol. 2

On the second day, we went to Blarney to visit the castle, stone, house, and garden. You know, obligatorily.

Blarney Castle in the shadow

Hooray! We climbed all 100 steps to the top

This was before he slipped on the stairs (not at this moment; a few minutes later)

Doorway made for small people

This is legit - there really were dangerous plants in here! But I couldn't take any pictures in fear of waking the mandrakes. (Just kidding, but there were actually mandrakes in there.)

Vine-covered tree

Statue mysteriously atop a hill of rocks

Castle on the way back from the road walk

Blarney House

We got lost coming back from Blarney and ended up at Nad, a small town that I think only had a bar. Anyway, we were already halfway to Killarney, so we decided to just keep going - to Killarney National Park. One great thing we saw going through the city before the park: a kid on a bicycle wearing a Mike Redmond jersey. In Ireland!! So that was fun.

We climbed a hill to get this great view.

Nice lil river we found

And it came with a nice lil bridge

Uh oh. Big tour buses...

Next stop...!

Safari-style

Valentine's Day at the Blarney Stone

On Sunday, February 14, Mag and Bethany (roommate from Loyola in Maryland) went to Blarney to see the Castle and the Stone. This was our day...

These stairs were really scary! They were narrow and didn't have handrails, so we had to hold a rope (seen here) in the center of the stairway.

These birds were on a ledge on the castle. This picture was taken as we were going up to the top, looking down at the ground.

This is at the top level of the castle - the middle of it was open.

This is the top of the castle, where the Blarney Stone is.

The Blarney Stone was my Valentine. But it was scary because underneath me, there was no floor, it just had guard rails. That's why that guy is there - because you have to be held over it and then reach backwards and down to kiss the stone (which is cleaned before almost every person).

This is my adrenaline face.

This is the Blarney Stone looking up. Those two little rails = all that keeps one from falling to ground. Well, and the guy that's there.

I'm doing a cartwheel because I'm so happy to be back on the ground! And because Maggie didn't believe me that I could do one.

Blarney House - closed "until spring."

Mystical tree on the grounds