Ireland Trip Day 4

My two uncles and my dad took advantage of staying at the Blarney Golf Resort and played 9 holes of golf before breakfast. Breakfast was followed by a trip to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney stone. The Blarney Stone is supposed to give you the gift of gab - the difference between Blarney and Baloney is that Blarney is Baloney spoken eloquently. This was decided by Queen Elizabeth I when the Earl of Blarney would send word back of great flattery, but not do the things she wanted. Dad and I kissed the Blarney stone, but Mom took one look at it and said "No way!" This is because you have to lay down, lean back over the side of the castle, grab two poles while a worker holds your torso, and kiss the stone opposite your head.
We shopped and ate lunch at Blarney Woolen Mills - a massive souvenir shop with very good Irish Stew. Our next stop in Ireland was Killarney. Our first order of business after checking into the hotel was a jaunty ride (a ride in a horsedrawn carriage) through the Killarney National Park to Ross Castle. Our jarvey (the driver) was hilarious! Here are a few of the jokes he told/sights we saw:
Those woods over there are the Monk's Woods. The ones on the other side of the road are the Nun's Wouldn't.
(After seeing a wedding party drive by): There goes another sorry man.
It only rains twice a week in Ireland. The first 3 days and the other 4.
There are two types of deer in the park: male and female.
A trough that was filled with water - that's the leprachaun's swimming pool. The olympics were held there last year.
He also proposed marriage to a girl from the Minnesota part of the group. He asked her what time should he come that night and she responded with "We're going to get married tonight?!" and he said "No, not for the wedding!" He also gave her a boquet of wild irises and one of the other jarveies asked if he could be the best man.
There are three lakes in County Kerry, and the Lower Lake is beside Ross Castle. We took a boat tour of the lake, which was gorgeous.
That night, Ashley, Sarah, Manda, and I walked down to Danny Mann's pub in Killarney and enjoyed live music. When the waiter came to take our drink order, he pointed at me and said "Ok, Heinekin," which I corrected by saying, "No, Guinness." He then came back saying he had missed someone and I said I wanted a Guinness. He came back with the drinks and gave me a Heinekin so I just drank that.