We’ve officially started on our honeymoon vacation. It was a long day of travel, driving to Milwaukee, flying to Detroit, catching a transfer in Amsterdam, to our final destination, Cork, Ireland. We slept on and off during all the flights, so by the time we arrive in Cork around 11:30 am, we were ready to start our adventure, and didn’t face many issues with jet lag. The first thing we decided to do was get back on the bus to travel to Blarney (about 5 miles from Cork). We stopped to have lunch at an Irish Pub. (We also stopped at an Irish Pub at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam so that Andy could have a Heinekin while in Amsterdam, but in an Irish Pub.) I think it was called Muskerry’s Irish Pub, which seemed to have traditional Irish meals. After lunch, we started our climb to get to the Blarney Stone. Andy was a little apprehensive on the way up, but after realizing it was too crowded to urn around, he made it through like a trooper I pretended to kiss the Blarney Stone so I don’t think that means I’ll have the gift of eloquence. After Andy’s story about drunk locals peeing on the Blarney Stone, I didn’t want to get too close.
Andy, however, decided not to sit down and lay down by the Blarney Stone. Afterwards, we walked around for a couple of hours, looking at the gardens, the waterfalls, the nature hikes, the caves, the lake and the Blarney House. It was beautiful with all that greenery. By the time we arrived back in Cork, it was time for dinner. We took a suggestion from the Kinlay House where we are staying and went to the Bodega for some more traditional Irish food. It was a classy joint, and we were a little under dressed, but it was a nice place to eat for dinner. We found out that the brewery across the street had opened up two months prior (July 2014) so we just had to check out the Rising Sons Brewery (only microbrewery in Cork). They surprisingly had a decent quality product. We ended the night by stopping for a drink at An Spailpin Fanach (the migrant worker) for a couple drinks of Guiness and traditional Irish music. We arrived just before they started, and it was crowded by the time we left. It was exactly the type of pub (atmosphere) that we were hoping for and looking for.