May 30, 2009 KIlarney

Yesterday we stopped at a few beaches before making our way to Kilarney. We went to Blarney where the stairs are tiny and terrifying. Steep. Evil. And the castle was bloody tall. But I managed to make my way up to the top, lay down and lean over the edge of the castle ledge to kiss the Blarney Stone.

BE PROUD.

I inspired a few other women to work up the courage to do it! Afterward we walked around the gardens, took pictures, found somethings called the Wishing Steps, The Witch's Stone, The Witch's Kitchen, and the Druid's Cave. The Witch's Stone had coins on it, and stuck into it's cracks, but I'm not sure why.
After Blarney, we headed to Kilarney, found our B&B, walked around town found a bar with traditional Irish music. We met some really nice Irish from Cork County, some nice Germans, and an AMAZING woman from Britain.
Julia was almost completely paralyzed at 25. She had a baby and could barely manage to feed him. She had another boy, and a set of twins - a boy and a girl. She has rheumatoid arthritis. She had her knees replaced three times, her hips replaced four times, her shoulders twice, and her fingers are full of carbon.
She came to Ireland because she's dying; on top of all her other problems, she has terminal cancer. But she just smiles, laughs, and stays optimistic.


I hadn't really eaten much yesterday, so the two pints of Smithwick's I drank on my empty stomach made me rather drunk.
I never want to be drunk like that again. I woke up at 2 am feeling like I was going to be sick. I was dreaming about following the Irish roadmaps at very fast speeds (so, windy tiny roads at a billion millions an hour). I thought I was going to die. At first, I lay on the bathroom floor, praying I wouldn't puke; then I was praying that I would, if only it would make it all go away. I ended up not puking and fitfully sleeping for a while. Our B&B sucks. We are supposed to have two rooms en suite, but we only have one. And we're supposed to have wi-fi, but it doesn't work.
Today we toured the Ring of Kerry. There were two stops that had animals. At the first there was a lamb, a dog, and a donkey. I held the lamb for a picture and the youngish young man put his arm around me. He wasn't attractive, so I wasn't really okay with that...
We had lamb stew for lunch. At a second stop there was a baby deer, two more lambs, and a cat! The cat just layed there, a brownish black calm little thing, laying on a blanket, sleeping with a lamb. I wanted to take it home! Now we're in a pub, listening to music. I have a Bailey's and Milk <3. I'm sleepy again. Tomorrow is Bantry Bay!