Allen farewells the Emerald Isle, Ireland with a legendary kiss and a parting visit to world famous home of “the black stuff” – Guinness.
DAY SEVEN: Blarney Castle & the Guinness Factory
Another corker of a day in Cork (see what I did there) saw our merry little crew of 8 set off for Blarney Castle.
Thousands of tourists flock to this famous castle each year to kiss the Blarney stone. This, according to legend, will give the kisser the “gift of the gab”.
After some body contorting to smooch the wet stone, we pondered whether we’d gained the gift of eloquence or simply lost our marbles. The credibility of the legend was soon called into question when our newly claimed subtlety failed to appear.
Blarney or simply a load a baloney? We started to wonder whether we were really fertile virgins too… diabhal!
Zipping back to Dublin, we enjoyed the full VIP treatment at the Guinness Factory, walking into St James’ Gate washed over by the malty aroma of roasted barley, getting the opportunity to pull our own Guinness and sampling the exclusive Guinness coated beer nuts and crisps.
After a group hug that almost crushed our tour guide Brian and some last minute Facebook friending, we all parted ways, some jet-setting back to London, others staying on in Dublin and us waiting for our ferry and a scenic train ride back to London.
It has been a wonderful trip filled with beautiful landscapes, incredible history and legend, and most of all amazingly welcoming people… will miss you Ireland and will be sure to be back soon!
Beannacht leat go bhfeicfidh mé aris thú (Blessings until I see you again)!
Allen