Have you kissed the Blarney Stone Goodbye?

I'm in Cork, Ireland, on the southern tip of the Island. I spent the day at Blarney Castle, and yes I kissed the stone.

London was, to me, a bit over rated. The sights were excellent but I found Vienna more to my taste. I walked from My cousin's flat on the east side of down town, to Buckingham Palace and then some. There was a garden party with the Queen of some sort going on and all types of muckymucks were dressed to the 9's and admitted into the grounds. We peasants stayed outside (not that I care) and I went about getting some good shots of the external grounds and the exterior of the Stable Grounds. Was alright, but again Vienna was much more to my taste and lets face it... it's very hard to compete with the Lipizzaner Stallions and the Spanish Riding School. (also built by and utilized by Royalty)

The highlight of my time in London was spending time with my cousin. He is 17 years older than I am, but there is no difference in generation when we are talking. He filled me in on things I hadn't known from the past, and I did the same for him. He had totally forgotten that he used to read to me, nor did he know that I have zero memories of his one brother at all until my grandmothers funeral when I was nearly 22. I have vivid memories of his other brother and himself, but there's nothing of Kev. (To this day I love to be read to.)

We taked about the farm, life, and all that good stuff. We discovered we have a lot in common even though we see each other Maybe once every 10 or so years. We made dinner in his flat and watched video's and listened to music. It was extremely nice. I left early this morning, but last night before we turned in, he pulled out a very well loved hard cover copy of "The Prince of Tides" his favorite book. He read several passages that were the work of a gifted writer. I can't wait to read it.

I got into my cab to the airport at 03:20 this morning, flew to Dublin Ireland, and promptly got on a train for Cork. I spent the remainder of the day walking the city and taking a trip to Blarney Castle. Again, I highly recommend Blarney Castle. It was quite unique, and Blarney house can rival the best mansions Europe has to offer. I am very impressed.

It's nearly midnight now, and I'm dog tired, but I wanted to get some of this down before turning in. I had 2 of my all time must do experiences today. Kissing the Blarney Stone and sitting in a small town Irish pub, having a meal and a traditional beverage. (For all of you that asked me to enjoy a beverage for you, I did, it was just the same one for all of you. I'ld still be there otherwise.) For me it was a reconnection to my Irish roots. My mother's family is a boisterous mix of French and Irish. The German side of my family has always been very close, and the Russian side almost non existent. It was important to me to experience rural Ireland. And I am. And I Love It!

The funny thing is, my mother has always told me I have a very European look to me. (what ever that means). I don't really look like either of my parents, though my one brother and I have some similar features. Other than him, I look nothing like the rest of my family. But I digress, apparently I look very Irish. People I have spoken with have automatically started speaking to me in Gaelic. I have also discovered the reason there are so few red heads in the world is because they are all here. It's like a convention. You can't swing a stick with out hitting a red head. Kinda makes you feel like you fade into the back ground.

But I have to get some sleep. I'm going to grab a train in the morning to the north side of the island. I'm trying to make Norway by Saturday, and Germany again by Monday. Long as I'm in Frankfurt Wednesday to catch my flight, everything else will get sorted.

Lisa Freitag
Silent River Kung Fu, Cork (both town and province) Southern Ireland.