Killarney to Blarney

Day 3 - May 13

Once we mastered the power thing in the hotel room, we had to leave. On to the bus for a stop at Muckross House & Gardens outside Killarney. Way cool place with an old abandoned Abbey and cemetery, and an estate house and gardens that were kept immaculately. Huge picturesque lake and mountains in view and the misty overcast weather added to the beauty. Everything there seemed to grow way bigger than here. Humongous rhododendrons, huge exotic plants called Gunnera, everything so green. Again, not enough time to see all that I wanted to see. I heard there were waterfalls too, but not time to hike to see them. Maybe next time.

Next stop, Annes Grove Gardens. And the plant nerds of the group got a custom tour by the current owner Patrick Grove Annesly. Nothing like walking through a garden with someone who knows more than you and can tell you all the neat stories that go with the garden...and in an Irish accent. Great visit, again, would have liked to linger longer. 500 acre estate by a river, with gardens covering 30 acres. House was under restoration so we couldn't go in. Would have rather stayed outside anyway. Loads of paths and trails to explore and find all kinds of neat stuff I've never seen before. Again, so green, and so much bigger and better growth than here. Katsura trees, Primula florindae, handkerchief tree, Chilean fire bush. Way cool stuff.

Back on the bus to stay the night in Blarney. Cool little town. Blarney Castle (with the Blarney Stone) was closed before we could get out to explore, so we missed out on kissing the stone. Wouldn't have done it anyway. Allegedly, local kids keep it well watered, or wet with some kind of liquid I won't mention. Hung out in a pub for a while, as the locals congregated for a soccer game. They really love their football. I don't really get it, but the atmosphere was nice. Not like a bar at all. I'm finding that I really dig the small towns. Don't really understand why none of the hotels have coke machines though!