HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY : The Cliffs of Moher
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not seeing anything of Cork
BUYS OF THE DAY:
WORD OF THE DAY: - Did you kiss the stone?
We drove around an hour this morning for our first stop at The Cliffs of Moher. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but once we got to the cliff edge, there was an amazing view to be had. The cliffs rise 120 meters above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head and reach their maximum height of 214 meters. The Cliffs of Moher rank as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland and topped the list of attractions in 2006 by drawing almost one million visitors and I can see why. When we first got there, it was spitting with rain and windy – then the sun came out and it was still windy – and then the rain started to come in again just after we left. The weather is really a guessing game and I now always have my wet jacket and umbrella on me. The wind was so strong that when you were walking against it, it was like taking 2 steps forward and getting blown back one – it was intense. The Cliffs of Moher have been featured on film numerous times, including Leap Year (2010), The Princess Bride (1987), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), and in the Tentacles of Doom.
From the cliffs we drove for 2 hours to get us to Blarney and the famous castle and the more infamous Blarney Stone. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab. The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens. I always had in my mind that I would be kissing the stone, but had a niggling doubt on the hygiene of where everyone smacks their lips. In 2009, Tripadvisor.com ranked the Blarney Stone as the most unhygienic tourist attraction in the world (although it admitted it had no scientific evidence to back its case) but I think I have to agree. The kiss, however, is not casually achieved. To touch the stone with one's lips, the participant must ascend to the castle's peak, (which is a trek up some skinny spiral stone steps to the summit) then lean over backwards on the parapet's edge. This is achieved with the help of an assistant. Although the parapet is now fitted with wrought-iron guide rails and protective crossbars. Besides the position you need to get into to kiss the stone and after seeing the spot where everyone plants their wet one, it looked a little manky – was the deal breaker for me and was certainly not appealing at all. So I stood in the line, got a picture and stepped right past and I am still glad that I didn’t do it!!Cork was only a 45 minute drive from Blarney. After checking in and eating dinner we headed to a Tenpin Bowling alley, to let our bowling skills unleash. I was originally in team ‘fun’ and then got kicked off, as we had to make another team, as we had an additional lane. So I got with team ‘original’ who don’t have too much time for the ‘newbies’ and team FUN were having that much fun, they didn’t know I was missing – how rude. I bowled a 92 which I think was okay, but our top bowler for our team was Henry and he got 172!!! Too good! I walked home after bowling and caught up on some office work of blogging and photo uploading.
There are only 2 days left of tour, and I hate to say it, but the tour experience itself for me has not been 100% fun, and I am looking forward to the start of my Spanish Spree. I don’t know if it is the modulation of the tour, having a single room – so no room buddy and there seems to be a lot of Debbie Downers on the trip, but it just has not gelled for me. I don’t know why these people come on a Contiki tour when they don’t even socialize nor have fun. I don’t know how many smiles I have thrown their way (they are free right) and get a blank stare or the ‘look away’ look.
Anyway – I have to realize that not all tours are going to be like my Trans Mongolian group or my Contiki Discovery group. I really made some ‘real’ friends on these tours and just assumed it would be the same for all my tours. In Contiki Ireland’s defence, there is a pretty high standard that has been set, and maybe my expectations were just a little too high, but some common courtesy needs to come into play and these guys can’t give a toss.
Off to Kilkenny tomorrow and then one more night in Dublin on tour and I have an additional night after that. Ireland has been great and I have to say the highlight has been the Aran Islands and the Jameson Irish Whiskey Experience it is just a shame about the company.
I probably shouldn’t have put my blog address on the ‘stalker sheet’ yesterday……….
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