USA V. IRE

At around noon yesterday, a bunch of us got together for a trip to Blarney Castle. The mayor and his wife graciously offered us a ride to the 13th century structure. What makes this castle particularly worth a visit is the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Legend has it that kissing this stone will give you the gift of flattery. This ritual has been performed by millions of people including some major names in entertainment and politics. Though, this kiss is not achieved easily. In order reach this stone, you have to go to the peak of the castle and then lean over backwards on the edge of its parapet. This is especially difficult if you have a fear of heights, like i do. For a moment, I was able to conquer my fear. Hopefully its luck will show.

Another strange ritual that the castle holds is the Wishing Steps. Supposedly, if you can walk up and down this stone stairway, eyes shut, with only a wish in mind, it will come true. Not sure about the grey areas on this one, but i slid down the railing... Does that work?

Truthfully, the part of this trip that I liked best was unbelievably rich, natural landscape. I took loads of pictures detailing the waterfalls, flowers and stones displayed along the walking paths. I experimented with the features of my new camera and found a lot more joy in the art of photography.

After a quick stop for some ice cream, we headed back to the hotel for some dinner. We tried to keep it light because we had big plans for the night. An extremely important and international sporting event. U.S.A v. Ireland. Beer Pong. A bunch of the guys from the pub were coming over to play some beer pong and other American drinking games. We kept score by country, like a miniature olympics. We even had a trophy. We ended up tying, or losing track of score from over consumption. One of the two. Great night though.