kissing a ROCK...

Yesterday we just hung around Cork. It was Saturday (which is terribly hard to know when you are traveling and not on a regular schedule. we were trying really hard to figure out a way to ask someone what day it was and not sound absolutely crazy. and even more so it was like 8 at night by then!) ...and all of Cork was out on the main street, which is called St Patrick's, surprising ay? I did two sketches yesterday, and it's funny because I make Amy sketch too. She says she is bad at it, and won't actually call it 'sketching' she says she is 'diagramming.' but really she is not bad at all. I don't think mine were very good either. This morning we had breakfast at our B and B, and then took the bus to Blarney. It was just about ten or fifteen minute ride, and we walked to the castle. I still say it's absurd for so many people to stand in line in a clausterphobic castle to hang upside down and kiss a ROCK! It's not even a pretty kind of rock, just an old grey ugly rock. But we did it, and we have pictures, so check that off my list of things to do. :) There is also a little forest thing with lots of cool rock formations, and of course it looks like a rain forest. There were some plants with leaves that were as big as Amy, so I made her have her picture next to one. I really wanted her to lay down in it and pretend to be one of the anne geddies babies, but she was scared to get too close to the nature. It seemed like a forest out of a fairy tale, with creepy snarley trees, and along the way it had all little signs about the superstitions of the castle and the area, about witches and wishes and spirits and druids. Strange, but it was pretty anyway. We had lunch there and then took the bus back here to Cork. They are having some sort of strange religious event here today, and the street is closed off. I am hoping they will have a parade, but so far they are just saying Hail Marys over a loud speaker over and over and creeping me out! One of the streets off of St Patrick is called Grand Parade, so I am still hoping. We have had the most amazing weather here in Ireland. The guide book said to carry an umbrella with you at all times, and there was actually an umbrella vending machine at Blarney! I took a picture of course. But it has been warm and sunny the whole time, and I have gotten as tan here as anywhere else. Tomorrow we are taking a bus to Shannon Airport and then flying to Paris. It is probably counter productive rather than just flying out of Cork, but at least we will get to see the countryside a little bit. Cheers!