Today started early, and by early I mean 5:3 am.

We went to the train station today to meet our tour group for Blarney Castle, Cork, and Cobh.

I liked the exterior of Blarney, though it kind of unnerved me while I was climbing the steps to learn that the spiral case narrowed dramatically at the top. I'm not usually a claustrophobe, but I am uneasy around heights. The staircase was really close, the steps were rather steep, and the only means of support was a shaky rope.

Regardless, I made it to the top of the castle! I did not kiss the Blarney Stone, but my husband did. I took one look at the overhang, weighed it against my shaking hands, and said, "Not happening."

The steps down were even more unnerving, as the angle of the steps doesn't allow much visibility, but at least there were rails this time.

Cork was a lovely town, but all we really did was a driving tour of the place.

Cobh (pronounced 'Cove') was a gorgeous little port town, including the last port that the Titanic docked at before embarking over the ocean (though it was called Queenstown at the time).

There was also a very big cathedral in Cobh, which was quite pretty, though as I've possibly mentioned prior, there are a LOT of cathedrals in both England and Ireland. It's starting to blur in my mind, a lot of the buildings have stuff in common.

Tomorrow is the Ring of Kerry (probably butchering the spelling), and just as early a start as today was. Anyways, sleep beckons, just as soon as I finish the picture upload to Facebook.