Cork, Dingle (and Blarney Castle, for what its worth...)

Perhaps one of the less inspiring cities was Cork... but nevertheless it had some cool bars (well, one, but it was a Wednesday), some entertaining locals and a good Irish musician by the name of Seamus who burst out a good couple of U2 covers.


On to Blarney castle, home of the legendary Blarney Stone. I must criticise the usually-commendable Lonely Planet Guide (travel bible) at this point for neglecting to mention the bazaar obscurity of the rituals that take place here.


So you wander up, stuck behind some English OAP's who are in no hurry to make it to the top by sunset, get in a line which there is no avoiding, to do this - get hurled over backwards by a frail 'stone-supervisor' to have your photo taken kissing a bit of wall? He got angry at me for resisting him and screwing up my nose as he thrust my face into the scungy moss, where i'm sure many oral germs lurk.


on to better things... we by-passed the touristy Ring of Kerry for the Dingle Peninsula, which ended up being a good move. Jackson found some ancient ruins to chill out in.




Beautiful coastline...


beaches...


and sunsets...


but to my disgrace summer in Ireland doesn't quite stretch to a 10pm bevvie by the waterside