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On the drive to Kinsale, Co Cork, where I would be staying the next 2 nights I stopped in Blarney to visit the Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone. In the end it was fun and I am glad that I did it but what a lot of people waiting in line to kiss a rock, usually it just takes dinner to get lucky. By the time I made it to the top of the castle it was POURING rain, I did have the umbrella but I still got completely soaked while kissing the rock, at least it was cleaned off from the person before me!

From there it was a short drive to Cork City, Co Cork. Cork is a very large city, much bigger then Minneapolis or St Paul, not sure if it is bigger then Chicago though. I actually got lucky with my choice in car park, I entered a parking garage and went all the way to the roof. Thankfully the rain had stopped. The views from the roof were amazing, and the car park was just a few blocks away from the English Market, which was my plan for lunch. The market is setup much like a farmer's market but with butchers and tons of other great stuff. I bought a sandwich and went across the street into a neat little park for my lunch. After a nice lunch I walked around town a bit and saw that it wasn't going to be all that great for sights, Cork is mainly a big city place and I was ready to get out. Dublin is coming up so I will get plenty of city life then.

I managed to make it to Kinsale in time to hit Desmond castle before it closed. The castle itself has served many purposes. For now it is a wine museum. Kinsale was mainly a trading port, the largest in fact for over 200 years before the trade out grew the port and Cork took over that name. One of the major imports of Kinsale was wine. Also, many Irish families ended up buying land in France and Spain for growing their own grapes. We still drink their wine today. After reading about the significance of Kinsale and Ireland with regards to wine I had quite a thirst and went for a drink and dinner to Jola's Restaurant. The meal was spectacular and the desert was perhaps my most favorite ever. They serve a lemon sorbet that is blended with champagne into a "milkshake" type desert, served in a champagne glass.

(next: misadventures driving in the counrtyside!)