DAY FIVE

WRITER’S BLOG - Saturday, May 4th, 2019 - The phone rang at 7:30am. It was Ger from Aer Linguis! She found our bags! They were in Dublin and would be delivered to our hotel in Killarney. What!!!! It’s like Christmas in May! It changed our mindset. It was such a relief to know we didn’t have to run the rest of our trip in the same shirt and Irish underwear! However, we were joyfully cautious. We weren’t going to celebrate until we saw the familiar hue of our wayward bags sitting smartly in our room. Received a text later in the day, they would be delivered at 7:30pm. We were so happy! Breakfast tasted really, really good this morning!!

Blarney Castle. Whew! Forgot how many curvy steps there were to the top, how narrow it was on the parapet, and how big the hole was where you stick your lips to kiss the Blarney Stone. Two of us just blew the Blarney a kiss. Given the sheer height and narrow access, brave hearts were the order of the day. After the Blarney Stone, we walked the massive gardens, vowing to only take the 45 minute walk to see the bee 🐝 farm, but got blissfully lost, finding along the way, the Blarney house, a horse cemetery, some cool caves, a rock icehouse amidst wild garlic, and the Seven Sisters stone garden, erected by the High King of Munster for his nine children - seven girls and two boys. Legend has it, both sons were killed in battle, whereby he ordered the stones to be pushed over to represent his fallen sons.

We spent a fair amount of the morning in Blarney, a large part of it in the Woollen Mills Store. Considered the largest Irish ☘️ store in Ireland, it is packed with woolen wear made from the sheep 🐑 of Ireland. Good place to get something warm to wear, since all our warm wear was in our luggage.

After paying 2 Euro for roughly 4 1/2 hours, we were off to Killarney. Our navigation took us the back way through beautiful country side and narrow roads. But, thankfully, no round abouts. We arrived safely, and after untangling the incorrect directions Siri sent us, we rolled into the Arbutus Hotel. Very old, but well maintained and one of the old Irish hotels. Owned by the Buckley family for three generations, we were welcomed with hot tea and gingerbread! Real, homemade gingerbread...with butter. All the staff have been here for over 30 years. If you’re ever In Killarney, stay here.

After letting the desk know our long lost luggage was being delivered around 7:30pm, we received our old fashioned door key and proceeded to our room. After settling in, we hit the streets looking for clothes to wear...just in case the luggage delivery was a false flag. I mean, there is a track record of unfounded sitings and promises of delivery 🚚.

We roamed the shops, stopped in at Murphy’s for ice cream, and continued on well into the evening. We stopped into Quills Woollen Store, as if we didn’t get enough in Blarney. There we picked up Trinity rings that seemed to be an appropriate way to remember our time in Ireland 🇮🇪

Around 10:30pm, the streets and shops were still popping and we were feeling like more tea and gingerbread, so we made our way back to the hotel...the loooong way! We turned right when we should have turned left because one of us had a navigational error. No worries! 11,560 steps, 5.1 miles, 16 flights of stairs, take your pick. 🎶 I have walked 500 hundred miles...🎶

When we arrived the desk clerk informed us that our bags had arrived and were in our rooms!!! We raced to see! Okay, not really, but we did have a quicker step. We opened the door to see the little buggers standing smartly, as if they had always been there!

We hugged them! Kissed them! Opened them! Yay! Real jammies!!! Real toothbrushes! Clothes!!!

Now for more tea and gingerbread!