March 29th - Blarney, Cobh and Kinsale

Wednesday took us to Blarney - taking us longer than normal due to construction and detours along the way. Weather was very cold and windy, less rain, but still not much sun. We walked around the Castle, and then Dad and I climbed the 193 steps to the top. I originally was going to kiss the stone (not that I need help with the gift of gab), but because of the weather (cold and damp) I decided not to. Not too many people here today, and I only saw 2 or 3 people actually kiss the stone. We then headed over to the Blarney Woollen Mills for some shopping and lunch at Christy's Bar. While here, Mom and Dad met author Mike O'Donovan with whom they spent sometime chatting. Mike made some comments that made Dad wonder if some of his ancestry came from Ireland, and Mike stated Dad IS Irish - so was born "Paddy Coleman". We then got back in the car and were off to Cobh. We finally got there (after my navigator "Dad" had us going in the wrong direction) and our first stop was the St Colman's Cathedral. This was beautiful! We were also able to look down over the city of Cobh. We then parked down by the water, and walked around, ending up at the Queenstown Story exhibit at the Cobh Heritage Center. This was quite interesting - not only about the different cruise liner tradegies that affected that area (Titanic and Lusitania), but having to do with immigration to different countries (including the US, Argentina, and Australia). We then headed over to Kinsale - our destination for the evening. It rained on and off all day, and as we pulled into Kinsale it had started to rain again. We opted to stay at the Quayside Bed and Breakfast (overlooking Kinsale Harbor on Pier Rd, run by Mary Cotter, http://euroka.com/quayside) as parking is included. I had room 1 in the front of the house (overlooking the harbor) and Mom and Dad were given room 5 (on the side). We had dinner at the Vintage Restaurant (very good food and atmosphere). We celebrated Paddy's birthday.....this was Dad's first day as an Irishman ("Paddy"). After dinner, it was back to the B & B.