Ireland day 3
We woke up and had breakfast at the diner.
I was surprised to see "shoplifting experts" staying at the hotel.
I suspect they are "shoplifting prevention experts", but that’s not what the van says.
As it was raining, windy and cold, and Uncle Rich had been a police officer for decades, we went to the Cork Jail museum.
Nice grounds.
Good view of the city.
They have mannequins set up to show you how things were.
Some are a bit expressive.
We had the audio tour, but no tour guide.
Not a happy place.
Some folks locked up for years, and they didn’t even write down why.
They had men, women and children locked up there.
Uncle Rich did seem to like it.
My wife and I tried the stocks. Not fun.
There was apparently a secret passage leading out of the prison for the warden to use. But, they don’t let folks take it now.
I’m not sure about the brochures about the Cork area next to a display on whipping prisoners.
Then we drove the 1/2 hour or so out to the town where my wife’s family comes from. There isn’t a lot there.
And the roads are narrow.
But, we stopped and looked around.
Then we drove back to Blarney Castle, this time actually going in.
Uncle Rich looked at the castle and said "That’s too far for me to walk" and suggested we do something else.
So I went to the main gate and asked if they’d loan us a wheel chair. A 50 Euro deposit later, and we had one.
Then, the long way around for the wheelchair to the tower.
We looked at the Blarney Stone, but didn’t go up to it.
I told Aunt Marge I would tell folks she did kiss it. If you can’t Blarney about the Blarney stone, what’s the point?
She did climb a bit of it, but the stairs were narrow, damp and slippery so she turned back.
Uncle Rich did seem to like the view when he got there.
After Blarney we stopped at a shopping mall for supplies.
They had a very impressive Christmas tree. Aunt Marge loves Christmas trees.
Finally, back to the diner for dinner.
