About a week or so ago I went to Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone! Watch out world I have now been blessed with the gift of eloquence, aka the gift of gab. Yes, it's true, I can now talk even more than I already could!
Now let me share with you the story of how I received the gift of gab....
This (the above) is Blarney Castle, not exactly the Disney castle you may imagine but still really beautiful, and the grounds it is surrounded by are even more stunning. To reach the Blarney Stone you have to work for it; you have to climb to the very top! Now, that may not sound so bad but let me just tell you that the narrow doorways and tiny spiral staircase you have to work your way up while being packed in like sardines with the hundreds of other people who also want the gift of gab is not the most ideal situation. There comes a point during your assent that the stairs are so tiny that even my size 7 feet could barely fit on them!
Just to give you an idea of how small the inside of the castle was I have provided you with a picture of my friend Tree. Perhaps it's an unfair commentary on the castles construction considering his (nick)name IS Tree but really, it was abnormally small the whole way up.
But the trek to the top was worth it (once you squeezed through the miniature doorway) not only because you have just about reached your destination and only minutes away from getting the gift of eloquence but also because once you emerge from the tower and into the light you have a breath-taking view. If I wasn't scared of being swept off the top by the wind I probably could have spent awhile just looking at the surrounding landscape.
Here it is guys, just moments before I received the gift of eloquence. I'm sure it looks like a totally safe thing to do with the bars underneath me and the old man (that I had to pay to basically make sure I didn't fall to my death) holding on to me but in the moment it definitely felt like the most unsafe thing I could I have decided to do. I was keeping my nerves under control right up until there were only two people separating me from the Blarney Stone. The procedure for kissing the Blarney Stone is to get on the ground with your back to the wall and bend back to grab the bars (example provided by the photo). The old man is there to not only hold you up but he also shoves you down, to what feels like your death, so that you can actually reach the stone. As I was leaning back he just kept saying "Keep going! Further down!" as he pushed me further to the stone. All was well though and I successfully kissed the stone!
So there you have it! The short and sweet story of how I kissed the Blarney Stone and now have the gift of eloquence.
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