Friday, December 9, 2016

Blarney Castle: Part 2 -- The Gardens

 After exploring Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney stone, we set off into the immense gardens -- far too much to explore in just a few hours. Remember that poison garden I was obsessed with? Well, I drug Lauren around until we found it -- which was far more difficult than it should have been. You see, the problem was I thought I was following the signs, but I really wasn't. At any rate, the scenic route provided just that -- lots of gorgeous scenery.

Alright, maybe a rock isn't your idea of gorgeous scenery, but big, mossy boulders like this make me immensely happy somewhere deep inside. So, I liked the rock. Maybe you'll find this little bush more interested. I think it is a faerie tree with branches parted to play under.
 Ah ha! Another sign! We've got to be close now! (Oh, how wrong I was.)
 We entered through an ornate gate into a "secret" garden, but it wasn't the garden I sought.
 The trail forked, so we had to decide which way to go. Right or Left? We choose to go left. Once again it was the wrong choice.
 Not that the choice was unrewarding, It lead us to "The Irish Garden" which was basically and part in the woods with plants native to Ireland marked with names, information, and folklore.
 After exploring that "garden", we decided to turn around. There was a lot of walking.
 More leaf covered trails... and more walking... I must say, fall was a lovely time to visit Blarney Castle.
 Oh, look more cool, mossy rocks! Okay, okay, I'll move on...
 We finally arrived at the Poison Garden, which happened to be right beside the castle! We'd walked in a circle! When I saw that there was a Poison Garden, all I knew is that I wanted to see it -- I had no idea what to expect. Therefore, it was even better than it sounded! They even had Poison Ivy in a cage, which I found incredibly humorous, but I'm not sure if anyone else found it that funny.

It turns out that the Poison Garden's role is to help teach children the different types of poisonous plants -- not to kill anyone.  
 Along one side of the Poison Garden, extending from the castle, was the battlement walls of the castle -- or at least what is left of them.
 They even had a nice bench to relax on in the midst of poisonous plants!
 Of course, I cannot talk about the poison garden without mentioning the tallest plant there. This yew tree towered above the rest, and it was so pretty.
 We decided our next destination would be the cave.
 There were lights to brighten the cave and little green plants and moss growing under the lights.



 Randomness:
 This pretty, little bird held still long enough for me to snap his picture. Wasn't that nice of him?
But the best is yet to come! Our next destination was the Rock Close, which was my favorite part of Blarney Castle and probably my favorite garden that I saw in Ireland. So get ready for some Myth, Magic, and Beauty on Sunday.

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