On 17 December 2004 we left London on a RyanAir flight to Cork after a mad dash for semi-decent seats in what can only be described as the ultimate in sardine can aviation. Fortunately the trip was only 1 hr 10 mins long. Lara (an old school friend of Angela's) collected us and we drove for an hour to Dungarvan, her and Kevin's home town, population 7000!!

After supper we drove around town to see how the local townspeople have decorated their homes in anticipation of the arrival of Santa Claus!! One of the houses we saw had enough Christmas lights and other decorations (elves on the lawn, reindeer on the roof and Homer Simpson dressed up like Santa Claus...) to provide illumination to a small third world country! These Irish really make a big deal of Christmas!!

Having returned home Johann and Kevin rushed to their beds in fear while Angela and Lara brought out the photo albums and wedding videos!!

The next day dawned in a misty kind of way which added flavour to a traditional Irish breakfast complete with white pudding (don't ask!), bacon, egg, baked beans and sausages. Our attempts at sightseeing were somewhat hampered by the mist which afforded us about 20 metres of visibility at best. As a result much time was spent savouring Guinness and talking nonsense to the locals, pretending that the Irish accent was not a barrier to effective communication.

After an Indian dinner we went hunting for traditional Irish musicians so that we could make them sing for us. These we found in "The Marine Pub" just outside Dungarvan. "The Corrs" they were not, but the Irish lilt and the hint of sadness in some of the songs created a moving experience for both of us!

On Sunday we visited Blarney Castle and smooched a rock in the hopes that it would aid our verbal communication skills (these Irish have some weird ideas..). The Blarney Castle provides a really interesting insight into medieval defensive arrangements and helps to dispel the air of romanticism that stories of medieval castles often convey. Conditions would have been seriously cramped for the defenders of the castle, exacerbated by the beauty of the surroundings. We could only imagine how peeved a knight or archer would be cramped up in that structure while the enemy runs around in open fields all around them. Actually kissing the Blarney Stone is a hair-raising experience involving daring acrobatics while a dodgy old geezer clings to your middle in order to avoid an inverted plummet to the grounds surrounding the castle.

After Blarney we explored some of the shops in the area and returned to the airport at Cork.  

The weekend was far too short for our taste and we would greatly love to visit Ireland often as it is a magical place with a charm all of its own.