Highlights from Cork

  • Kissing the Blarney Stone (if you know what this means, you know it was a thrill)
  • Staying in the city where I have family lineage from

The Top Things to Do in Cork

I absolutely loved driving through the countryside (well riding passenger princess) to get to Cork. My friend Erica and I spent the night in the city, but we went to Blarney Castle and a few smaller cities nearby.

Visit the Blarney Castle

And kiss the Blarney Stone! While we were there, Erica and I both kissed the Blarney Stone. Such a terrifying but thrilling experience!

What does it mean to kiss the Blarney Stone? You go to the top of the castle, then lay on your back and lean backwards over the edge of the castle to kiss the stone on the wall facing the inside of the castle.

Why kiss the Blarney Stone? It's said to grant the "gift of the gab," a charming ability to speak eloquently, persuasively, and sometimes deceptively. There are other variations of what exactly it means and how it came about.

Visit Cobh

This small coastal city has a few iconic Instagrammable spots that you'll probably recognize when you see the pictures. Cobh is famous for being one of the port cities that picked up passengers for the Titanic (and has a Titanic Memorial Museum).