Kissing the Blarney Stone

Here's a little flashback of sorts, as it is the twenty-second of February, a date which has a lot of significance for me.

Because seven years ago today... I KISSED THE BLARNEY STONE!

For those who don't know it, kissing the Blarney Stone, located at Blarney Castle in Ireland, is said to bring the "gift of the gab" - a charm of eloquent speech for telling tales and singing songs to mesmerize others.

Kissing the Blarney Stone used to be incredibly dangerous, as the stone is located at the top of the castle, between the castle wall and the parapet, and in order to kiss it, you have to bend backward and downward and try not to plunge to certain death. Which many people - mostly drunk people - did.

Nowadays, kissing the Blarney Stone is an easy feat (as long as you are not afraid of heights), with bars to hold onto and someone there for support, so you don't fall to your death.

I kissed it!

Now, if you're wondering if the legend is true, if I was charmed with a silver tongue to mesmerize others with my tales... well, maybe. Later that night, at the Dublin airport, as I was riding down the escalator, I saw a certain young (and super cute) Welshman sitting in the waiting area, the seat next to him empty. Naturally, I thought BINGO, that is my seat.

My friends had other ideas and went off to find a set of seats several rows back from the cute guy, but here's something to know about me - I'm the kind of girl who, when faced with a cute guy and an empty seat, will say to my friends, "Oh, look at that - there are five of us and only four seats... well, I'll just have to sit in that seat over there. I'll miss your good company, but it's for the best - I might even get some reading done."

So, I said adieu to my friends and sat myself next to the cute guy and pulled out my book (Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson - I highly recommend it), and as he pretended to sleep, I pretended to read (I say pretended, because really, we were trying not to be obvious as we glanced sideways at each other for about a half hour). Then finally, we began to talk.

And talk. And talk and talk and talk. Ten hours of talking, to be exact. Whether my tales were mesmerizing or not, only he can tell you.

But I'm thinking they probably were...

Thank goodness for that Blarney Stone!

xoxo,