Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where every journey is a story waiting to be told. I'm your host, z Michelson, and I'm so excited to take you on a ride through the world's most incredible destinations, hidden gems and unforgettable experiences. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just starting to plan your next getaway, you're in the right place. You're a seasoned traveler or just starting to plan your next getaway, you're in the right place. Each episode, we'll be diving into everything from must-see landmarks to off-the-beaten-path treasures, speaking with locals and travel experts and sharing stories that will inspire your next adventure. So sit back, relax and let's wander the world together, one destination at a time. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Well, hi, I am here again with Diana of Celtic Tours, and now we are on day four of her trip to Ireland. She was in Cork last night and they're leaving from Cork today and I hear we're going to go to Blarney Castle and we're going to go to Filarney, and so much war.

Speaker 3: 1:10

So much war. What a whirlwind trip.

Speaker 2: 1:14

So tell me, apparently you had told me the other day that you know your driver, Mickey I believe his name is Mickey you put the bags outside your door, he picks them up while you're having breakfast, he throws them on the bus, everybody's ready to go. And then you get on the bus and go and he's full of stories and jokes and gets you on the road and moving. So from where you are in Cork you had a little bit of a drive.

Speaker 3: 1:42

Yeah, it was about an hour and a half.

Speaker 2: 1:44

Well, that's not too bad yeah, and everybody's probably chatting and sharing their stories.

Speaker 3: 1:48

Some people are sleeping. Some people are sleeping. Was Mickey chatting and telling stories? He was, he was chatting, and when he wasn't chatting, he was also putting on Irish music, which was really nice, getting you in the mood.

Speaker 2: 2:04

Yes, he had some authentic Irish music, so yeah, so some things that we just touched a little bit about is the food that you've been eating on the trip. Now most people think, oh, it's Ireland, it's only going to be meat and potatoes. But you're showing me pictures of delicious looking meals. You know fish and other things. Tell me, Tell me some of the meals that people have been eating.

Speaker 3: 2:26

Yeah, I'm really a big fish person.

Speaker 2: 2:29

I love fish Me too.

Speaker 3: 2:30

And because Ireland is an island, I mean they bring in their own fresh fish from all over Fresh fish, and so I had a lot of fish. One of the dishes that I showed you, which was absolutely spectacular, that was a cod, and it was a thick cod. It's not a cod like we see here.

Speaker 2: 2:49

Right Small pieces of cod.

Speaker 3: 2:50

This was a thick piece of cod and they made a wonderful sauce with vegetables on the side, making my mouth water. Yeah, yeah, and this was all part of our dinners, because you can choose what you wanted. One of the most favorite meals there was a Guinness stew.

Speaker 2: 3:08

There was Guinness stew, almost everywhere I've heard about Guinness stew.

Speaker 3: 3:12

So there's so much to choose from. And chicken if you're a chicken person, and they even have if you need special restrictions, if you have special needs, gluten-free, anything like that. All we need to know is just let us know ahead of time and they'll make sure that you get exactly what you need, so you can let Celtic Curries know that you need to be gluten-free or something else.

Speaker 3: 3:43

Yeah, we actually had one lady who was gluten-free and places we went, they had a meal set aside for her and one place even had it with her name on it.

Speaker 1: 3:46

They had a little snack for her, a scone snack for her, with her name on it.

Speaker 3: 3:48

That was gluten-free, yeah it was gluten-free for her, so she was just very, very impressed with how accommodating they were with her dietary restrictions.

Speaker 2: 3:55

It's good to know that if you're not a meat eater, you're not going to necessarily have to have meat every day that you're in Ireland. So that's really good to know, Because a lot of people say, oh, you know, Ireland, it's being detained. It's being detained. No, it's not really. There are really good chefs there over in Ireland.

Speaker 3: 4:10

Yeah, I think I mentioned in one of the podcasts that we did. There was a Michelin chef you did. Yeah, one of the locations that we went to- so they are out there.

Speaker 2: 4:20

So now you're on the bus and you're driving nicely and you're enjoying the scenery and you're heading to Blarney Castle.

Speaker 3: 4:27

Blarney Castle so.

Speaker 2: 4:29

I'm sure everybody got off at Blarney Castle. Now I got to ask did you kiss the Blarney Stone?

Speaker 3: 4:35

I kissed it previously the last time I was there.

Speaker 1: 4:37

Okay so.

Speaker 3: 4:39

I don't think I need to kiss it again because I'm a talkative person. Yeah, you got to get to them. Yeah, you got it.

Speaker 2: 4:46

Now, just to let people know, Blarney Castle is a lot of walking, it is Okay, and the Blarney Stone you have to climb up to and then you have to basically hang upside down to kiss the stone.

Speaker 3: 5:01

Yeah, you do. You have to lie down, hold on to these rods, you know. Basically there is somebody who helps you, right, and then you have to ascend as far as you possibly can, because the Blarney Stone is actually towards the bottom, the very bottom. Why they put it there, I don't know, it's part of the castle, but, yes, in order to kiss the Blarney Stone. It is a little bit of a challenge and the stairs up and down can be a little bit challenging as well, but you can take your time going up.

Speaker 2: 5:29

Oh yeah, yeah, because a lot of times the people bending down to getting into position to kiss the stone will take a little bit of time.

Speaker 3: 5:36

Yes, they will, yes, they will. So, yeah, tell me more about Blarney Castle. Well, I mean, this is a beautiful medieval castle and it was built nearly 600 years ago. Wow, this beautiful place to explore the gardens and the history of the castle itself. It's a towered castle. It was actually a towered house. So there's a lot of stairs going up and down not just to go kiss a Blarney stone. But if you're going to explore the castle, you actually do have to go up and down a lot of stairs because it's very medieval. Right and then, below the lookout tower, there's actually a dungeon.

Speaker 3: 6:13

Whoa so for those who want to go check out a dungeon you do have again, there's stairs down more stairs but the castle itself is just really remarkable to go in and just see. And it has. It tells you all about the locations of things, from the family room to the kitchen. And it was a family castle, correct, it was a family castle.

Speaker 2: 6:32

That makes you wonder, this medieval castle and all the stairs, and you think to yourself, boy, these people must have been in good shape, yeah.

Speaker 3: 6:40

And can you imagine wearing those dresses back then? No, no, I can't either.

Speaker 2: 6:44

And you know all the things that they do. But I mean, it's an amazing, amazing trip. And now you're saying this castle is over 600 years old, over 600 years.

Speaker 3: 6:53

Yeah, and there's so many stories about the castle, including the Blarney Stone itself. There's several different stories. Okay, we're not exactly sure which is true, but there's so many stories. One of these folktales is that the stone was actually used by Jacob as a pillow when he dreamed of the ladder, extended it up to the heavens where the angels could ascend and descend on it, and that it was brought from the Holy Land after the Crusade. So it actually came from the Holy Land, right. And then a further legend tells about Cormac McCarthy, who rescued an old woman. He was the owner of the castle and he rescued an old woman from drowning in a nearby river, and she turned out to be a witch, and in gratitude, she told him of a certain stone that was already in the castle.

Speaker 3: 7:44

Right, she gave him I thought she actually gifted him the stone but, it was already in the castle, oh wow, and that it had magical properties and that he could benefit by kissing it. That's probably where the gift again came from, Basically meaning yes, it will give him the eloqu gift of gab came from Basically meaning yes, it will give him the eloquence of chatting, right?

Speaker 2: 8:07

Yeah, I always think so. Eloquence, yes, correct. So, and this is now. How did you learn these stories? Is there a guide bringing you around?

Speaker 3: 8:16

Yes, there are guides there. I did not personally have a guide.

Speaker 2: 8:22

There are also things like historical little signs and things like that that you can read.

Speaker 3: 8:24

So you can do your own thing. You don't necessarily have to have a tour. You can wander the castle by yourself, the castle and the gardens, and the grounds. Now is this castle still in operation? Well, no, I mean just tourist. It's just a tourist, but the gardens must be. Yeah, well, the gardens are beautiful. They keep them up. They keep them up, they try to keep them beautiful. You have to go to Blarney Castle at least once just to view it.

Speaker 2: 8:50

Right Because it's there.

Speaker 3: 8:51

Yeah, it's just a beautiful, beautiful castle.

Speaker 2: 8:53

So how long did you spend at Blarney Castle?

Speaker 3: 8:55

Well, I stayed at Blarney because where they actually drop you off, you have to walk to Blarney Castle, so they don't drop you off right at the castle. They actually drop you off in downtown, kind of that area, that Blarney area. And so, yeah, I was there probably about an hour, which was sufficient. It was enough because, again, that was my second time there. So, I have to go to Blarney every time I'm there. And I'm sure some of the people that were on the tour wanted to stay yeah.

Speaker 3: 9:21

And they did, they did. But it was again the time frame that I went, it was low season.

Speaker 2: 9:26

Oh, so it wasn't crowded.

Speaker 3: 9:27

So it wasn't that crowded so it was very easy to go up there and there was no long line and sometimes if you go in particular time frames there's really long lines, just to kiss the Blarney stone.

Speaker 2: 9:36

So there we have a little travel tip. If you're going to go to Ireland, go a little off season. It might be a little bit chilly, but it won't be so crowded, right? So that's a nice little tip.

Speaker 3: 9:47

So after I left the castle I went ahead and went to the little downtown area there where they have the woolen mills. Oh, and the woolen mills is actually a wool factory where they take the wool from the sheep Right and they of course clean it and all and then they create the wool clothes Right and it is. If you go upstairs in the mill area, it actually has a machine that is creating some of the clothes and some of the items that are there From the sheep, from the sheep From our local sheep.

Speaker 3: 10:18

Yeah, that's kind of nice. Yeah, very nice, yeah very nice, yeah, very nice. And so did you get a tartan, I a tartan.

Speaker 2: 10:26

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 10:27

No, no, no, but maybe your husband?

Speaker 1: 10:31

No, no, no no, no, no no.

Speaker 3: 10:33

Yeah, no, no tartan. And I mean the sweaters are so beautiful and the scarves, and I actually did buy my mom a pair of slippers. Oh, slippers, go figure. It's Florida, right, but she a lot of them. They're so comfortable and so soft and warm, you know, for the winter months here, right so, but the sweaters there are just beautiful. And you could wear them a couple days here in Florida, but they're great for overseas when you're traveling.

Speaker 2: 11:04

Yeah, those are nice. And sweaters I still have a sweater of my father's from Ireland, and it is warm. Yeah, you wouldn't think it is, but it's very warm and the problem is it's pure wool and they're beautiful.

Speaker 3: 11:18

Yeah, I mean, they're absolutely beautiful. So there's also a little eatery down there, cool so cafe, where you can go and sit and get something to eat. If you'd like Watch people, go watch people. Of course they have a little porcelain store. You know where you can get some Irish porcelain, for example Balik.

Speaker 2: 11:38

You Balik porcelain they.

Speaker 3: 11:38

Porcelain for example Balik you Balik porcelain they have all kinds of porcelain. They also have a different crystal besides Waterford because there are a couple other crystal stores in Ireland so you can do some shopping there. Chocolates I bought some chocolates for everybody Some real, authentic Irish chocolates for everybody.

Speaker 3: 11:56

So I would share that. Oh and fudge. I also want some fudge. Oh, that would be so good. If you've been to the castle before and you don't want to go to the castle again, you can actually just take the time to explore the little village there outside of the castle the Blarney village.

Speaker 2: 12:15

Yeah, that's kind of nice. You know the little tiny villages. Sometimes just doing that little bit of exploring is what travel is all about and people just love to do that sometimes. I mean, I did that with my husband when I was overseas. We just stopped and just wandered through the town and just enjoyed a cup of coffee and talked with the people.

Speaker 3: 12:34

Yeah, talked with the locals and again, as you mentioned, the locals are so friendly and just welcoming. They really want you to be there. They don't feel like you'd be off-putting, you know because you were there.

Speaker 1: 12:49

So it's just very welcoming, very, very welcoming.

Speaker 3: 12:52

And, of course, there's always a pub around the corners, A pub in Maryland, it's the same. No, I don't believe it. You know it's 11 o'clock in the morning, you know, Of course. You know it's 5 o'clock somewhere, Right, exactly, yeah, so you can always have a beverage. It was really. It's just really really a nice place to explore.

Speaker 2: 13:12

Right. So when you got back on the bus you were going to Killarney, correct. Now you said that this is the road which is the Ring of Kerry.

Speaker 3: 13:25

Killarney is actually where the Ring of Kerry starts and ends, because the Ring of Kerry is actually a scenic drive. It's a loop. Yeah, it's a loop. It takes a little bit of time. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it on this particular trip. We didn't get to see it on this particular trip, but Mickey, who is absolutely wonderful and our driver, he did go ahead and stop at a beautiful scenic outlook. You know where the ring starts so we can take pictures. He really took us places and did things with us that I'm going to share with you that weren't part of our tour. Oh, wow, yeah, he just he says you know what? I've got a surprise for you. I'm going to stop someplace here and I'm going to do this.

Speaker 2: 14:02

Bad Vectors are nice.

Speaker 3: 14:03

So, if we have the time, he does like to incorporate other things. Right, he knows his country, right. So, it was very, very nice and he enjoys what he's doing.

Speaker 2: 14:14

He does. If he you wouldn't be doing it.

Speaker 3: 14:17

Yep, yeah, so yeah, it's very nice.

Speaker 2: 14:21

That's kind of cool.

Speaker 3: 14:22

Yeah, and also if clients don't want to include Blarney in their tour, you know that's something that they can do and they can purchase it separate. It doesn't have to be included, but it can be included.

Speaker 2: 14:34

Right, there are different things that you can do when you go to Ireland. There are so many different things that you can do when you go to Ireland.

Speaker 3: 14:40

There are so many different things you can do over in Ireland. You can customize almost anything for anybody.

Speaker 2: 14:46

Right, because your name Celtic Tours. Yeah, it's Celtic, that's who we are, that's where we started. You know, a lot of times, like I said, people will call their travel advisors and say you know, I want to go to Ireland, I want to see this. I Well, they travel advisors and say you know, I want to go to Ireland, I want to see this, I want to see this, but I don't want to see that. And you guys can actually do a tour that will incorporate what they want to see and more than likely, you have tours that are already doing this, because you have many, many different styles of tours.

Speaker 3: 15:14

Yes, yeah, yes, we do. We have tours from five nights in Ireland all the way to nine nights in Ireland. That travels the entire island, where you get to see the giant causeway up north.

Speaker 2: 15:27

Oh the giant. Come on, it's right there, the giant, or go to.

Speaker 3: 15:30

Derry, where the Derry girls are, or a lot of people aren't aware, but we have another cliff the size of Cliffs of Moher. We have the Sleath League cliffs that are just as beautiful. They're smaller but just as beautiful, and those are further up north as well. So there's just so much to see in Ireland. Sometimes I don't think that even nine nights is enough.

Speaker 2: 15:54

I had a friend call me the other day and went there's mountains in Ireland and I went yeah, so I thought it was flat because it's an island. And I went oh, Not at all, Not at all.

Speaker 3: 16:07

So she was excited to find out, there were mountains, and that's one of the things. As we were exploring and Mickey was taking us from place to place, he would point out different things like that, like look over there, these are the certain mountains. It was just really an educational part of the tour as well, because he's really sharing all of those things with you.

Speaker 2: 16:27

That's nice, that's very nice. So now everybody was back on the bus and you're all heading over to Kilkenny, killarney, sorry about that, killarney.

Speaker 3: 16:37

Killarney, you were already in.

Speaker 2: 16:38

Kilkenny the night before, so now you're going to Killarney.

Speaker 3: 16:42

Now, when you got I'll tell you, by the time we got to Killarney and we checked into our hotel, because that's where we stayed the night. We stayed at the Artibus Hotel, okay, and just a very, very nice hotel, and of course we all had to get ready for dinner, right? So some of us took naps, we had a little nap it was a busy day in Killarney and then some of us actually just went and wandered the hotel and we took a look at the hotel, because, again, this is something that we want to talk about with all of our clients.

Speaker 2: 17:16

And now you said you went to the hotel, you kind of relaxed a little bit before meeting for dinner. Are there dress codes?

Speaker 3: 17:23

People are going to ask that that is a great question and I tell everybody no, no, there's no dress code. We want you to be comfortable, we want you to enjoy. The thing that I tell people the most is the layer yes, because of the weather layer.

Speaker 2: 17:41

Yes, well, it's the bit they're layering clothing. But you know, sometimes people think, well, do I have to woman with syndrome have a skirt to dinner, or things like that.

Speaker 3: 17:50

No, not at all. Very, very casual. All of the locations are very casual. The Irish aren't known for their style. Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable. I, honestly, I wore jeans every day. Oh, okay, I wore jeans. That's nice. And, of course, like I said, I layered. So I had most of my shirts were long sleeve, because it was cool enough for long sleeve, and then I wore jackets over it. So, yeah, but definitely, definitely just layer, that's good to know.

Speaker 2: 18:19

Yes, people are going to say I don't know what to pack and you know, should I pack this, should I pack that? Okay, we need to pack for layers, layers, layers. There we go, layers. Now, what kind of dinner did you have in Killarney?

Speaker 3: 18:32

So again I had fish. Good, I had another sea bass. Oh, sea bass, that's very tasty. Yeah, because the first night I believe it was I had a sea bass with risotto. Right, yeah, this time I had a sea bass. That was actually. It had a coating on it. Oh, best, that was actually. It had a coating on it. Oh, okay, like a little coating on it, and they flash fried it and it was so good, so good. Another delicious meal. And again it's included. Yes, it's included and the desserts.

Speaker 3: 19:01

I had dessert every night I'm not a dessert girl I'm not a dessert person, but I did have dessert every night. What, what kind of desserts did you have? Oh goodness, I had. Of course, they had the scones with the cream, you know that you could have a dessert. Then I had macaroons. They had macaroons, oh wow. And a chocolate cake that I had one evening it was just to die for, but they had several different desserts that you can get um that and that they offer.

Speaker 2: 19:33

So of course you know whatever it is so is dinner included every night on the tour?

Speaker 3: 19:38

so on our particular tour it was okay now it's not always right included, but on our on this one, it is okay. Now most of our tours. If you you go online and you take a look at our tours, some of them have six meals, some of them have four meals, some have three meals, but again, we can customize anything for you. So if you want all of your meals included, we could do that for you.

Speaker 2: 20:00

That's nice, yeah because sometimes you don't want to have to worry about it and a lot of times when people are out and they're overseas, they don't know where to eat and what to eat. So when you're with a group like this and you're all going to the same restaurant, you can say oh, what are you having? What are you having? Yeah, yeah, and that makes it nice, of course, I like that yeah. So in Kilkenny, did you do anything special in Kilkenny? Not that evening.

Speaker 3: 20:23

Not that evening, not that evening. Kilkenny, and it's Kilarney? Yep, it is Kilarney, but I will tell you I did do something the next day.

Speaker 2: 20:35

So that's going to be day five. So, coming up on day five, we're going to learn all about and I'm going to say it right this time Kilarney Well, fabulous. Thank you again for sharing. I know a lot of people out there starting to plan their Ireland trips, and Ireland is open 24-7 year-round. It's not like a cruise line where they say, oh, we're not sailing in February or we're not sailing in December. You can go to Ireland any time of the year. You can go to Ireland any time of the year.

Speaker 3: 21:05

You know, I do tell a lot of people the last two weeks of December. It is a very, very Catholic Right.

Speaker 2: 21:12

So it's very holiday.

Speaker 3: 21:15

So a lot of things do close down, a lot of businesses will shut down, just like the olden days, exactly, and it's also very, very cold. In the last couple of weeks of December into January the temperature does drop a little bit. Does it get nippy? It does get nippy. Now they don't get any snow. There's no snow, but it's nippy.

Speaker 2: 21:36

Well, Diana, thank you again for sharing day four of your Celtic Tours Ireland trip.

Speaker 3: 21:42

Thank you, I appreciate you having me.

Speaker 1: 21:44

Well, that's it for today's episode of the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. I hope you enjoyed our journey and found some new inspiration for your next adventure. Remember, the world is full of stories and sometimes all it takes is a plane ticket to start your own adventure. If you loved today's episode, be sure to tune in every week and don't forget to share your favorite travel moments with me on social media. I'd really love to hear about where you're headed to next. So, until next time, keep exploring, keep discovering and, as always, keep traveling with your heart wide open. I'm Zee Michelson and I'll see you on the next adventure.