Ireland smells like cow shit more often than it doesn’t. We’re all farmers, so, no harm, no foul. But as soon as we got off the plane we noticed it. There are cows, their excrement and its odor everywhere.

We started the day with a visit to the Blarney castle. There’s a reason it’s a popular tourist spot.

Beautiful gardens.

An ancient castle.

And of course, kissing the famous Blarney Stone, purported to make you more eloquent. What they don’t tell you is that it is at the very top of the castle and you will be hanging out, on your back, 150-200 feet up in the air. There are bars underneath you, but it’s definitely a little scary.

And the stairs…all 100 of them…up and down.

Then back to the ocean. The kids went fishing, then they all got some Atlantic Ocean on their feet.

I told Lylah I would get my feet wet when we go to Brighton in England.

“You’re gonna go swimming there Nana?”

“Well, swimming is a strong word,” I laughed.

The ocean is freezing, the air today was 67 degrees with a strong breeze. But we did see two young girls in bikinis, soaking wet, waiting in line for ice cream. So the Irish are definitely hardier than we are.

The day would not be complete without a driving story. Chelsea made a wrong turn, and Siri took us on a dirt road to get us back on track… there were cows - somewhere…

We had one very close call today when a guy barreled around a corner at 60 mph half in our lane… this picture above… is just business as usual.

We ended the day with a fabulous dinner at The White House. Chelsea left the waiter, who was excellent, a 20% tip and as we were leaving we saw three waitresses gathered around him staring at our check. “What did you do?” One laughed suggestively. Tipping is not automatic in this country and generally only about 10%.