7/5/08 Saturday...Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear EJ, happy birthday to me!!! Thanks Robbie for emailing me birthday greetings...you're the only one who remembered! (You know I have to guilt you all...)

The first thing I heard when I woke up this morning was rain! I'm so happy--it has finally rained on my b-day! This is the first time in as long as I can remember that it has rained on July 5th--and I only had to leave the country for it to happen.

I'm on my way to Cork and Cobh. It’s about a three-hour train ride, so the tour group left at 7am. I love the size of Ireland because it's small enough that it can be crossed in three hours; really all costal destinations are three hours or less by train. I walked down to the light rail train station, took the train to the train station and boy was I soaked and drenched! The train ride to Cork was rather boring; just a bunch of green countryside to look at--I was glad I brought my Ipod.

When we got to the Cork train station, we transferred to a motor coach that drove us around. Liam was our tour guide; Steven was our driver. We started of by going to Blarney Castle. There, Liam gave us three hours to conduct a self-guided tour. We got there 1/2 an hour earlier than the public, so it was easier for us to get up to the castle and Blarney Stone.

The Blarney Stone-that was an adventure! I followed the signs up into the castle and they led to the top. I squeezed through a small opening that led to the spiral stairway that led upwards. One look at the passageway and the wedge shaped stairs, and I decided I wouldn't climb to the top where the Stone is. I moved into a side room and had a conversation with an English woman. While she waited for her daughter, we talk. She went to SF last summer and wants to go to Vegas sometime soon. We talked about our gambling experiences in Vegas-how unsuccessful we were. After a while, she heard her daughter call her so she went on her way.

This woman had some mobility problems, which is why she didn't go up to the top of the castle but her daughter kissed the Stone. I looked at the professional picture that was taken of her kissing the Stone--you really do have to lie on your back and hang off the edge to kiss the Stone!!! After 10 minutes of debating "should I or shouldn't I," I worked up the courage to climb up to the top. I found the staircase and had to get in line. The line had grown so much that I could only climb up one step at a time. I got up about 1/3 of the way up and then I began to feel strange.

All my life, when I've had a choice between taking an elevator or an escalator, I’ve always chosen the escalator. It's open and makes me feel more comfortable because I can see all around me. In an elevator, I feel enclosed and trapped. I felt that closed and trapped feeling on the staircase. Maybe I'm somewhat claustrophobic?

After climbing the stairway 1/3 of the way up, I felt panicky. I looked above me and below me looking for a way out. There was none, however, because there were other visitors in front and behind me and there was no room to maneuver in. As my left shoulder was brushing its way along the left wall, my right shoulder was brushing its way along the right wall; it was very enclosed. I t was fairly dark except for where lights had been installed.

Each of us on the stairs would climb a stair and then wait 20 seconds and then climb the next and so on. It was like this the whole up. Just as that panicky feeling was growing and getting more intense, I came to a "doorway" in the left hand wall. I stopped there for a minute because my panicky feeling caused in my heartbeat to absolutely race and in I was panting like I'd just ran a five minute mile, and I was gulping in breaths of air. I either was having a claustrophobic attack or a panic attack. Nobody else seemed to have a problem with the passage. But I had to keep climbing in order to get to the exit. Each time I came to a "doorway," I had to stop and calm myself down. My calming technique was to just stare at the feet of the people above me. I eventually got to the top, and the relief just crashed over me like the ocean's waves.

You know I don't have a head for heights, so at the top of the castle I was getting really, really dizzy. There were two men assisting the visitors with kissing the Blarney Stone. One of them told us told us to either get down or to move on so they could keep the line moving. I decided to move on and not kiss the Stone because killing myself today would not be cool. Besides, my head just wasn't feeling right since having my claustrophobic panic attack.

The stairway down had the same steep wedge shaped steps as the way up, but there was more indirect sunlight in the passage and the passage was somewhat wider so my shoulders weren't touching the walls. Outside the castle, I had to walk down the path to get to the bottom, which included several groups of four-step steps. I can't believe how shaky I felt. This, to me, was one of the most terrifying I've ever experienced.

I used my next 1.5 hours eating lunch and then browsing through a shop at the Blarney Wollen Mills Hotel and Restaurant and Blarney Wollen Mills Shopping Center, respectively. I bought a pair of Kelly green St. Patrick’s Day type of socks.

When our three hours were up, Steven drove us to Cobh, while Liam narrated the trip. We stopped at a cathedral and were allotted 10 minutes to take pictures. To end the tour, we went to a museum to learn about the "Queensbury Story." Cobh was the last stop before ships sailed on the North America.