IRELAND Part II: Castles of Cork

We left that lovely house in the middle of nowhere at half past noon on Monday, and three buses later, Kat, Christian, and I arrived in Cork at half past seven that night. (This becomes a trend of our trip, to be honest.) I was very tempted to call one of the blog posts something along the lines of "We took about twenty buses and saw all of Ireland" because, essentially, that's what we did.

On a plus note, the bus system in Ireland is absolutely fantastic. In case anyone is going to Ireland anytime soon, there are two main competing companies that keep bus prices low: Bus Eireann and Citylink. They run at all hours of the day, and one of my 4-hour bus trips was booked for only 5 euro!

Kat and I have a mutual Holy Cross friend--MK (or Mary Kate)--who is studying abroad in Cork for the year. She kindly allowed us to crash on the empty bed in her apartment for two nights while we explored the city and the surroundings. MK met us at the bus stop along with Kyle and Rebecca, two other Holy Cross students who are really good friends with Christian (hence he was sleeping in their apartment for the two nights we were in Cork).

The students studying abroad in Ireland are living very different lives than we are in France. Mostly, all the differences stem from the fact that we live with host families while they are all split up in apartments.

We walked together the twenty minutes through Cork and up the hill to the apartments to set all our stuff down. Then, we bought some hard cider and chilled in Kyle's room for a while. Eventually, the group of us went to a local pub for about an hour as well, but I was so tired after the day's traveling that I fell asleep soon after we arrived back in MK's apartment.

Tuesday morning (October 29th) MK had classes, so Kat and I explored Cork on our own. First was a delicious breakfast at a cute little place called The Wholy Grain, where the French toast was delicious and where they only played Coldplay music. Afterwards, we wandered through the English Market, a large indoor food market that slightly reminded me of the bustling Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. All the vendors were very friendly, selling assortments of honeys, local produce, cakes, pastries and fresh butcher meats.

Walking down the colorful hill to center city Cork!

After the market, we wandered a little more, and then we hit gold: the shopping centre of Cork. Basically it's just a huge walking-only area of the city with lots of shops (including a very tempting Chocolate Café and an Old-Fashioned Sweet Shop). We had heard wonders of an extremely cheap Irish clothing store called Penny's, which we also found on this street. Kat and I both found Penny's to be a little.... overwhelming, with people everywhere and clothes everywhere, but it was true that they sold the most inexpensive clothes I've seen yet in Europe.

For lunch, we met Christian and MK by the fountain and walked over to a beautiful pub called the Old Oak. Apparently it hosts karaoke nights from time to time.

MK had classes in the afternoon as well, but she suggested venturing out of Cork to visit Blarney Castle. I had no idea it was located so close to Cork, but it is! Only a 25-minute bus ride (which cost less than 7 euro roundtrip!) and Kat, Christian, and I were at the famous Blarney Castle!

This castle is weather-worn rugged stone with arrow slits for windows, made strictly for defense and not the frilly fancies of French Loire-Valley kings: a real castle, in my opinion. The three of us wandered through the different chambers of the castle and learning the history--I particularly enjoyed the small room with a hole in the floor that was set above the castle's entrance room, so unwelcome visitors would be pelted with stones or have boiling water thrown down on them.

Eventually, we reached the top of the worn spiral staircase, and there was the most famous object of the castle: the Blarney Stone. Of course I kissed it like any good/gullible tourist, although I think the experience of kissing the Blarney Stone would have been a bit scarier if I had actually been able to see how I was suspended six or so stories above the ground as I gave the stone a quick peck (they made me take my glasses off, so I was completely blind except for colors.) By the way, I'm still waiting for the gift of eloquence to be bestowed upon me as a consequence of kissing the stone.

Once we had finished with the castle, the three of us explored the Poison Gardens that lie in the castle's shadow. Honestly, I found this fascinating. True to its name, the Poison Gardens were filled with a variety of potentially fatal plants. Some of the ones I remember most are: Nightshade, Opium poppy, Mandrake, Rue, Wolfsbane, and Rhubarb (apparently the leaves of  Rhubarb can kill, although the stem is just fine...). In this garden, there was also a marijuana plant (with a huge cage around it so no one can try to pick the leaves--I found this hilarious).

Anyone fancy some Deadly Nightshade?

It was getting dark, so we wandered around the extensive grounds of Blarney Castle for another twenty minutes or so, accidentally finding the Blarney House, which also looks quite castle-like. Very regal in the dusk. Afterwards, the three of us hopped on a bus back to Cork!

The Blarney House (second castle?)

 

Kat and I had dinner with MK in a local pub in town, then the group of us--Kyle, Rebecca, their friend Tom, Christian, Kat, MK, and I--all went to a different pub for drinks. This pub was very authentic (not all shiny and new like some others) and there was a band playing traditional music--it had such a great atmosphere. I love pubs like this. I wish we had pubs back in France (or back in the USA!) where people can just go for a pint and sit and talk and listen to traditional music for a while.

That wrapped up Tuesday, our only full day in Cork.

Wednesday was not even a half-day in Cork, as Kat and I had booked a bus to Dublin that left at noon. (Christian booked a later bus into Dublin). Wednesday morning was also pretty much the only rainy morning of the whole week, so MK just took us for a quick tour of her campus in the drizzle. University of College Cork has a beautiful campus, though, so I'm glad we were able to wander around it for a bit. Seriously, it is much, much prettier than University of Strasbourg's campus.

After that, we walked down the hill into main city Cork to eat a leisurely breakfast at the only bagel place (for me: an apple toffee muffin? heck yes!). By the time we were done, we said our goodbyes to MK and headed over to the bus station to catch our ride to Dublin! It was a four-hour ride to Dublin from Cork, so Kat and I arrived in the city while the sun was still shining. Happily, we found our hostel quite fast.

We chose to stay at the Generator Hostel, which is without a doubt the coolest hostel I've ever stayed in (and I know that means a lot, since I've now experienced a grand total of two other hostels). Honestly, though, I couldn't complain about a thing. The lobby itself was huge and the décor was awesome--there was a huge long table made of stacked books and a wooden plank, into which you could charge your electronics. The chandeliers were made out of bottles (in a cool way). There were guests in the lobby at all hours of the day and night, talking to each other or eating or jamming out on the guitar or playing pool... The beds were extremely comfortable and the bathrooms were spacious and clean... I cannot say enough good things about the Generator Hostel in Dublin. And the best part? We booked two nights, for only 14 euro a night!

Kat and I arrived at the hostel first and got settled in our 8-person room (mixed gender, and the first night it was 5 guys, one other girl, and us). As we got down to the lobby, Julianne happened to be checking in. The three of us waited in the lobby for a while for Christian to arrive, but by the time 8:30 pm rolled around, we were hungry, so we ate without him at the Generator's café. I ordered the most amazing pizza topped with mushrooms, spinach, pineapple, pepperoni, and parma ham.

Christian arrived later (he had gotten lost), and after he ate, the four of us headed out into Dublin to walk around and find a few friends at a different pub (Kat's friend Anton and Julianne's friend Leslie, both of whom are studying abroad in Dublin). On the way, we passed the famous Temple Bar, and people-watched all the teenagers who were starting to celebrate Halloween one day early. Happily, the whole city was lit up for Halloween--it felt very festive with pumpkins and ghosts in all the shop windows and all the spider webs decorating all the pubs. As I've said before, France doesn't know what Halloween even is, and I really enjoy the festivity of the holiday, so was quite happy to be in the festive Dublin for October 31st and the days surrounding it.

That wraps up my time in Cork, and it preludes a little my time to come in Dublin (the first night in Dublin was pretty tame), but the next post will be about Halloween, and how I spent it a little unconventionally: exploring the beautiful Northern Ireland with my friends!