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Cork

On Saturday (Halloween!!!) I woke up in Cork and headed out to do some sightseeing in Cork. I had breakfast in the hostel, which was free...toast, Irish butter, cereal...basic, but good. Then, I headed out! I walked down the hill where my hostel was, across the river, and onto St. Patrick's street, which is the main drag in the town. It was so pretty! Colored store fronts lining the street, trees spotted along the sides of the roads, little side streets that were full of signs and flags for all the stores in them...really a great place! I came across a tourist info store, so I went in...I ended up getting a few brochures and a ticket to go on the hop-on hop-off bus tour of the city. It wasn't to leave for about an hour, so I wandered some more. I came upon this one small side street that was full of stands selling fish...I went in, and found it was a giant indoor market! There were hundreds of vendors, selling fish, fresh meat, chocolate, olives...any food you could imagine! I watched as a couple butchers cut up a side of beef, and others arranging pig heads and feet in their display. It was a really neat market!!! I would learn more about it later....I walked around a bit more, and then headed to the bus stop to get on my tour bus.

I hopped on the bus and began the first round of the tour. The guide told us all about the history of the city, and a million fun facts and interesting bits about the town and its people. For instance, Cork used to be made up of 14 islands in a marshy area, with canals running through the islands like in Amsterdam or Venice. Now, the canals have been paved over, so the main roads you drive on in Cork are actually former canals, and it's only 1 island now. We drove past magnificent churches, the old jail (gaol), and a brewery that used to be a fortress where the Irish would put their enemies' heads on spikes outside. We also passed one of the entrances to the English Market, where I had been earlier that morning! I learned that it's a very old market, and got its name because it used to be that you couldn't have a stall there unless you pledged your allegiance to the English crown! If you didn't, you had to open your stand at an outdoor market across town. I thought this was pretty funny.

The first stop I got off at was at the Butter Museum. It was a really neat museum!! Ireland is a huge exporter of butter, and has been for centuries. It was interesting to see all the history of this product, which has been made here forever. Just down the road from the butter museum was a great big church, where you could ring the church bells yourself!! I walked in, and was suddenly grabbed by a man!!! It was a larger, Irish man, telling me to dance with him!! I was a bit taken aback, but I played along. He asked me what dances I knew, and I said I used to know a couple, but I didn't know them anymore. He chatted with me, and it turns out he works in the church. He was really nice, and talked to me for quite a while! He was really funny....he told me that I could go ring the bells for free (it's 5 euros) if I could answer a question for him...he asked me who sang the song "Kansas City Here I Come"....I told him I had absolutely no idea! He laughed, and let me up for free anyways!!!

To get to the bells, and then to the top of the spire to look out at the city, you had to climb these really narrow, winding stairs that were a little slick. It got to be so narrow!!! Eventually, I got to this big stone room, where there were a bunch of ropes hanging down against one wall. When you pulled on the ropes, the bells above began to ring!!! There were even sheets available there so that you could play actual songs!! One of the other people in the room attempted to play a song, but without success. After playing some of the bells like Quasimodo, I kept going up the stairs so that I could see the view. At one point, I had to literally climb through a small, square opening, which was about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide, and I had to work my way over this wooden beam covered in pigeon droppings to even get to it!!! Then, more winding, narrow stairs. Finally, I got to this room where there were all these headsets that blocked out sound...because the next room was the bell room, and those things are LOUD!!!! Finally, I got to the top. I went out on the balcony, and you could see all of Cork and WAY beyond...you could see the green farmland in the distance for miles and miles. It was really a lovely view!!!!

I stayed up there, enjoying the view, for a while longer, and then climbed back down. I went into the church at the bottom to look around...they had some bibles and other holy books dating as far back as the 15th century! It was pretty neat to see....I headed back out to get back on the tour bus, and on my way out, I chatted a bit more with the friendly man working at the church.

After waiting for a bit for the bus, it finally showed up, and I hopped back on. On the way down and back into the main part of the city, I saw a restaurant called "Donnelly's"!!!! I had to get back for dinner!! I rode until it came to this big park and the city museum. I got off and walked in the park for a while. It was SO pretty!!! Really just amazing...beautiful flowers all over, a river coarsing through the middle, trees all over that were covered in moss...the leaves were falling off, so the ground was blanketed in yellows and browns and reds...really lovely! I walked around for a while, and then went into the city museum at one end of the park. It was pretty cool!! A ton of items on display from Cork and its history...old war uniforms, tools from the very beginning of the city, etc.

I wandered the park a bit more, and then hopped onto the bus again. I got off at another stop for the opera house and the Municipal Art Gallery. I went into the gallery (free admission,...woo hoo!) and it was really beautiful!! It was a former school, and the interior was all old stained dark wood, carved up into lovely designs! The art inside was Irish art, which was really neat!!! Some of my favorite pieces: "Portrait Group" by George Romney, "Going to Mass" by James Humbert Craig, "The Small Ring" by Jack B. Yeats, and "The Consultation" by William Sheehan. It was a great gallery...small, but with a lot of great pieces...not like some larger galleries, where there are 2/3 great works, and then a lot of crap. I bought a print on my way out, and headed back onto St. Patrick's street. I hopped back onto the bus, and rode a full revolution of the bus to hear all the tour in one. After this, it was getting dark, and so I headed to where I had seen "Donnelly's" for dinner.

I walked for a while, and eventually got to "Donnelly's". However, it turned out to be a fast food place of sorts...burgers and fries to go...I was a little disappointed! I decided to walk back into the city center and grab some Irish food. However, I couldn't find a traditional Irish restaurant anywhere!!! I asked around, even asking hotel clerks, but none knew of any! I ended up going up to this place near my hostel where I got a burger and fries....we got a discount there through our hostel, so I figured I may as well. I got this thing called the Irish burger...a burger with a fried egg and a piece of bacon on top...awesome!!! Bacon here isn't like bacon at home...here, it's basically a thick piece of fried ham...which is amazing!!! I read some of the book that I had bought earlier that morning ("Angela's Ashes") and ate my dinner. After a while, I paid and headed back to the hostel. I stopped off for a quick pint on my way, and then went back to the hostel. I had a bit of a sore throat, and it was pouring outside, so I decided to just stay in and not go out, even for Halloween. The buckets of rain, the freezing cold, and being tired just didn't make me want to go out and party. So I just relaxed, read my book, chatted with some people, and went to bed.

Posted by GuhBuhSuh on 2009-11-04 04:38:45 | Rating: