Cork Hotels
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Cork and Cobh
Entry 8 of 12 | show all | print this entry |
After our ass-rotting experience on the bus to Dublin and our much lovelier journey to Derry, we decided to take the train to Cork. Just outside of Dublin, we were moved to coaches (fancy buses) due to a maintenance problem with the trains. It was a surreal experience - they driver played Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson on the entertainment system, but I was sitting next to a woman with a strong Irish accent chattering away on her cell phone. We decided to walk from Connelly to Heuston (change of stations needed to continue to the southwest) - I'm now 0 for 2 walking in Dublin without tripping over my feet or a slick spot on the sidewalk - went all the way down the first time.
The ride to Cork was gorgeous - abandoned castles, green hills, every now and then gorgeous horses (but mostly sheep sheep and more sheep). We arrived in Cork with several hours of daylight which we used to search in vain for our hostel. The River Lee diverges as it nears Cork - the city center is built on an island in the middle of the river - it's a beuatiful city with a lot of character. Between the walk down to Belfast Central, the crossing of Dublin, and the zig-zagging around Cork, I think we posted another ten-mile day. After we found the hostel, we found the Thirsty Scholar where my colleagues April and Terri hung out last spring (academic conferences are finding groovier settings all the time), then the city centre, where we found an alleyway with Indian restaurants in it.
Monday was a bank holiday - we knew that the banks would be closed, but were surprised at how empty the city centre was before 1pm. When we finally get around to shooting our vampire movie, we know that we can get a lot done on the streets of Cork before noon on a bank holiday. The University was open - enough students around that we started to think classes might be in session (unlikely - they're nearing end of term and were probably studying in the library). It's a gorgeous campus - the architecture is lovely, the quad is well kept, the chapel features a mosaic tile floor that has intricate celtic knotwork and gorgeous stained glass. We also walked around the cathedral nearby and past the Beamish brewery (makers of a SW stout that competes with Guinness in Cork and a few other Western towns).
After lunch we took a short train ride to Cobh (pronounced "Cove" - in fact, it's hard to find Cobh mentioned on a map, a "you are here", or in a guide book without the note that it's pronounced "Cove"). It's a beautiful little town on the harbour where the Titanic last left Ireland (the Irish love to point out that it was an English captain left in charge of it). We walked up a very steep hill with houses built one right on top of another to the Cathedral, then on out of the town and into the countryside where the beautiful rolling hills were particularly well lit by the late day sunshine. Back into town and along the strand - a real getaway from the madness of city life.
The next day we hit the infamous English Market and loaded up on olives (stuffed with garlic and almonds) and cheeses for the train ride back. I'm happy to say that I crossed Dublin without stumbling - one for three, but the curse is broken.
The last end of the train ride we shared our table with a young Irish woman (twenty five years old, three kids) took pity on us "poor Americans" - she was convinced that we were destitute and bought us pints for the rest of our ride before she hopped off. Interesting, that the Celtic Tiger has done so well for them that they look at Americans as the poor of the world.
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