Co Cork

Cork: 3 Days

What an inviting place, a warm and uninhibited culture far removed from the complex and involved hustle of the UK. God forbid you associate Ireland with the UK, it would be like comparing fever blister and full blown herpes.

When I arrived, I was welcomed by warm greetings, and picturesque views. As usual I was against taking a taxi, mainly to save money, but more so to experience a more personal view of Co Cork. The walk was painless, except for hauling my oversized luggage filled with gifts and treats for friends and family. Crossing over two bridges, I made my way to the Hotel Clarion, a huge hotel situated right by the water. It had a huge lobby, with a even larger seating section with a birds eye view of the upper floors, bars and restaurants. I checked in, and took my bags upstairs. Upon entering, the room was large and inviting. The bed was a king, (two twins pushed together, yuck) but comfortable just the same. The bathroom was sterile, and interesting! The shower had a partition which only covered half of the shower. To me this was awkward because I am a messy bather, and this would only keep half the water in, no matter, I would try it later. I unpacked and got situated, and went downstairs for a walk. I dawned my cap lit a smoke, and just started walking. I went across the river, and entered a museum, which on that day had a symposium on health and metaphysics. This was right up my alley. Tarot readers, holistic medicine, miracle cures, spine alignment, massage and many other forms of mumbo jumbo. It reminded me of a really big psychic eye bookshop, with a personal touch. I hung out there for an hour or so, and then with a stack of pamphlets in hand, I continued my walk. Heading toward city center, it was packed with every shop you could imagine, from apples at the farmers market to xylophones at their music shops. A true Mecca for the euro spend quick rich that walk the streets daily. After stopping by a great bagel shop for a unbelievable fat filled bite of deliciousness, I continued my tour. There was no shortage of politeness, people greeted me, asked me where I was from, admired my ink, asked for handouts, and just plain starred at me for whatever reason. I ended up walking a lot more, making a complete circle around the shopping district, ending back at my hotel for a quick nap. After a couple hours sleep, I grabbed a quick shower, and went back out for drinks and dinner. I made it to a cool little Asian restaurant called Panda Mama. It was a very big restaurant, with an authentic Asian motif. I had a couple of drinks, and a lovely "general chicken" dish, paid my check and made my way. I hit a couple of pubs, people are definitely more friendly here, with great beer and good conversation, all in all it was a great first day.

When I woke up the next morning,after a quick shower, and a brush, I headed down for continental breakfast. Everywhere in Ireland breakfast is the same, poached or scrambled eggs, mushrooms, baked beans, pudding discs, tomato's, and toast. (talking to a girl on the train I am on now said it was a traditional Irish breakfast, with no other explanation). Ok, after breakfast I headed out to see the sites, with no shortage of places to see, I hit the backroads and alleys, every church and monument I could find, and for about 4 hours of walking on a Sunday I was ready to sit down and rest a bit. Walking around I noticed nothing was open, nothing! So not knowing what day it was at the time ( I am on vacation, do I really need to know the day) I asked some people what was going on, yep you guessed it, Sunday mass, and everyone, even the street beggars were in attendance. Excluding myself, I made it to a church in a back alley, where I met a really cool parishioner who was accepting donations for the church. We talked for a good hour on religion, politics, morals, values, and responsibility. Is was definitely something I was missing, great banter with an intelligent person. I was starting to feel that "hey how ya do" was all I was ever going to say. After our talk we exchanged info, and I went on my way. I got back to the hotel at 4 ish, and rested till 7. I woke up and decided to make it a cheap night, and grab a quick bite and stay in, I wanted to see more things tomorrow, so that was my plan. I grabbed a baguette with chicken and slaw, damn, damn that was good. After about 2 more hours of walking I headed back to my hotel, and crashed.

The next morning I got up extra early, had my traditional breakfast, and headed to the bus station. I purchased my ticket to Middleton, and waited till my bus came in. It took about 30 minutes to reach Middleton, it was amazing! The town was small, the people were lovely, and it was close to being my favorite place except for Bath. I walked down a couple blocks to the Jameson distillery, and let me tell you, what a cool freaking place! The pictures will tell the tale. After walking around a bit more I found my bus pick up and headed back to Cork. Back at the room, I dropped off my shit, and hurried down stairs to go to this tool shop that carried my favorite pants called Snickers. I will say that anyone that does labor, building, outdoor, military, police, construction etc. would love these pants. I made it to Carey's shop, he was a cool guy, and he had my pants in stock. We chatted for a bit, and I guess he thought I was alright because he gave me a discount. I was completely stoked. I headed back to the hotel, and dropped my pants off, and went back out. It was a special day, because Cork had just won the Ireland championships. There were people everywhere, old and young alike. It was like a big concert, with everyone wearing some kind of red jersey, hat, waving flags and screaming for their home team. I hung outside for an hour or so, then I went back to Mama's for some more yummy grub. Waiting to be seated a youngster came in for food, sounds ok, then I realized his right hand was hurt, he was obviously drunk, but he was bleeding on the floor, kinda gross. What's worse, mama decided to mend his hand on the bar, that really was weird. Luckily my food had come out, and I bailed. After my quick bite, I hit a pub, and had a few more beers, and weeding my way through the crowd, I headed back to my hotel. On the way I had a great chat with a cop, we talked about Ireland, family, history, I learned a lot of fascinating stuff. Before I went back in I spoke to the motorcycle cops, they were cooler than shit, they all road tricked out rice bikes, and were fascinated with Vegas. What I found different from these cops and other cops I have seen, they took pictures with the crowd, and let the little kids sit on the bikes with them. This was great, to see people respecting and hanging out with the police instead of hating and talking shit about them. Ok back to the hotel, and I crashed out.

My last day in Cork, was uneventful, breakfast and now on the train to Dublin, more to follow.