10-25-2019, 09:54 PM
All Day in Cork Thursday Oct 24
All Day in Cork
It’s hard to schedule things with the sun coming up at 8:15. I have stuff to do and I want start doing them at my normal time of 5:30 or 6. Stupid sun. And since the sun comes up late, they don’t serve breakfast until late. I do spend a lot of time cursing these horrible conditions. What’s a tourist to do.
Originally, I was going to go to Blarney at 9am, the Cork Gaol at 10 and then be at the Cork City Walk tours at 11am. From what I know now, that is just insanity. Especially when you look at the road in front of the Gabriel Gueshouse and see a line of cars backed up forever, waiting for the world’s shortest traffic light at the bottom of the hill.
I came to my senses and decided we would just hang out until 10 and go into Cork for the 11am Walking Tour. We could get out to Blarney in the afternoon. We had been to Blarney before on our first trip and we had kissed the stone, but we had been driven from the castle grounds by hordes of screaming children. Plus, it had been overcast and the pictures we took were poor.
As a bonus to the Queen, she got to hang in the room and read for a couple of hours without being dragged around. As for me, sitting around when there are things to see never sees to happen.
The day started foggy but it was a nice change from all the rain we experienced in the journey into Cobh. We had a great breakfast in the spacious dining room of the Guesthouse. I learned later that all the eggs came from chickens living in hutches just outside the building in the garden area that fronted the Guesthouse.
After breakfast, Cindi opted to read in the room. I figured to use the time by going to see Christian Brothers Cork Secondary School. They were the biggest rival to my school in Limerick, Crescent College Comprehensive. I wanted to see where the enemy lived. It was near the Gabriel Guesthouse up some street called St. Patrick’s Hill.
When they said hill they weren’t kidding. Climbing all the stairs to the top reminded me of San Francisco. Plus, the schools were all starting at the time of my hike and there must have been a dozen schools in the area, so I was surrounded by school kids the entire time. I didn’t feel like a creepy old man at all. Not even a little bit.
I was having school flashbacks as well because they were all in uniforms that looked just like the uniforms all the kids in Limerick would wear. Although the phones and earbuds showed me some things had changed.
I completely missed the entrance to the school the first time. All it was was a doorway in a 100 year old grey cement wall. The kids were all going through, but it didn’t look any school. Google decided since I was walking, I should go to the walking entrance instead of the drive in entrance much further down the hall.
What can I say, Christian Brothers Cork was just another big preparatory academy much like you find in the states.
Since I was out, I headed back into Cork proper to see what I could see. I went by the Cork Opera House. I saw the famous English Market. And best of all I went to Eeson’s Book store. Eason’s is the book chain in Ireland. They are in all the major cities and they have books. And newspapers. And they let you just wander around browsing books. I haven’t done that in so long. Although, I did have the sad thought that there will probably come a time when Eason’s is no more. All Ireland needs is a fleet of brown vans.
Most of the heart of Cork is retail. Tons of shops. It was like being in mall surrounded by statues of dead guys.
By the time I got back to the Guesthouse, the fog had burned away and the sun was shining. I took the opportunity to explore the garden. That’s where I noticed the hutches with the chickens, geese, and turkeys. After I got the Queen from the room, I took her down to see the fowls. Their keeper was there and he showed us his birds. He even gave us an egg which was still warm from the chicken.
Our tour guide was Jack and he had information bursting from all his pores. Which was a good thing. We learned a ton of stories. Most of which will be gone by the time the trip ends. What I thought would be a quick 90 minute tour turned into an exhaustive 3 hour stroll. And we didn’t cover all that much ground. Looking back, it seemed we just wound our way through just a couple of streets. But we learned so much.
The big thing was that Cork, much like Venice was built on several island in the Lee River and over the course of time the island were all connected and the waterways and marsh covered to make the modern city. The streets all conform to the waterways that still flow below them. When the remnants of Superstorm Sandy left the east coast, it came to Cork and did 300 million dollars worth of damage.
The big thing going on at the moment in town is the Cork Jazz Festival. It’s just by coincidence we are here at the same time. But Jack gave us a lot information about the festival and the best pubs to see the musicians. Since most of it starts going at 9pm or later, we are not going to be seeing a lot of that.
We toured the English Market which is one of the oldest fresh food markets in the world. It’s so popular even Queen Elizabeth stopped in for a visit. The fish monger who led the tour made the Queen laugh and has been invited to Buckingham Palace three times because of that.
Jack took us to the Imperial Hotel where Michael Collins spent his last night before being killed in ambush at Beal na Blath in West Cork. It’s also the hotel were Frederick Douglas stayed when he was in town. The ladies of Cork were so taken by Douglass, they all chipped in and gave him money so he could by his freedom when he returned to the United States.
There is a social divide between the North and South sides of the cities. The South was wealthy and the tenements were in the North. Don’t call them Nories. It’s a perjorative. Oddly, our Guesthouse was in the North Side, but in one of the richer neighborhoods.
So much information. My brain felt full at the end of it.
By this time, we had walked about five miles, so we took a cab up to the historic Cork Gaol. it was an old Gaol. It didn’t have the stunning architecture or history of Dublin’s Kilmainham, but it was an interesting old building. Since the sun was out, it photographed well. They had recreations all over the jail and the audio guides told us the tales as we walked through the prison. Eventually, I want to crush those audio guides beneath my heel.
Tour Guide enthused so much about the Honan Chapel on the grounds of the University College Cork, I felt compelled to drag the Queen. And by drag I mean took another taxi. Both taxi drivers were both very garrulous. I wonder if they have to pass a talkative test to get the job.
The Honan Chapel was a non-denomination chapel built by the the wealthy Honan family to honor their son killed in World War 1. It caused quite the stir back in the day since it eschewed any particular religion. The Catholics were particularly displeased by this ungodly place. As churches go, it was fine. The mosaics and stained glass windows were all quite nice. But I’ve seen other churches that were more stunning.
We headed back towards town in order to go by Cork’s main Cathedral, St. Fin Bar’s. It was very cathedrally. My main reason for going was to see the canon ball they had found in the walls during a 19th century remodel and now hung in the cathedral.
While we walked the aisles, the organist practiced for the upcoming masses. As The Queen pointed it’s a good thing he was in there practicing.
For dinner, we dined at El Padrino’s Italian restaurant on Cook St. It was one of the thousand restaurants tour guide Jack pointed out that we actually remembered. The two Sicilian men that ran it took their mafia heritage to heart. Good food, too.
Now, I’ve really wanted to stay up late and hear some traditional music at one of the local pubs. And one of them was supposed to be doing just that at 6:30. I could stay up for that. Except by the time we got to the pub, we were informed the music would be starting at 9. I’m a wimp and can’t stay up for that.
We returned to Gabriel’s Guesthouse and were in bed by 9pm. I was back awake at midnight. My brain hates me.
All Day in Cork
It’s hard to schedule things with the sun coming up at 8:15. I have stuff to do and I want start doing them at my normal time of 5:30 or 6. Stupid sun. And since the sun comes up late, they don’t serve breakfast until late. I do spend a lot of time cursing these horrible conditions. What’s a tourist to do.
Originally, I was going to go to Blarney at 9am, the Cork Gaol at 10 and then be at the Cork City Walk tours at 11am. From what I know now, that is just insanity. Especially when you look at the road in front of the Gabriel Gueshouse and see a line of cars backed up forever, waiting for the world’s shortest traffic light at the bottom of the hill.
I came to my senses and decided we would just hang out until 10 and go into Cork for the 11am Walking Tour. We could get out to Blarney in the afternoon. We had been to Blarney before on our first trip and we had kissed the stone, but we had been driven from the castle grounds by hordes of screaming children. Plus, it had been overcast and the pictures we took were poor.
As a bonus to the Queen, she got to hang in the room and read for a couple of hours without being dragged around. As for me, sitting around when there are things to see never sees to happen.
The day started foggy but it was a nice change from all the rain we experienced in the journey into Cobh. We had a great breakfast in the spacious dining room of the Guesthouse. I learned later that all the eggs came from chickens living in hutches just outside the building in the garden area that fronted the Guesthouse.
After breakfast, Cindi opted to read in the room. I figured to use the time by going to see Christian Brothers Cork Secondary School. They were the biggest rival to my school in Limerick, Crescent College Comprehensive. I wanted to see where the enemy lived. It was near the Gabriel Guesthouse up some street called St. Patrick’s Hill.
When they said hill they weren’t kidding. Climbing all the stairs to the top reminded me of San Francisco. Plus, the schools were all starting at the time of my hike and there must have been a dozen schools in the area, so I was surrounded by school kids the entire time. I didn’t feel like a creepy old man at all. Not even a little bit.
I was having school flashbacks as well because they were all in uniforms that looked just like the uniforms all the kids in Limerick would wear. Although the phones and earbuds showed me some things had changed.
I completely missed the entrance to the school the first time. All it was was a doorway in a 100 year old grey cement wall. The kids were all going through, but it didn’t look any school. Google decided since I was walking, I should go to the walking entrance instead of the drive in entrance much further down the hall.
What can I say, Christian Brothers Cork was just another big preparatory academy much like you find in the states.
Since I was out, I headed back into Cork proper to see what I could see. I went by the Cork Opera House. I saw the famous English Market. And best of all I went to Eeson’s Book store. Eason’s is the book chain in Ireland. They are in all the major cities and they have books. And newspapers. And they let you just wander around browsing books. I haven’t done that in so long. Although, I did have the sad thought that there will probably come a time when Eason’s is no more. All Ireland needs is a fleet of brown vans.
Most of the heart of Cork is retail. Tons of shops. It was like being in mall surrounded by statues of dead guys.
By the time I got back to the Guesthouse, the fog had burned away and the sun was shining. I took the opportunity to explore the garden. That’s where I noticed the hutches with the chickens, geese, and turkeys. After I got the Queen from the room, I took her down to see the fowls. Their keeper was there and he showed us his birds. He even gave us an egg which was still warm from the chicken.
Our tour guide was Jack and he had information bursting from all his pores. Which was a good thing. We learned a ton of stories. Most of which will be gone by the time the trip ends. What I thought would be a quick 90 minute tour turned into an exhaustive 3 hour stroll. And we didn’t cover all that much ground. Looking back, it seemed we just wound our way through just a couple of streets. But we learned so much.
The big thing was that Cork, much like Venice was built on several island in the Lee River and over the course of time the island were all connected and the waterways and marsh covered to make the modern city. The streets all conform to the waterways that still flow below them. When the remnants of Superstorm Sandy left the east coast, it came to Cork and did 300 million dollars worth of damage.
The big thing going on at the moment in town is the Cork Jazz Festival. It’s just by coincidence we are here at the same time. But Jack gave us a lot information about the festival and the best pubs to see the musicians. Since most of it starts going at 9pm or later, we are not going to be seeing a lot of that.
We toured the English Market which is one of the oldest fresh food markets in the world. It’s so popular even Queen Elizabeth stopped in for a visit. The fish monger who led the tour made the Queen laugh and has been invited to Buckingham Palace three times because of that.
Jack took us to the Imperial Hotel where Michael Collins spent his last night before being killed in ambush at Beal na Blath in West Cork. It’s also the hotel were Frederick Douglas stayed when he was in town. The ladies of Cork were so taken by Douglass, they all chipped in and gave him money so he could by his freedom when he returned to the United States.
There is a social divide between the North and South sides of the cities. The South was wealthy and the tenements were in the North. Don’t call them Nories. It’s a perjorative. Oddly, our Guesthouse was in the North Side, but in one of the richer neighborhoods.
So much information. My brain felt full at the end of it.
By this time, we had walked about five miles, so we took a cab up to the historic Cork Gaol. it was an old Gaol. It didn’t have the stunning architecture or history of Dublin’s Kilmainham, but it was an interesting old building. Since the sun was out, it photographed well. They had recreations all over the jail and the audio guides told us the tales as we walked through the prison. Eventually, I want to crush those audio guides beneath my heel.
Tour Guide enthused so much about the Honan Chapel on the grounds of the University College Cork, I felt compelled to drag the Queen. And by drag I mean took another taxi. Both taxi drivers were both very garrulous. I wonder if they have to pass a talkative test to get the job.
The Honan Chapel was a non-denomination chapel built by the the wealthy Honan family to honor their son killed in World War 1. It caused quite the stir back in the day since it eschewed any particular religion. The Catholics were particularly displeased by this ungodly place. As churches go, it was fine. The mosaics and stained glass windows were all quite nice. But I’ve seen other churches that were more stunning.
We headed back towards town in order to go by Cork’s main Cathedral, St. Fin Bar’s. It was very cathedrally. My main reason for going was to see the canon ball they had found in the walls during a 19th century remodel and now hung in the cathedral.
While we walked the aisles, the organist practiced for the upcoming masses. As The Queen pointed it’s a good thing he was in there practicing.
For dinner, we dined at El Padrino’s Italian restaurant on Cook St. It was one of the thousand restaurants tour guide Jack pointed out that we actually remembered. The two Sicilian men that ran it took their mafia heritage to heart. Good food, too.
Now, I’ve really wanted to stay up late and hear some traditional music at one of the local pubs. And one of them was supposed to be doing just that at 6:30. I could stay up for that. Except by the time we got to the pub, we were informed the music would be starting at 9. I’m a wimp and can’t stay up for that.
We returned to Gabriel’s Guesthouse and were in bed by 9pm. I was back awake at midnight. My brain hates me.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm