Grant and I had settled into life in Dublin but were soon ready for an adventure in a new place. We hadn’t yet visited the city of Cork, located in the South-West part of Ireland, but had heard that it is a place with its own character. We were even told, “you’ll love the accent!” by Dubliners. So, when we had a weekend free, we decided to take a trip down and check it out for ourselves.
We arrived on a dreary day (pretty typical for Ireland) around noon. We brought our umbrellas and thus felt prepared. The bus dropped us off along the River Lee, opposite of the town center, which worked out well for us as we had booked a night at the Hotel Maldron. The hotel was nice and perfect for our touring needs as it is within walking distance of most city attractions and the price is reasonable. I was excited as the hotel has a pool and full spa complete with sauna and steam room. We weren’t prepared for this so we dropped off our luggage in the hotel room and immediately headed to the shopping district to find swimwear.
Our hotel mentioned a good place to visit is the English Market, a food market hall selling everything from fresh fish to chocolate. There has been a market in this location since 1788 but the current set of buildings that house the market was constructed in the mid-19th Century. It’s fun to walk along the narrow aisles and catch the smells of fresh food and the sounds of other shoppers on a lunch break.
Grant and I got hungry and decided to walk along a side street. We found a restaurant called Bodega and when we stepped inside, we were impressed. The inside felt like stepping into the lobby of an 18th Century Hotel. The bar area was really neat also.
Cork has its own charm to it. The downtown area seemed to have gotten a “facelift” recently with a brand new shopping district, including name brand stores and modern art street lights. The city is very walkable and the bars, restaurants, and shops are easily accessible. I liked that the city opera house was one of the main buildings you see as you walk across the bridge to the downtown section.
We found our swimwear, I bought a bathing suit for 5 Euros and Grant, with his good taste, decided he couldn’t go less than 30 Euros for his swim shorts. We cut our sightseeing short to make it back in time to chill out in our hotel’s jacuzzi and pool. But we soon had our fill of the spa after an hour and a half. We decided we’d take a shower super fast, get dressed, and make our way across the river in time for a ghost tour in front of the Opera House at 7:00 pm.
The ghost tour was fun, you definitely see where actors work when they aren’t performing on stage. And we learned a bit of Cork’s history, such as Cork hosting the world’s largest natural harbor as well as being settled by Vikings in the early 900’s. We even learned that the hotel we are staying in used to be a hospital where people who had the “Black Death” were cared for. Hmmm, I was a little scared to go back to our room.
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