Cork

Alright, I'm behind on my adventures.

So much for posting in every city.

Turns out some of the places we stayed have super sketchy internet, and others are so secluded they don't have internet at all.

Welcome to Ireland I suppose.

I'll just try my best to catch up.

We spent one night in Cork and it sure was eventful.
We road tripped there for a few hours through some sheep pastures and other fields.

Along the way we stopped to visit the Rock of Cashel and Cahir Castle.

 Here Hilary & I are posing with the Rock of Cashel between us.
It's way fun because while we were in it we got to play around and climb up on anything we wanted.
I guess they figure that since it has withstood hundreds of years of weathering it can handle a group of rowdy tourists.

While exploring the historic site Hilary & I had a brilliant idea.
We hid a love letter behind a loose stone for someone to find someday.

 
 I know you're probably way curious so this is what the letter said:

After the Rock of Cashel we headed to Cahir Castle. 

On the way we came across a Wonka shop that we stopped in though!

 Here at this sweets shop I discovered what has now become my favorite part of Ireland.

Well my favorite part aside from the breathtaking landscapes and tourist sites.

My favorite edible part I guess I should say.

ICE CREAM

I have never in my life had ice cream so delicious as the soft serve here in Ireland.

Every day I have an ice cream cone, sometimes multiple times a day.

They put sprinkles on the one I got at the Wonka shop.

Anyways after that great detour we headed to the castle.

Yeah, it was my first time in a castle.

And it was everything I had hoped for. 

Our tour guide was a funny man and then he let us run wild wherever we wanted.

We did some GOOD exploring.

Here is a video of some of our finds.

 

 Here I am under the life-threatening gate.

 And here we found a secret staircase leading beneath the castle...
Of course we had to check it out.

 Conveniently I had my headlamp in my backpack where it belongs for times like these.
The steps were getting steeper and the path was getting darker.
We bravely ascended where no tourist has gone before thanks to my trusty light.

 At the end of the staircase we found a jail cell.
I don't think I can imagine a more awful place to be locked up than in that dark, creepy, underground space.

 And finally we found ourselves as any damsel in distress would, on the castle ledge waiting to be saved by prince charming.

The castle was SO good. People really fought in there. The tour guide told us all about the design of the castle and how it was protected in times of war. It did really well during the times of swords and bows & arrows, but then along came the cannon and everything changed. Oh it was a fabulous place. So many incredible things happened there so many years ago.

Finally we arrived in Cork and checked into our hostel.
This was my first hostel experience and boy was it one for the books.
Not a great place, but at least it was a place.
Really narrow, but who doesn't like to be cozy?

 We had dinner at a place for half off because of the hostel we stayed at.
It was way delicious pizza.
I've never had pizza with corn on it, but that's what we got.
Ham, pineapple, & sweet corn.

YUM.

The morning after our hostel experience we went down to a market in Cork.
Apparently it's the place to go.
When the Queen of England came to Ireland the only place she visited in Cork was this 400 year old market.
There were lots of shops. Breads, fishes, fruits, cheeses, chocolates, and more.

 For breakfast Hilary & I shared a loaf of fresh baked bread and some fresh goat cheese.
We went to the cheese booth and asked the lady to recommend something, but she wasn't very helpful.
She said the goat cheese was popular and was soft enough to eat on our bread so we just went for that.

 We developed a nice method to eat it by tearing pieces of bread off and using a pinching motion to get cheese onto the bread. It worked nicely.

 Of course I found a place to have a morning ice cream as well.

THEN after the market came a huge scandal.
We show up back to our hostel and we're waiting around forever to get on the road.
Nobody I was sitting by knew what was taking so long.
Then the garda showed up. (garda is the European police)
After that all the gossip started flying.

Apparently a girl in our group had gotten money stolen earlier that morning from a woman claiming to be a cleaning lady. It was really sketchy because the girl was still in the room while the lady stole from her. Luckily there was a security camera that got it all on tape and they tracked down the thief. She had €1000 on her so she stole from a lot more people than the girl in our group. It was crazy. No charges were pressed because then the girl whose money was stolen would have to stay in Ireland and go to court. Sounded like kind of a screwy legal system, but whatever. The lady got to walk, but at least the money was returned.
AND my first hostel experience lived up to all the scary stereotypes that you hear about.
Wahoo.
Coming up next: Blarney Castle and my secluded country cottage home