We Go to Church

Someone out there saw fit to give us glorious weather today for our trip south to Cork.  As a way of saying thanks, we took ourselves to St. Coleman's church in Cobh. (Pronounced Cove)

But first we visited the lovely city of Cork, Ireland's 3rd most populated city.  We only had 90 minutes so we didn't get to wander around all that much.  We did visit the English Market and found a great sausage place to have lunch.

 

Cork sits on the River Lee

On the bridge looking toward the main tourist area.

The street lights were designed by a Spanish architect to look like sails.

I peeked down an alley and this church looked back at me.

The English Market.  Kind of like a small Pike Place

 Cork seemed to cater to a younger population.  Lot's of jewelry shops, maternity shops, and place that advertised services for weddings and romantic getaways.

From Cork it's a 20 minute drive to Blarney where we sat on the bus and waited to go somewhere else.  Just kidding.  Of course we went out and kissed the Blarney Stone.  The castle was amazing!  It's all open for you to explore and imagine what the rooms might have been like 400 years ago. Fortunately  I have a very active imagination so that was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately I have an active imagination which went into overdrive every time William climbed up on a window opening, or went in to explore a cave.   The stairs going up to the Blarney Stone are original and they are worn smooth, uneven and treacherously steep.  I can't imagine climbing them in bad weather when they would also be wet and even more slippery.

However, as I said earlier, the weather was on our side.  The sun was out, the wind was only blowing in short fits and for the first time all week I was actually warm.  To kiss the stone you have to lay down on your back, grab two iron poles behind your head, and lean out over the edge of the castle.  I was petrified.  William went first and I wasn't going to do it but I gave myself a quick kick in the ass and manned up.  What I didn't do is pay the 10 euro for the photo at the end of the trip.  We all kept our photo tickets they give you when you kiss the stone as proof that we braved the 70 foot drop. I am guessing at the height but it's pretty dang tall.

Looking at the castle from the path through the grounds

You use this rope to help you climb the stairs up the tower

 

Looking down the stairs

The view is the reward for reaching the top.

In addition to the castle and the stone, Blarney has beautiful gardens.  Including a Poison Garden wherein every plant within it is poisonous in some way.  Again I felt blessed with such a beautiful spring day to see some of the flowers that were in bloom.  We took so many pictures that I can't possible load them all onto this blog post.  If we have a boring day in Galway next week maybe I'll put up more Blarney pictures.

The last stop on our tour was Clobh, the last port of call for the Titanic before she sank 3 days later.  There is a great museum with a guided tour dedicated to the Titanic.  We opted out of this, and instead wondered the town and waterfront.  In the summer months, cruise ships sail into port here and off load 30 tour buses worth of passengers.  Yikes!  Glad we missed that.

Jeff took a million pictures.  Seriously.  I began to wonder if he would ever leave.  I just grabbed a couple of them.  He has a picture of each station of the cross, that nave, and pulpit.  Every last detail inside. He kind of geeked out like I did yesterday with the Book of Kells.

We came at the right time of day to catch the sun through the windows

The mosaic floor was beautiful

Lovely little waterfront park

The cathedral dominates every view of the town.

William vs. cannon.

The drive back to Dublin took a little over 3 hours.  Tour buses are the way to go.  We sat back and napped most of the way.  Tonight we have to pack up and get ready to say goodbye to our Dublin home.  It's been good to us and I'll miss it.  I won't miss the washer/dryer though...infernal machine.  I hope the one in Galway is easier and quicker to use.  If not we'll be a stinky group heading home.

Good night everyone.