Life with MK: Cork

Wow! I must say that in only a short bit of time Cork has totally won me over. Granted, we totally lucked out with an amazingly beautiful day which was very fortunate!

We arrived at the airport a bit delayed yesterday. The plane flew in over beautiful green fields and we got through customs and baggage quite fast. Ireland even had a nice big passport stamp that has added nicely to my growing collection. We rented a car from the terminal and walked out to retrieve it from the parking lot nearby.

Of course when we got to the car I immediately went to the passenger seat, opened the door, and found the steering wheel! I had totally spaced about the location of the wheel even though we had been chatting about it (and I did it again this morning, oops). We had a pretty smooth drive to our hotel, Hayfield Manor, and got to see a bit of the town on the way.

The hotel was one of the most beautiful and quaint places I have ever stayed. The front was beautiful and well unkept, and the interior was spectacular with dark wood and amazing decor. Our room must have been twice the size of our room I Paris, and I think we were both sad to not have more time there.

We went to dinner at a lovely restaurant called Market Lane which was absolutely delicious and then make the 2km walk back to the hotel before finally getting to sleep. I no doubt had my best nights sleep since arriving in Europe, so I must be nicely adjusted to the time zone now. I calculated that in the last week I have changed time zones six times! Crazy when you think about it!

This morning we had breakfast at the hotel which was good. I had fruit and a chocolate croissant from the buffet and dad had eggs benedict that he said were the best he'd ever eaten. I think my grandparent would love this place no doubt! After breakfast we headed out to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone (even though that's pretty gross!). The castle ground were more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Gardens extended in all directions with so much green space it was breathtaking. The castle brought us more stairs (like we haven't climbed enough thus far) and spectacular views of the whole area. I am so glad we made it out and it definitely exceeded my expectations.

After Blarney, Dad dropped me off back in Cork and we parted ways for the first time: he went off to Tralee to golf, and I remained in Cork to explore. As I said before I am totally in love with Cork. The shopping was great, there are tons of bookstores and such to explore, and above all the English Markets are unbelievable. Molly, you would love this place! It's like a daily farmers market with everything from fresh fish to meats to fruits and vegetables to 20+ kinda of fresh baked bread. I could shop there every day if I lived here. I got potatoes with onions, peppers, spices, rocket, and a pork leek sausage for lunch which was super tasty, and then walked around a bit more before heading to the train station. Oh, and I also walked around the university a bit which was quite pretty!

I am now on the train to Tralee (yay free wifi) to meet back up with dad. I have to change trains once, but the trip should only take 2h30m total, so not too bad! I'm excited to hear how his first day of golf went. That's all for now because I want to enjoy the scenery! So green!