CORK - IRELAND

Another bank holiday weekend = another reason to get away. Cork had a convenient flight time to and from Birmingham and since I liked Dublin the previous year it seemed like a good idea. Getting there was painless enough but was a bit tiring in the back of a 4:15am start for work that day. The flight was made interesting as I was with a group of slightly drunk rugby lads.

I spoke to a few people in my dorm room, had a brief walk round in the rain it had almost the same feel as Dublin did especially being near a river.

Since I wanted to get up early and explore I only had a couple of beer in the downstairs bar before going bed. The bar was not a typical hostel bar but a normal pub open to the public so there was a mixture of locals and travellers. Things got off to the worst possible start when I got threatened by some crazy local who I barely said two words to. To be fair the security got rid of him in seconds but it still wasn’t good. I found out on the third night by the pubs own security to avoid pubs north of the river. Bru bar is north of the river!!!!!!

Second problem was the room, cramped dorm rooms I can live with but having the radiator on full blast all night with no way of turning it off was horrible. I wasn’t the only person complaining that weekend.

I was up fairly early the following morning, had a list of possible places to visit depending on the weather. The first was Cork Gaol, I was very puzzled by the fact that there was only about 5 other people walking round despite it being on the top 10 list of things to see and do in the city. It was good to avoid the crowd and while not as good as the one in Dublin it was still well worth the visit.

As the weather was good I walked the 5 miles (to and from) the ultra touristy Blarney castle. Not the best choice as footpaths were a bit limited and the traffic was fast. As expected the place was packed with people but still not a bad place to spend a few hours.

Got back to find I had been slightly sunburned!!!!!!!

Stopped at the hostel bar to check the football results, couldn’t believe that I was the only person in a bar in Cork on a Saturday afternoon! The evening was an equal let down with a serious lack of other travelers. There was some strange French (possibly religious) group of around 20 people staying and probably taken up most of the beds.

On the final full day I headed off to do the old Jameson distillery tour in Middleton. It was nice to get out of the city center. The tour itself was about an hour long and included a drink at the end. I had a look round the shop but I’d be the first to admit I’m not a whiskey connoisseur and wouldn’t pay some of the prices in excess of 150 euros for the rarer bottles.

Got back to find 4 Canadians had moved into my dorm room. I met them later in the bar downstairs, we had a good night but didn’t venture any further than downstairs. Easily the best night of the weekend. I was leaving the next morning and they had a tour booked so it was hardly a heavy night. Had these people arrived on Friday or Saturday night I would have had a far better weekend.

 
Had a final walk round Cork in the morning before heading off to the airport, nice to get away for the weekend but could have been better.