Corgaigh and Blarnan

After staying one night in Dublin we took the express bus to get to Cork, a much nicer harbour town in the south of Ireland. When we arrived at the hostel we planned to walk around in town to get a feeling of Cork at night, before leaving we got a lot of good hints where to go in Cork and which places are interesting. So we went into town and walked around. First we were thinking of getting into a special pub called Sin ê (Irish for that's it), cause we already knew that there would be live music the next evening we saved the time to get there the next night. Back at the hostel we spent most of the night chatting with the other travellers we got to share our room with and got to bed in the morning hours.

The next day it was time to explore Cork, a girl from Greece joined us on the exploration, again we got some company, making the exploration even more interesting. First we went to an St. Anne's church Shandon, rather famous for the bells they got in the tower, were you able to play some melodies. They put there some kind of a song book so everyone would be able to play a melodie. Bernd tried pretty hard to pull down the robe to ring the bell, but he didn't manage to do it. From the top of the tower we got a great view above Cork and also the landscape around.

 

  

Next place we went to was the Cork City Gaol, the jail, kind of funny having a open every day in the year sign in front of it. The jail is a very old building and inside you got to read and hear about some prisoners they kept over the years. Some of them did not really have a big punishment, but others had. And well some were sent on a ship to Australia. Inside a cell Bernd sat down for a while to get a feeling who it would be to be in prison. Not a good feeling, the way it should be.

 

Lucky for us we got one of this prison free cards, so we did not have to stay there and left to see more of the town, we passed by at a brewery and some old brick houses along the river, enjoying our time and headed to the next religious building, the cathedral. The cathedral is as a cathedral should be, beautiful decorations, gargoyles and stained glass windows. We did not get inside, because Bernd got so hungry that we got to leave the place to get something to eat, all discussions did not help.

We knew that Cork had a castle, but we did not have any idea were it would be, after asking around we got the hint to take a bus and only walk a few hundred metres to it. So we got there. Black Rock Castle, a rather small but still impressive castle directly at the river, for sure it was gods for protection. Inside we asked to get a tour and got told that you do not see anything of the castle inside. The castle was changed into a science and astronomy museum, that did not stop is from getting in and learn something about our planet.

And after loitering around it got late enough to get to Sin ê, the most important thing to do in Ireland, going to a pub. There are not so many left, most of them got changed to bars and are not anymore like they used to be. In the pub we had a very very great time, listening to live music and also having this great atmosphere, it's so amazing and worth getting to a real Irish pub.

We did not only want to see one big city so the next day we went to Blarney castle (Caisleán na Blarnan). The castle was the way we expected it and it should be. The old castle is on top of a small hill and offering a great view above the woods and the green meadows, the green island. Before getting inside the castle we walked a bit around and got into the dark caves below. Some of them were very narrow with low ceilings making Bernd kind of scared and willing to leave them.
From up the tower we had an amazing view above the land, could also see another smaller castle and did not want to leave this place. Must have been great living here.

 

Cause it was said that you get the gift of eloquence when kissing the Blarney stone on the top floor of the castle we wanted to give it a try. So you not only get up there to get a great view. It felt like thousands of people fretting up to kiss the stone and a rather long line was staying there. Well at a place like this it is not a big problem waiting some minutes. When we got closer to the stone and watched others kissing it we saw a sign telling about age and height restrictions. For sure Bernd was not tall enough to get to the stone.

He was so sad and mad about that, that he was close to run away and leave this place, before he could disappear I talked to the guy there for safety if there would be a chance for my travel buddy. And he said yes, so Bernd also got the chance to kiss the stone.

Bernd was totally happy, already trying to proof his new won eloquence not stopping talking for the rest of the day. Outside the castle we went to the poison garden, saw some marijuana and opium, strange poison. And walked through the wood seeing big trees not growing in a typical way. After spending the day in Blarney we went back to Cork and were wishing to have some more days in Ireland and being able to make a trip around the island. Unfortunately we got to leave the next day.