An Irish Weekend Adventure

I called my niece, Sabrina, and invited myself to come and visit her in Ireland for a weekend visit with a Christmas holiday touch.  She said I was welcome and that it would be nice to catch up.  Great.  We had sent a few mails back and forth to each other and much later in the conversation she tells me: Oh, by the way, we don't live in Dublin anymore.  We moved to Cork.  Cork?!  Where the hell is Cork?!!!  

Had I known it was a 3½-hour bus ride away from Dublin, I would have never gone for just a weekend.  I didn't know how to get out of it.  I talked to my sister Jay and we both found a way to make it ok to go.  Jay was really hoping I would be able to get away - to Ireland or anywhere - just go!  

I remember Sabrina told me years ago that the countryside of Ireland is beautiful. I used that as my excuse to sit on a bus for 3½ hours - I would be able to enjoy viewing the countryside of Ireland from the big bus windows.

I left our apartment at 8:10 am on a Friday morning. I get to the Copenhagen airport and the gate for flight SK537 is still yet to be announced. That's weird. Should have been announced way before I got the airport.  The flight ended up being 3 hours delayed. When I arrived in Dublin the sun was about to set. By the time I got on the bus, it was stop-n-go rush hour on the motor way, causing my 3½-hour bus ride to take 5 hours. 

By the time we got out of the airport area, it was almost dark and there was a heavy fog making it hard to see anything.

Here are a few pix of Dublin from the bus.

This is a neon sail on a Viking ship (which is down on the water)

What's the deal with a million people on the Ha'penny Bridge?

The colorful lights of the Millennium Bridge.

I finally arrived in Cork and though it is only an 8-minute walk from bus stop to Sabrina's apartment, she and her husband Declan met me at the stop in their car.  So sweet of them.  So altogether, by the time in left our Copenhagen apartment and arrived at Sabrina's apartment, it was nearly 13 hours from door to door. That was crazy.

But I got there and the welcoming was so warm and so gentle and loving that I had very quickly forgotten all about the travel troubles.  Sabrina welcomed me to a fantastic homemade meal in their amazing apartment which they had move to just 1 year ago.

After eating, we sat on the sofa and chatted the few hours left that remained in the day.  Eventually it was time to hit the sheets in my wonderful and cozy guestroom.

The following day, the 3 of us get up and we start to get a huge breakfast together.

It was nice to see this young couple whip up some great tasting meals.  We sat down and ate our breakfast and then got ourselves together for a nice castle trip.  Sabrina has been there a few times before but it was a first for Declan.  Less than half an hour away from where they live, is a beautiful park with an old castle in the middle of it all.  Blarney Castle and Gardens is the name of the place. Nearly 600 years old.  Built in 1446.  You can read more about the history at this link.

Standing in the parking lot in front of the ticket office.

a sing in the ticket office.

All the white is heavy-duty frost.

After our return back home to the apartment, we warm up to another cup of coffee, take a break and then head out to town to get some dinner.

city hall

We went to this Lebanese/Moroccan restaurant call Orso.  

It was amazing.

Click this link to see many of the photos on their home page.

I don't remember so much of what we ordered but I ended up with the lamb. A bit nervous because they said it was well done. It falls off the bone this way, the waitress assured me.  Hummmm.  Well done lamb can be like parchment.  Well....... it was so tender and I loved it and wanted more.  It was so de-lish.  The 3 of us shared 2 appetizers.  Flat bread and cauliflower.  Sabrina ordered them both.  I didn't want to say anything.  What could I say?  Everything on the appetizer menu sounded like a real sleeper.  But I must say - the cauliflower was like a 1000 times better than any cauliflower I have ever had.  It was cooked in all kinds of stuff and yet it still tasted like cauliflower - just amazingly better.  Ok - and how can flat bread be an appetizer?  It was served with all kinds of side flavors and it too was so wonderful.  If you ever find yourself in Cork, go to Orso. 

Then our evening continued with a little walk through town.

Along the way we met up with one of Declan's friends and we ended up at Fordes Bar, listening to some music and watching the football match between France and England.  It was funny for me to see that everybody in the pub was rooting for France.  Declan says - Yes, we hate the English.  Too funny.

When we left the pub, we walked back to the apartment, stepped into the lobby and Sabrina places an order for a midnight snack.  

We love pizza !

After we make ourselves sick on pizza and greasy thingies, we head to bed and fall to dreamland.

The the following day, we take a stroll through the city and end up walking along the nature area of River Lee.   

Crossing River Lee using the Mardyke Bridge.  There, a photographer points out an otter in the water.

Eventually, we end up at the Natural Foods Bakery at the end of the Cork Public Museum building in a cute little park, also along the River Lee.  We ordered some much needed coffee, soup and sandwich to warm up our souls.

Then back thru town again.  I see these 3 spires and find them to be rather..... "inspiring".  What I don't get is how the spiers ended up in a row in these photos because they are not lined up in real life and they are not the same size as they appear to be in the photos.  This is St. Fin Barre's Cathedral.  Next time I'll go in.  It should be beautiful.

There's lots more of Cork to see but we had to get back.  Shock of all shocks, my darling niece Sabrina made her husband and I, enchiladas.  I had no idea she knew how to make this.  We talked about how it is hard to find some things in the markets of Europe.  For example enchilada sauce.  So what does she do?  She makes her own.  OMG  that's the first time I ever had home made enchilada sauce and it was so delicious.  She passed on her recipe to me.  One day I will make it too.

Early Monday morning at 6am I was up and dressed and out of the door by 6:30 to catch the bus just down the street at 7am.  3½ hours to Dublin airport and then right on time to...... another 1 hour delayed flight.  Oh brother

Thanks Sabrina and Declan for such a wonderful weekend and warm memories.