joed205: MY TRIP TO CORK IRELAND

Sunday, August 3, 2014

MY TRIP TO CORK IRELAND

So, I get to the BHM airport at 12 noon for my 1330pm flight. Was bad enough flight BHM-Philly-Amsterdam-Cork. I had a 12-14 hour layover in Amsterdam and thought I'd get out to see some of it but, because of bad weather in Philly, I missed the Amsterdam flight and was rerouted as BHM-Philly-LondonHR-Amsterdam-Cork. My Amsterdam layover was reduced to about 5 hours and not enough time to get out and make it back in thru airport security.

LONDON AMSTERDAM FLIGHT:

Coast of Netherlands

Approaching Amsterdam airport, so must be Amsterdam

Needed a beer badly!

Finally my plane to Cork arrives!

AMSTERDAM-CORK FLIGHT

Cork approach

Cork on the River Lee

Above is the runway and below is the airport.

And guess who was working one of the car rentals, Peter Dinklage!!! I asked him how he got time off shooting GAME OF THROWNS and he laughed and said he liked my shirt. "I MAY NOT BE IRISH BUT I CAN DRINK LIKE ONE".

IN CORK:
My hosts Paula and Ivan.

This is their house

This nice French family was staying there too!(Jean-Claude, Fatima, Amandine)

This is the nice pub down the street- my last stop on the way back home every night!

The 1st couple days I'd get up, have breakfast, walk down to the bus stop and buy a EU5 day pass for the bus. I just rode route 208 all the way around a couple times. When the bus stopped in front of a pub I got out, had a pint, talked to the locals, and went back out to the stop to catch the next bus. When I got tired of one route I'd get on a different bus- like 207 or 209, whatever. I saw a whole bunch of stuff around Cork this way. I don't know what a lot of it was but I did see it!

The Cork Courthouse is a famous landmark and the pubs around it are fantastic!

That Bulmers stuff is the local cider, about as strong as beer and very refreshing! They don't drink much Guinness in Cork. They have their own local stouts, Murphy's and Beamish. Other good local lagers and ales are Smithwick's and Franciscan Well's. They do have a Heineken brewery there too!.

In this picture it appears somebody stayed in the pub too long and ended in serious trouble at the Cork Courthouse!

They even gave me a free cheeseburger at this pub!

Ah yes. Did I say the pubs were marvelous? I was really impressed how high this young lady could stack her glasses!

The day I went to Cobh I got into a conversation with the bus driver about politics and various issues he was curious about in the US. He told me I would really enjoy a little pub only the locals know about. There's just a door on the street and you go up a flight of stairs and enter an unmarked door. I wondered if he was sending me to a beat down but it turned out great.

I went around to the side street and saw it was better marked up above.

In my wandering a found out how the Heffernans got out of there.

and the Reardons

This is the English Market- inside looking out at the street and the inside. Rows and rows of tripe, blood sausage, blood puddin, and lots of good stuff you could actually eat.

And they have lots of churches

St Finbarr's Cathedral and he has a golden angel too!

St Ann's Church is famous for having a crooked steeple with 4 clocks that show different times because of the wind and a 50 foot Salmon on top. Also from being right across from the butter market.

The birds in Ireland are real friendly too. You might even say nervy. I couldn't get within a hundred yards of an Alabama or Georgia crow but this guy lands about 3 feet above my head in a little tree I was standing under. I started taking pictures thinking it would scare him away.

He pretty much just ignored me.

On St Patrick's Street right b4 you go across St Patrick's bridge is the monument to Father Mathew, the Apostle of Temperance. He was responsible for the Irish Temperance movement back in the 1800's. I couldn't look him in the eye. TEMPERANCE!!! NONSENSE!!!

St Patrick's Street

Right across the bridge is St Patrick's hill, apparently famous to the bicycle racing world.

St Paul's Street shops and street performer.

Tesco is kinda like their WALMART.

Cork Opera House

A bunch of Technology companies have moved to the Cork area and this, I was told, where all the Call Centers are located. So, if you ever talk to a tech supt person with an Irish accent they are probably in this building.

OK, So I did kinda get tired of that and decided to venture out some. The buses all stopped at the regional bus station at some point in their route.

Here I could catch a bus to other towns in the area.

I decided to go to Cobh( pronounced Cove).

This picture above is low tide in the River Lee just before reaching Cork Harbor, the 2nd deepest natural harbor in the world. They have 12 foot tides normally.

Cork Harbor is beautiful

Looking over Cobh seeing Cork Harbor.

This cruise ship was about to depart Cobh. Another ship that departed from this same place in the early 20th century was called the TITANIC- it was famous for something that escapes my memory at the moment.

The TITANIC even has its own museum.

Also, all the Irish immigrants that went to the USA departed from here too! They even have their own monument!

The very 1st one even has her own monument!

The Lucitania was sank just off Cobh in 1915 bringing the US into WWI. It has a monument too!

St Finbarr even sent his Pipe Band over to do their thing!

Another day I decide to go to Blarney!

The Blarney is famous for high quality wool sweaters at a very inexpensive price. I didn't need any and didn't investigate.

I just walked around and checked it out.

You creep up this steep tower. Some times I could barely squeeze thru. It takes about an hour with all the people crowded ahead. Then you have to lay on your back over this hole and reach out and grab the bars and pull yourself to the Blarney Stone to kiss it. You are upside down and backwards and kissing some dirty rock right after thousands of other people. God knows what diseases were represented but they say "Just keep drinking the beer and you'll be OK!"

I went to this Irish pub

to hear some traditional Irish music

But they told me the Irish music was actually upstairs. I happened to run into the French couple and their daughter that were staying at the same place I was- JeanClaude, Fatima, and daughter Amandine.

I got into another interesting conversation at the Hi B and was told I should go to a town of Clonakilty, famous as the home of Michael Collins and the speech he gave from the O'Donovan's Hotel.

Battle of the Big Cross monument.

Michael Collins monument. He was the Head of Intelligence for the IRA when the Irish won their independence from the British in 1920. Naturally he is a huge local hero in County Cork and the whole Republic of Ireland.