Hiya! I just got back from a long weekend in Cork, Ireland! I joined my friend, Rebecca who was in town to do some work with Apple. She came into town early in order to adjust to the time, visit with me and do some sightseeing. I arrived Thursday and tried to get the lay of the land. Rebecca arrived Friday and tried to stay awake until 8pm [not easy!]. We spent our time on Friday exploring the High Street in Cork. I saw this store and it reminded me of Mo whose maiden name is Guiney. The store reminded me of her, too. Lots of stuff and lots of bargains! There were all sorts of treasures to be discovered inside!On Saturday
we picked up a rental car and ventured out to Kinsale. It's a cool little
touristy town with lots of shops and a few good restaurants. The guidebook pages that Rebecca had said we should eat at Fishy Fish Cafe'. We did and THIS was my lunch! The prawn was posed. It was very good, but I had to make a spectacle of myself and take a picture of this before I ate it. The back "legs" are crab meat on avocado with Bearnaise and mayonnaise. It was really good, but unexpectedly creative!
On Sun
day we started out early and made a stop in Kilarney for breakfast. Not much 
has changed. Nothing is open before 9am. I was in Kilarney in 2004 with my folks. The center of town has horse drawn carriages that will take you on tour and down to Ross Castle. The square where they begin has been redone and now has a nice public toilet facility, but otherwise, nothing has changed. We stopped at the castle to take a few photos and there was a fishing tournament beginning. All of the boats were in the water huddled together, and then they took off! [Somehow the guy in the orange shirt got in both of my shots!]
we picked up a rental car and ventured out to Kinsale. It's a cool little
touristy town with lots of shops and a few good restaurants. The guidebook pages that Rebecca had said we should eat at Fishy Fish Cafe'. We did and THIS was my lunch! The prawn was posed. It was very good, but I had to make a spectacle of myself and take a picture of this before I ate it. The back "legs" are crab meat on avocado with Bearnaise and mayonnaise. It was really good, but unexpectedly creative!On Sun
day we started out early and made a stop in Kilarney for breakfast. Not much 
has changed. Nothing is open before 9am. I was in Kilarney in 2004 with my folks. The center of town has horse drawn carriages that will take you on tour and down to Ross Castle. The square where they begin has been redone and now has a nice public toilet facility, but otherwise, nothing has changed. We stopped at the castle to take a few photos and there was a fishing tournament beginning. All of the boats were in the water huddled together, and then they took off! [Somehow the guy in the orange shirt got in both of my shots!]After t
his stop, we headed for the Ring of Kerry. When I was last there in 2004, it was a rainy, cloudy day and I was driving so I really never saw the Ring. We had great weather on Sunday, so we took full advantage. About h
alf-way around [North-to-South], there was a sign to go to the Skellig Ring. We thought it was a destination and the road turned closer to the water, so we followed it. It ended up being a great detour. We saw two different house ruins right ON the water. One was being reclaimed.
his stop, we headed for the Ring of Kerry. When I was last there in 2004, it was a rainy, cloudy day and I was driving so I really never saw the Ring. We had great weather on Sunday, so we took full advantage. About h
alf-way around [North-to-South], there was a sign to go to the Skellig Ring. We thought it was a destination and the road turned closer to the water, so we followed it. It ended up being a great detour. We saw two different house ruins right ON the water. One was being reclaimed. We had lunch in a fishing village with the locals who were watching Gaelic Football, which looks like a combination between soccer and rugby. It's played with a round ball, 15 players each team and you can kick the ball in the net or over the uprights. And in order to advance the ball down the field, you can carry [but for a short distance], kick to yourself, kick to your teammate, or laterally pass the ball. It's very fast-moving. Rebecca was not as impressed with our bar-mates, however! I looked up the game on Wikipedia, and my description was spot on! If you're interested in more, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_football
Then we saw a sign that boasted that for a 15-minute walk, you could see the "Best Views in Kerry". I 
was up for this. Rebecca was not! I considered leaving her for the 30 minutes it would take to see if this was true, but then thought better of it and we continued down the
road. Only to find that a farm house had posted the same sign and for 2.50 Euros each, we could borrow a pair of binoculars and walk up their amply built trail to the cliff's edge. Mind you, as we were entering, a cute older couple were disassembling their scooter from the Scooter Store, so this was NOT going to be a difficult climb. From the top of the cliff to the water is about 1000 ft. It was not quite as grand as the Cliffs of Mohr ... especially since there was a sign at the end of the path that said 'Viewpoint Is Here". But we had access to a clean toilet [no paper] and our friendship remains in tact because I didn't billy goat it up the hill without my friend. In all, a good day!
was up for this. Rebecca was not! I considered leaving her for the 30 minutes it would take to see if this was true, but then thought better of it and we continued down the
road. Only to find that a farm house had posted the same sign and for 2.50 Euros each, we could borrow a pair of binoculars and walk up their amply built trail to the cliff's edge. Mind you, as we were entering, a cute older couple were disassembling their scooter from the Scooter Store, so this was NOT going to be a difficult climb. From the top of the cliff to the water is about 1000 ft. It was not quite as grand as the Cliffs of Mohr ... especially since there was a sign at the end of the path that said 'Viewpoint Is Here". But we had access to a clean toilet [no paper] and our friendship remains in tact because I didn't billy goat it up the hill without my friend. In all, a good day!
