Cork-No, Not the Thing in a Wine Bottle

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Ok so i went to Cork like 3 weeks ago, but the internet has been working about 30% of the time lately, and I've actually been busier lately, but I won't bore you with any more excuses, so here it is:

Cork is the second largest city in Ireland, at about 200,000 people, and it's on the south/southeastish coast. I went there on the weekend after Valentine's Day with Alex, Erin, Sally, Lee, and Lee's sister who was visiting. The bus took about 4 and a half hours and we had to wake up at 6:00am for it which was SO painful, but i sucked it up and got there in time. The city seems much bigger than it actually is, just like every Irish city so far. I think that goes to the fact that they are not as spread out as some American cities, and there's this whole insular theory that when you're on an island, the island seems much bigger than it really is, or your view of the world shrinks to fit (whichever you prefer). Anyway, Cork reminded me a lot of San Francisco because it had tremendous steep hills with adorable multicolored apartments that were tall and squished together. But it was very Irish as well. The city centre is much bigger than Galway's, and it seems to be that for the most part, the residential are and the commerce area are divided by the River Lee.

When we first arrived, we checked my guide book for hostels and the second one we found had a six person room open-golden. Although by room, they meant three sets of shiny red bunk beds fit neatly into a small rectangle, and a heater that didn't work. But at 14 euro a night, it was the freaking Hilton. According to my guide book, there were tons of things to do, so after a quick meal we started wantering around to some of them. We found the first one no problem-St. Anne's Cathedral, right down and up again a hill from a Heineken factory. It was one of the dozens of cathedrals and not the most impressive, but lo and behold I saw my first real relic and reliquary there!! It was a saint's shin bone (femur? tibia?) in a beautiful glass tube surrounded by a glass case with the standard golden beautifully designed roof and stand with enamelling....not nearly as quality or as old as the reliquaries I studied in my Early Irish Art class back in the States, but still really exciting. And really hilarious, honestly. Random saint's leg bone...i dont even remember his name although there was info on him all over the walls around the reliquary. Those Irish and their bits of saints! I love them!

Ok i'm getting distracted, but will publish this entry now and update it tomorrow....there was so much more in Cork!

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