Blogs from County Cork, Ireland, Europe - page 5

The two spots Mike wanted to go in Ireland were the Waterford factory and the Frank McCourt Museum in Limerick (see that entry in a couple of days). An Irish native, living in Virginia, who returns at least annually, said Waterford/Midleton (Jameston distillery)/Cork would be a nice day. So, a tour was arranged that would include Waterford, Midleton, and Cork; ten of us were on the tour. Michael was our driver, very nice young man and very flexible about times and places. We went straight to Waterford and got tickets for a tour. Mike and I took the time that was open before the tour and ran down to the waterfront and went up in Reginald's Tower. We had seen it on the Castles series on BBC and it's one of the earliest, originally built by ... read more

After another 3 sea days, we docked in COBH IRELAND, formally known as Queenstown. For those of you that follow our Blog, know that Kevin is a HUGE Titaniac, so visiting here was on his bucket list. This was the last port of call of the RMS Titanic before she sailed west to her historical destiny. About 300 people boarded here on their way to a new and prosperous life in the U.S. When we tied up to the pier and looked out our balcony, we were moored directly in front of the TITANIC WALL, a graphic completed in 2012 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her sinking. Kevin already felt the chill and significance of this!! We disembarked and began our trek through town, passing the Cobh Heritage Center (which we later returned to and ... read more

After a good night’s sleep in our comfy efficiency, we had a good breakfast and headed to the University College of Cork (UCC). Very nice campus with a mix of new buildings in with the very much older buildings. Very nice job of blending the old and the new. George Boole , the father of boolean algebra, taught at UCC for a number of years. Then it was on to Fitzgerald Park along the River Lee. There, Kathy and I toured the local museum consisting of Cork’s role in the 1916 Irish uprising as well as fragments of history dating as far back as 750 AD. As we worked our way west of the city we found ourselves strolling along some narrow winding roads in the midtown district with small Apts and shops. A stop for ... read more

Day 11 Weather good today as I set off from Carrigaline after a good long sleep. The only trouble was Cork. As you can guess with any big city the traffic, especially early morning is here is horrendous. I managed a minor route along the banks of the river Lee past the impressive Blackrock Castle. It was built as a fort in 1582 to defend the port of Cork and later made into a castle built of limestone, which had to burn down every hundred years, as they did in those days. Damn it, there was enough water surrounding it. Eventually I got to the bridge and wrestled with the traffic to get to the north bank. I think my wide,yellow panniers and flapping jacket helped to clear a swathe through the mayhem. One on the ... read more

Looks like there was a fault in earlier blog Day 10 I have to confess that this trip is turning out to be a marathon. I grossly underestimated the terrain, which is like Cornwall with steep hills, some of which are not that short. I am surprised that my body is sustaining it all. My right leg was letting me know of its weakness this afternoon so I had to slow down a bit on the hills and pull a lower gear. I will have legs like Chris Hoy by the time I get home and I will be leaving everyone for dead. Regardless of the toughness the area is still beautiful and changing every day. Today I saw milk cow country and also quite a bit of arable land with grain and also beans. The ... read more