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Published: July 18th 2017
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Geo: 51.898, -8.47061
We had an extra early start this morning. We needed to catch a bus and a tram to connect to a travel coach since we would be moving on to Cork. Much to our surprise buses did not start running early enough for us to make our connections. We took a taxi to the train station which was our mistake since the bus station was several miles away. We quickly caught the tram and got to our correct station with time to spare. The ride from Dublin to Cork took 4 1/2 hours.
During our ride we passed many farms. Some were readying land for crops. Others were raising cattle, sheep, and goats. The farm houses were colored green, yellow, or white and made of stucco. Like in the city, the fields and farm houses were dilineated by hedges, block or stone walls.
Upon our arrival in Cork we located the Inn and checked in. We set out to locate a designated bike shop to rent bikes to ride to Blarney. This plan was disrupted by the Queen. The route we needed to take was all blocked off awaiting the queen's motorcade. Eventually they passed us by. This time we
were only about 10 feet away and could see her waving to the crowd wearing her wide brimmed white hat.
After she passed the guard let us pass over so we could reach the bike shop. The only problem
now was that it was after 3 o'clock and pretty late to be starting out. We decided to go ahead with our plan. We then ran into another problem. The bike shop had closed. A sign directed us to a new shop. The guy is just starting out and did not have his license to rent bikes. He decided to sell us the bikes for a nominal fee and then buy them back from us when we returned.
The road to Blarney was sometimes hilly and winding. There were no shoulders and you had to be vigilant because of the cars and riding on the left side of the road rather
than the right. The scenery overlooking the plush valleys was worth the ride.
When we returned the bike shop owner kept his part of the deal and bought back
the bikes even though no paperwork had been prepared. He jokingly said upon our
departure that we hadn't needed to kiss the Blarney Stone because Rich already
had
the gift of gab.
Our next stop was the English Market which was the location the queen had visited, only now she was already headed back to England. The vendors were selling fresh meats, cheeses, breads, olives, fruits,pastries, fish, candy, flowers and ice cream.
It was very colorful, busy and crowded.
Speaking of the market, on our way to Cork this morning the bus driver had the radio on and I heard an interview with the woman who is the bread vendor at the English Market.
She was explaining how the Queen's visit had been planned out and preparations made. She was going to get to meet the queen. So when we passed her stall in the market I asked one of the girls which lady had been interviewed. She told me to wait that I needed to talk to her myself. The woman was thrilled for two reasons, first she met the queen and secondly that I stopped to congratulate her on a well spoken interview.
At this point we were ready for dinner and a chance to
sit and rest. We stopped at Tom Lowery's
for baked ham and shepherd's pie. One
odd thing we noticed was that both dinners were served with
French fries even
though they came with mashed potatoes. Everything was plentiful and delicious!
It was another full rewarding day in Cork and are looking
forward to what new adventures tomorrow will bring in the city of Killarney.
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Maria Ryder
non-member comment
I loved Cork when I was there! The architecture was spectacular - did you go to St Finian's?