,Cody here:
Somewhere in the time between starting classes and dumping buckets of roof water out Madilyn and I had the opportunity to go to explore the city and some of the more immediate environs over the course of last weekend. Cork City gave us a great time to start our adventures, with its variety of fun events for Culture Night.
Culture Night is one of the best ideas to promote meaningful community building I've ever encountered. It's a country wide event, which took place on Sept. 16th this year. Towns across Ireland promote cultural centers such as museums, art galleries, theatres, churches, and music venues to stay open late, offer free admission, and special programs. In a city like Cork, this leaves one with an overwhelming list of places to visit. In fact, Madilyn and I spent no small amount of time working out what sites we wanted to visit most (complete with a spread sheet).
Much like when you write a detailed grocery list, this spreadsheet was entirely forgotten on leaving the house for Culture Night.
Even without our agenda, we still had managed to take in quite a few sights and sounds of Cork. First, we stopped in at a display about the history of the LGBT community in Cork. The actual display was sort of small, consisting primarily of posters from past events, but the people present were quite friendly. After this, we walked to Shandon (a neighborhood of Cork a pretty long walk away from where we started to be honest) and visited the Cork Butter Museum. The museum is, as the warmly worded review on the door states "worth a visit."
Despite my sarcasm, the museum really is rather interesting, particularly their information concerning the modernization of the butter industry, and the early roots of dairy production in Ireland. Dairy cows are a foundational part of the culture of Ireland; much of Irish mythology is centered on cattle raids where royalty would, somewhat playfully though still violently, steal each others cattle.
Somewhere in the time between starting classes and dumping buckets of roof water out Madilyn and I had the opportunity to go to explore the city and some of the more immediate environs over the course of last weekend. Cork City gave us a great time to start our adventures, with its variety of fun events for Culture Night.
Culture Night is one of the best ideas to promote meaningful community building I've ever encountered. It's a country wide event, which took place on Sept. 16th this year. Towns across Ireland promote cultural centers such as museums, art galleries, theatres, churches, and music venues to stay open late, offer free admission, and special programs. In a city like Cork, this leaves one with an overwhelming list of places to visit. In fact, Madilyn and I spent no small amount of time working out what sites we wanted to visit most (complete with a spread sheet).
Much like when you write a detailed grocery list, this spreadsheet was entirely forgotten on leaving the house for Culture Night.
Even without our agenda, we still had managed to take in quite a few sights and sounds of Cork. First, we stopped in at a display about the history of the LGBT community in Cork. The actual display was sort of small, consisting primarily of posters from past events, but the people present were quite friendly. After this, we walked to Shandon (a neighborhood of Cork a pretty long walk away from where we started to be honest) and visited the Cork Butter Museum. The museum is, as the warmly worded review on the door states "worth a visit."
Despite my sarcasm, the museum really is rather interesting, particularly their information concerning the modernization of the butter industry, and the early roots of dairy production in Ireland. Dairy cows are a foundational part of the culture of Ireland; much of Irish mythology is centered on cattle raids where royalty would, somewhat playfully though still violently, steal each others cattle.
An interesting side note from my Irish classes, bóthar, the Irish word for road, literally means "cow-path" (so take that Beowulf. Who needs a whale-road when they can have a cow-path).
After stopping in at the Butter Museum, we hit the bóthar intending to go to an Asian music demonstration, but found it was up a very steep hill, so we turned around and ended up at "Making Ireland Modern," part of display series on the aftermath of Easter 1916. My big takeaway from this display was actually the vocabulary it used. I have worked at two museums, and, as a result, know that the assumed vocabulary level recommended for displays is 6th grade or equivalent. They've either got some verbose 6th graders here in Ireland, or don't prescribe to this believe because the panels on the display had words I didn't even encounter until I started college.
My secondary takeaway was the Irish really liked Kennedy.
Following this stop, we visited the English Market, which will have its own featured blog post eventually so I'll simply say I was left contemplating Eliot's phrase "I had not thought death had undone so many" people as were in the narrow lanes of that covered market, and we tried roasted kangaroo.
It had a kick to it.
After this, we toured the Freemason's lodge. We didn't even find any treasure! The furniture was still quite nice and worth admiring though.
Finally we visited the interior of Saint. Finbarre's Cathedral, the church we live under and which features so prominently in many of our photos (usually they charge an admission fee. I have no intention to pay admission to a church.
After stopping in at the Butter Museum, we hit the bóthar intending to go to an Asian music demonstration, but found it was up a very steep hill, so we turned around and ended up at "Making Ireland Modern," part of display series on the aftermath of Easter 1916. My big takeaway from this display was actually the vocabulary it used. I have worked at two museums, and, as a result, know that the assumed vocabulary level recommended for displays is 6th grade or equivalent. They've either got some verbose 6th graders here in Ireland, or don't prescribe to this believe because the panels on the display had words I didn't even encounter until I started college.
My secondary takeaway was the Irish really liked Kennedy.
Following this stop, we visited the English Market, which will have its own featured blog post eventually so I'll simply say I was left contemplating Eliot's phrase "I had not thought death had undone so many" people as were in the narrow lanes of that covered market, and we tried roasted kangaroo.
It had a kick to it.
After this, we toured the Freemason's lodge. We didn't even find any treasure! The furniture was still quite nice and worth admiring though.
Finally we visited the interior of Saint. Finbarre's Cathedral, the church we live under and which features so prominently in many of our photos (usually they charge an admission fee. I have no intention to pay admission to a church.
You may notice I am becoming increasingly terse in my descriptions. That is because Culture Night was only Friday, I still need to tell you all about Saturday and Sunday and our ride on the Paddywagon (I type with no small amount of disgust concerning the unfortunate name of the tour bus).
We awoke Saturday optimistic about a great day. We had bought tickets for Paddywagon tours' "Hopperbus," a 24 hour pass to ride a bus making constant trips from Cork City to Blarney, Cobh, Midleton, and Fota. This is a great way to get in a lot of the local sites at once. After a large breakfast complete with "rashers" (aka better bacon: it can be done). we packed a picnic lunch and ran to meet the bus.
The bus, however, did not meet us.
The thing is we were not warned just how fast the Hopperbus hops. We also weren't warned that, despite being a Paddywagon tour bus, it doesn't say Paddywagon tour bus on the side. It wasn't until 15 minutes after our scheduled departure time that we admitted it: we either missed the bus or walked right past it.
Luckily, we were saved by Michael at the Information office. He rescheduled our tickets so that we could see Cobh on Sunday, leaving us with ample time for our planned stops as Fota and the Jameson Distillery in Midleton (we had decided to sit out Blarney. Madilyn talks enough as is). (M: -__- )
Side note: I pity and respect poor Michael at the Paddywagon information office. I don't know what sin he committed in a past life, but he has been committed to a purgatory where The Pogues' If I Should Fall From Grace With God album plays on loop. Clearly, Michael is out of grace with someone.
Only the leprechauns and the "Kiss me I'm Irish" shirts ever hear him cry.
After getting right with the powers that be at Paddywagon we got on the bus and began a much longer than necessary journey to Fota. Much longer because, as we were late, we had to get on the bus bound for Blarney and just wait for it to loop around.
This created some problems.
As we went over the rough cow-path like Irish roads on empty stomachs (we were still saving our now late picnic lunch) Madilyn began to suffer from car sickness.
Madilyn succumb to car sickness just moments before the bus driver put his breaks on at Fota.
Thanks to our lunch bag, this wasn't a major disaster. It was a little difficult to pick up all of our food from the bus floor (Madilyn tossed the contents of the bag in an understandable hurry).
There are worse things to pick up of a bus floor though.
And so, we got off the bus at Fota. I suppose I should now explain what Fota is. Technically, it is an island (obviously, as we got there by bus, it's reasonably accessible). It is home to Fota house and gardens (a classic Irish "big house." aka country home for the rich and powerful. The kind of place one might go "bunburying"). I'm sorry to say we didn't have time to go bunburying ourselves and instead visited the Fota Wildelife Park (which, when in the city, goes by the name "a zoo").
The zoo, ahem, park, made for a nice walk. A group of crows took a particular interest in our packed lunch and a goose flew into Madilyn at the duck pond. I particularly liked the gibbons.
We awoke Saturday optimistic about a great day. We had bought tickets for Paddywagon tours' "Hopperbus," a 24 hour pass to ride a bus making constant trips from Cork City to Blarney, Cobh, Midleton, and Fota. This is a great way to get in a lot of the local sites at once. After a large breakfast complete with "rashers" (aka better bacon: it can be done). we packed a picnic lunch and ran to meet the bus.
The bus, however, did not meet us.
The thing is we were not warned just how fast the Hopperbus hops. We also weren't warned that, despite being a Paddywagon tour bus, it doesn't say Paddywagon tour bus on the side. It wasn't until 15 minutes after our scheduled departure time that we admitted it: we either missed the bus or walked right past it.
Luckily, we were saved by Michael at the Information office. He rescheduled our tickets so that we could see Cobh on Sunday, leaving us with ample time for our planned stops as Fota and the Jameson Distillery in Midleton (we had decided to sit out Blarney. Madilyn talks enough as is). (M: -__- )
Side note: I pity and respect poor Michael at the Paddywagon information office. I don't know what sin he committed in a past life, but he has been committed to a purgatory where The Pogues' If I Should Fall From Grace With God album plays on loop. Clearly, Michael is out of grace with someone.
Only the leprechauns and the "Kiss me I'm Irish" shirts ever hear him cry.
After getting right with the powers that be at Paddywagon we got on the bus and began a much longer than necessary journey to Fota. Much longer because, as we were late, we had to get on the bus bound for Blarney and just wait for it to loop around.
This created some problems.
As we went over the rough cow-path like Irish roads on empty stomachs (we were still saving our now late picnic lunch) Madilyn began to suffer from car sickness.
Madilyn succumb to car sickness just moments before the bus driver put his breaks on at Fota.
Thanks to our lunch bag, this wasn't a major disaster. It was a little difficult to pick up all of our food from the bus floor (Madilyn tossed the contents of the bag in an understandable hurry).
There are worse things to pick up of a bus floor though.
And so, we got off the bus at Fota. I suppose I should now explain what Fota is. Technically, it is an island (obviously, as we got there by bus, it's reasonably accessible). It is home to Fota house and gardens (a classic Irish "big house." aka country home for the rich and powerful. The kind of place one might go "bunburying"). I'm sorry to say we didn't have time to go bunburying ourselves and instead visited the Fota Wildelife Park (which, when in the city, goes by the name "a zoo").
The zoo, ahem, park, made for a nice walk. A group of crows took a particular interest in our packed lunch and a goose flew into Madilyn at the duck pond. I particularly liked the gibbons.
After this we got on the bus to tour the Jameson Whiskey Distillery in Midleton. I found the tour very informative both regarding the history of Irish whiskey and the finer points of how it is actually made. I was even chosen as "a certified Irish whiskey taster" at the end of the tour. They had us compare small samples of scotch, Jack Daniels and Jameson.
My favorite part of the tour, however, was that Madilyn was also chosen. Interestingly, everyone preferred the Jameson.
My favorite part of the tour, however, was that Madilyn was also chosen. Interestingly, everyone preferred the Jameson.
We found ourselves with an added complication after the tour. You see, Jameson is kind enough to give you a drink after the tour (this is in addition to the drinks you get if you are chosen as a taster). Normally, this would not be a major concern, but Madilyn and I only had ten minutes to "toss it back," so to speak, and run back to the bus stop before the last bus left Midleton for Cork.
We didn't really feel the drinks until we made it to the bus.
In all seriousness, we were fine, but we had been burnt by the Paddywagon before, so we were a little extra careful not to miss our bus.
When we made it home, we got dinner from Jackie Lennox's Takeaway. The best chip shop (or general supplier of heavenly, greasy fare) I've ever been to. We got a cheese and onion pie. A cheese and onion pie is essentially mashed potatoes mixed with (you guessed it) cheese and onions and then deep fried.
We didn't really feel the drinks until we made it to the bus.
In all seriousness, we were fine, but we had been burnt by the Paddywagon before, so we were a little extra careful not to miss our bus.
When we made it home, we got dinner from Jackie Lennox's Takeaway. The best chip shop (or general supplier of heavenly, greasy fare) I've ever been to. We got a cheese and onion pie. A cheese and onion pie is essentially mashed potatoes mixed with (you guessed it) cheese and onions and then deep fried.
This just leaves us with Sunday, which went much more smoothly. We had learned the importance of being early, so we arrived at the bus stop with plenty of time. While there we had a conversation with a very friendly Asian woman who clearly travels often; she gave us her email in case we ever go Australia and need a place to stay. I have my doubts we'll be taking her up on this offer, but you never know.
It was a bit of a grey day, but our visit to Cobh might have actually been my favorite part of the weekend. We visited the Titanic Experience, an occasionally cheesy attempt at immersive history in which each visitor gets assigned the identity of a Titanic passenger and then finds out at the end of the tour if they survived (Madilyn and I both made it!)
I suppose I should explain that Cobh (pronounced cove) is actual the last place that the Titanic stopped before it sank. At the time it was called Queenstown and was actual the last stop for most ships crossing the Atlantic from the British Isles.
You can probably understand why the Irish decided to change the name.
After the Experience we simply wandered around town. We walked up to St. Coleman's Cathedral, an impressive structure the dominates the view of the town, we purchased some snacks at a Centra (sort of a food market/gas station with better than average quick bites), and meandered around some of the more overtly touristy shops in the towns Heritage Centre.
It was a bit of a grey day, but our visit to Cobh might have actually been my favorite part of the weekend. We visited the Titanic Experience, an occasionally cheesy attempt at immersive history in which each visitor gets assigned the identity of a Titanic passenger and then finds out at the end of the tour if they survived (Madilyn and I both made it!)
I suppose I should explain that Cobh (pronounced cove) is actual the last place that the Titanic stopped before it sank. At the time it was called Queenstown and was actual the last stop for most ships crossing the Atlantic from the British Isles.
You can probably understand why the Irish decided to change the name.
After the Experience we simply wandered around town. We walked up to St. Coleman's Cathedral, an impressive structure the dominates the view of the town, we purchased some snacks at a Centra (sort of a food market/gas station with better than average quick bites), and meandered around some of the more overtly touristy shops in the towns Heritage Centre.
In many ways this was the cheesiest day we've had since we got to Ireland, but after the rush and worry of keeping up with the bus on Saturday it was a relief. On top of that, while there is something about tourist centric locations like the Titanic Experience that always makes me uncomfortable (mostly the flat, postcard perfect stories they have to construct out of messy truths like. . . well the Titanic), there is also always something a little comforting about these places. They are designed to cater to the visitor exclusively, but they are also low pressure zones. People on vacation are just passing through, and, so, they dress and live more casually. There is something comforting about being in a situation where the stakes are so low (unless you miss the bus).
Well, this takes you through our first few adventures travelling around Cork county. We already have plans to venture the Dublin next month, and, of course, we have plenty to tell you about our day to day lives as well. We haven't quite settled on the topic of our next blog post, but we did just complete the Fulbright Orientations for Ireland (a great time with great people), and have plans to see a play this week. On top of that, I'm working on doing some special "Features" about different elements of life abroad and Cork City in particular.
All this is to say we have plenty more to share and are very excited to share it with you.
Well, this takes you through our first few adventures travelling around Cork county. We already have plans to venture the Dublin next month, and, of course, we have plenty to tell you about our day to day lives as well. We haven't quite settled on the topic of our next blog post, but we did just complete the Fulbright Orientations for Ireland (a great time with great people), and have plans to see a play this week. On top of that, I'm working on doing some special "Features" about different elements of life abroad and Cork City in particular.
All this is to say we have plenty more to share and are very excited to share it with you.