We had a few ideas of things to do in Cork, but once we arrived (after battling to find a map because Sir Tom doesn’t work in cities), none of them really appealed to us. Instead, we went to Blarney Castle, a place where we had both vowed not to go on our trip. We didn’t want to do the typical touristy things. On the castle grounds, we found an ice cream vendor, and purchased the first of many soft-serve vanilla ice cream cones that we enjoyed in Ireland. Nathan asked for flavor options, and was told that he could have “Chocolate Flake,” which was vanilla ice cream with a stick of chocolate stuck in it. We learned one thing: The Irish loved their ice cream, but only vanilla.
We looked around the poison garden, and learned about some really neat poisonous plants, including foxglove, which we had seen (and I had almost jokingly eaten!) on our Torc Mountain hike. We poked around the rest of the grounds and saw a bunch of gimmicky attractions (the druid’s circle, the witch’s kitchen, the wishing stairs). We jumped in line for the Blarney Stone because that was the only way that we could see the castle. The wait was long, but it was fun exploring the different rooms in the castle and climbing the winding staircases. Once we reached the top, I decided to go ahead and kiss the stone (who doesn’t want the gift of eloquence?) because I had, after all, waited in the line. 
I was wearing a skirt, which made things a bit difficult, because I was supposed to lie down on my back, hold onto two metal bars, and then scootch backwards while at the same time lowering the top half of my body, as two guards held me steady. There was a grate below me to prevent me from falling to my death, but Nathan refused to kiss the stone. He claims it had nothing to do with heights, that it was because he didn’t want to catch everyone’s germs, but I’d bet he wasn’t being 100% truthful.
From the castle, we took a quick drive into town, where we watched some high schoolers playing soccer in the square. We found an interesting store that sold hats & fascinators, and asked for opinions on the best restaurant. The place where we wound up had a pub section (where one could watch the World Cup) and also a restaurant section. Nathan was kind enough to give me the option, and I explained that I chose the restaurant because I wanted to actually be able to talk to him, not because I didn’t want him to watch the game. We each chose a different entree (I chose fish & chips because…the UK), and split them. I’m so glad I didn’t try to eat an entire plate of fish and chips. Too much fried food!
We checked into Sheila’s Hostel, and went into the city to watch the US play in the World Cup. After a lot of indecision, we settled on a pub, where it turns out there were very few fans of the US. We lost, but it was a great, close game! I felt that we didn’t really see the parts of Cork that we (Ok, let’s be honest–I) had heard were so magnificent, but we certainly didn’t have a bad time!
Would I recommend…
- Blarney Castle? √+
- Blarney the town? √
- Sheila’s Hostel? √
- Cork? √-
GonnaGoTravel 