Cork!

Boy did I love Cork. It had me with the coffee, really, at the hostel. Fresh roasted in Cork! €2! Ummm, mmm, mmm, coffee. It came in your very own (rented, anyway) mini-French press. I always love ordering tea in this part of the world because they give you your very own pot and it makes me feel special. I know that sounds silly, but it's just one of those things about traveling that just tickles me. The hostel's lobby also had free WiFi which also made me very happy after being in the techno-wasteland of Achill. (I love Achill for that, and I hope that relaxed, get-away-from-it-all atmosphere doesn't change too much, but when ya need something done, it's awfully frustrating.) I got directions via public transit to Turner's Cross, the soccer park where I was going to see Cork City FC play that night.

But what really cemented my liking of the city was the market downtown, which I ran across the next day while exploring the city. Much like Pike Place in Seattle (one of the only cool things left in that city), it was semi-underground with wooden ceilings and walls. Full of fresh fish, meat and veggies, it smelled like it, too. I've always loved Pike Place, so I was excited to explore every little corner of the place. This was when I ran across the shark.



Wow, I can't say I've ever seen a dead shark before. I almost felt sorry for the thing. Ok, not almost. I really did feel sorry for it. And that's speaking as someone who both hunts and fishes. But even I have to admit that it was pretty neat to be this close to a real shark. So the camera finally came out and I became a full-fledged tourist, taking pictures of sharks and streets and buildings.

A lot of things about Cork reminded me of Portland, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. First of all, there's a big river that runs through the middle of downtown. This means that there are a lot of bridges, like Portland, and also like Portland, this means there is a ton of traffic. Fortunately, the downtown is small enough that one is able to walk everywhere anyway, so it wasn't too much of a problem for people that don't need to commute long distances everyday. Then, there's the nickname "People's Republic of Cork" which, adjusted for the name of course, is also one of Portland's nicknames (along with beertown, bridgetown, soccer city usa, stumptown). Plus, Cork has several breweries including Beamish, Murphy's and… and one other I can't remember. I never figured out if they had any smaller breweries, though. I figure they will soon enough since even Dublin has gotten into the organic microbrews scene.

The night after the soccer game, I went to the pub that gave discounts for the hostel I was staying in. The rugby World Cup was on, and I was mildly interested in watching it, since having learned some of the rules, I was starting to find kind of exciting. Ireland wasn't even playing, but two teams in there group were, so there was enough interest that more than a handful of people turned out to watch, too. I ended up talking with a couple people until closing which was nice, since when traveling alone I can go for long stretches without saying more than "thank you" and "pint of ___, please."

Next morning, nicely hungover, I checked out, found some food at a diner right in front of the Airlink bus stop, and began the whirlwind trip to England, which I'm sure I've blogged about somewhere. Yep, there it is! More pictures of Cork: