Cork, Ireland 26.09

We got up early to leave for our flight for Cork. We realised the night before, that this budget flight had a maximum of 15kg for our checked luggage! And for every kilogram over, they would charge us 5.5 pounds! We realised that this would not be a budget flight unless we were able to repack our bags to be significantly lighter. By the time we were finished, our small carry on bags were ridiculously heavy, and lots of things were thrown in the bin. We ended up reducing our excess from about 11kg to 3kg! Great success!
We made the flight just before it left, as Artur got caught up writing in his journal, and forgot to keep an eye on his watch. Thankfully they waited for us, and we made it to Cork. We took a bus into the centre of town, and then walked with our bags to our hostel. It was a lot longer than we bargained for, but we survived the uphill walk.

Once we were settled in, we decided to go for a walk around town. We went past a pretty cool little church on our way into town. It was closed though, so we just admired it from the outside.

We had to cross a bridge to make it into town. We had a great view over the water, and the pretty buildings along it. On the other side of the bridge, you could see the main street. It was lined by strange crane-like structures, which made it look a little bit industrial.
The main street was pretty, and they had quite a nice range of shops. We decided to check out some of the back streets, a little further from the main road. It was a good choice, as the streets parallel to the main road were cute cobblestone streets. There were little homemade chocolate shops, and all sorts of other delights to see along the way.

Tomorrow is our 1st year anniversary, so we were scanning the shops for present ideas for each other. We were getting excited about our first big anniversary! It was getting too late to find gifts this evening though, so we decided to just have a look and shop the next day.
On our way out of town, we spotted a McDonalds store with ads in English and in Polish! We were very surprised, but then Ireland is a top destination for Polish immigrants. We also came across several shops or 'sklepy', on the way, that were obviously owned by Polish immigrants.

One shop was a mini grocery store stocking only Polish products. We bought ourselves what we thought was frozen Pierogi, but it turned out to be another potato type dish from Poznan, called Pyzy Ziemniaczane ze Skwarkami. Loren cooked it for dinner that evening, along with some bacon cubes and salad. Yummy! After dinner, we chatted with some of the other people at the hostel. They were from Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Poland. They were all really friendly, so hung out with them for the evening.

Blarney Castle

The next day Artur made some bacon and eggs for breakfast, seeing as it was our anniversary! Then we took a bus to Blarney Castle. The drive there was absolutely beautiful, and we wished we could just get out and run around in the green fields. Everything seemed so green and natural.
Soon we got to the Castle, which was on even more picturesque grounds. The Castle is surrounded by natural fields and forests, and well as sculptured fairy gardens, and creeks. The Castle itself is very famous for one stone in particular - the Blarney Stone! This stone has been visited for centuries, and kissed by people who wish to gain the gift of the gab, or eloquency.
The Castle is like a maze, with heaps of narrow passages and hideaways. The Castle has a well, that allowed its inhabitants to survive in times of siege. There were also murder holes, which were used to pour boiling oil on top of unwanted guests or intruders.
The Blarney Stone's powers were foreseen by a witch, who said,

'There is a stone there,
that whoever kisses,
oh, he never misses
to grow eloquent.'

The powers of the stone are unquestioned, but its history still creates debate. Some say that it was Jacob's Pillow, brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah. Here it became the 'Fatal Stone', used as an oracular throne of Irish Kings. Then it was removed to mainland Scotland, where it served as the prophetic power of Royal succession, 'The Stone of Destiny'.
When Cormal MacCarthy, King of Munster, sent 4000 ment to support Robert the Bruce in his defeat of the English in 1315, the stone was split, and half was sent to Blarney Castle. Some years later, a witch saved from drowning revealed its power to the MacCarthys.
The difference between 'Blarney', and 'Baloney' is this: Baloney is when you tell a 50 year woman that she looks 18. Blarney is when you ask a woman how old she is, because you want to know at what age women are most beautiful.
As reached the base of the Blarney Castle, and stared up at its great height, we realised that there was a secret entrance in a cave beneath. Apparently someone was trying to make their way into the Castle during a siege, and so they chipped away at solid rock, making a tunnel towards the Castle. They didn't make it all the way, but you can walk through the tunnel, and see where it goes. We decided to check it out, even though it was extremely small, wet and slippery. It was pretty exciting, especially because most tourist sites just block these things off 'for your own safety'. Very exciting!
We came across some more cool tricks to keep out intruders. There were some trapdoors that you could pull and have someone shoot out of the Castle. Actually, that might have just been a legend, they could have been shutes for pulling grain sacks into the Castle. The rooms inside the Castle were pretty cool. There were children's rooms, the main room, and a big dining and dancing hall. They were all made of rock, and any plastering or decorations had long been worn away.
At the very top of the Castle of course, was the Stone we all came to see. There was a short line to wait in before kissing the stone. The Stone was in a very uncomfortable position to reach. You had to lie on your back and stretch out away from the Castle, and lower you head underneath the Blarney stone, so you could kiss it. We both tried it, so you better watch out!

Rock Close

After seeing the Castle, we went to have a look at the Rock Close. It is a garden wound around strange rocks and rock formations.

It is supposed to be an area of fairy enchantment and ancient druid mystery. All a bit of blarney really, but we enjoyed walking through it immensely. The first section was arranged around a beautiful creek. There were huge leaves on some of the plants there, so big that you could hide behind one of them!
A little further on, we reached a set of stairs, called the Witch's Staircase. Apparently if you walk all the way up to the top without looking and while repeating your wish in your head, it will come true. Loren gave it a go, but she can't remember what she wished for now.
Some of the other cool stones that we saw, were the druid's altar, the statue of the witch's face, which is supposed to come to life at night. There was also a beautiful little flower garden which is called the Fairy Garden.
After we finished our walk around the gardens, we sat down at a picnic table by the river, and had our lunch. It was the perfect place to be, alone in a field next to the creek. It was very pretty.


First Year Anniversary!
Then we packed up, and took the bus back to Cork. We arrived in the center of town, so we decided to do our anniversary present shopping. We separated for about an hour and then met up in one of the little handmade chocolate shops. We had hot chocolate and an iced chocolate, and then opened our presents. Artur got some fancy headphones that he had been wanting badly every since his broke, a foldable travel bag, a leather string for his silver cartouche necklace from Egypt, which was also an anniversary gift, and an anniversary card. Loren got some sexy red vinyl shoes, a bird of paradise flower, a guinness pen and a guinness card with Irish wisdom. We were both thrilled with our presents, and took them back to our hostel.
After fancying ourselves up, we went out for dinner at a posh Italian restaurant. We dined and drank some nice red wine, and celebrated our love. After dinner, we dropped into the oldest pub in town, Mutton Lane Inn. It was really cute and the whole lane outside was filled with people
We grabbed a drink inside the crowded pub. Loren tried the local porter beer, 'Murphy's', which is pretty much like Guinness. We pushed our way out into the crowded lane, and found a free barrel or two to sit on. We ended up chatting to a local Irish guy, who told us about the local opinion of Polish people. Apparently they are quite well received here. He said they tend to drink at home instead of in bars, but people tend to like them.
After a few drinks, we were feeling a bit tipsy, so we headed home. It was quite late, so we felt we had partied and celbrated enough to qualify us for a sleep.

To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Cork