Irish Diaries, part 3: Trip to Cork
Throughout February a local bus operator was offering a €10 discount to students, and as a cheap student I couldn't pass up such an opportunity. I decided to go to Cork, Ireland's second largest city, with a population of over 210,000 people. The distance between Limerick and Cork is about 100 kilometres and it takes about two hours by bus.
This post was originally written in Russian on February 24 2020. Mostly translated with deepl.com (Free version).
First impression
I should probably start off by saying that I haven't technically travelled to any city in Ireland yet, so I have nothing to compare Cork with. In Dublin I have only been to the airport and the hotel, and I have only been to Limerick itself, which is kind of where my university is, three times, so I haven't had much time to walk around. Cork is a very small city, so I walked around the city, and in 1.5 days I managed to walk about 14 kilometres. At the train station in Limerick I made a small checklist of places to visit, and when I arrived to the city I just opened Google Maps and started with the nearest attraction. So, the first places I visited in the city were two vintage shops. The first shop had a huge selection of different things, from typewriters, crockery, old pianos to various elements of decor. The second shop had mainly books and women's clothes, and there I decided to buy the book "451 degrees Fahrenheit", which only cost me 2 euros.
Cork - the food capital of Ireland
Cork is often referred to as the gastronomic capital of Ireland, and by some as a separate state, the People's Republic of Cork. The former is most likely because of the huge number of cool cafés and restaurants (including vegetarian restaurants), and because there are so many different farms near Cork that you can always find fresh, organic, locally produced produce in the city. There is also a market in the city that has become a tourist attraction - The English Market. The market is very atmospheric and interesting and there is a famous café on the first floor which serves traditional Irish dishes. One of them is Irish pudding (Irish 'white pudding' is a sausage made from pork and oatmeal, and 'black pudding' is a sausage with pig's blood added).
Cork - the city of bridges
Cork is built on two canals of the River Lee and so there are more than 30 bridges in the city. As in Limerick, most buildings in Cork are three or four storeys high. The first mentions of Cork date back to the 6th or 7th centuries, when a monastery was founded on the city's grounds. Although the city is relatively small, there are many different churches and cathedrals. There are also a large number of different brand shops in the city centre.
"Right here right now" festival
During my trip to Cork there was a music festival called 'Right here right now', which I found out about on the way to the city. On the bus I picked out and bought one of the tickets for Saturday's Anna Mieke concert as part of the festival, but I had no idea who the performer was or which songs she was playing. The ticket said it was taking place at the Cork Opera House, but it turned out to be in a small pub inside, the entrance to which is not marked in any way, and is in the back. Despite the fact that there were at most 10 chairs and 4 tables, the concert was very atmospheric indeed. The opening act was by Big Children, who played their own songs. To give you an idea of the genre Anna Mieki sings in, here is a youtube video.
On the second day I walked around town to the local university, University College Cork, which was founded in 1845. The university has a very large area, and is often mentioned in the list of recommended places to visit on various tourist portals.
Hostel & budget
I really hoped that someone will pick me up on couchsurfing.com, left an application there, and even wrote to some people asking to stay with them for one night. Not getting a response, the night before the trip I booked a place in a hostel for 26.5 euros. On the first day I had a vegetarian burger for €4.3 at McDonald's (honestly, I didn't like the burger at all), had a falafel dinner at Istanbul Kebab and took a burger to go, all together for €12. On the second day I had tea and a muffin at the "plant-based" café on the seafront for €6. The ticket for Anna Mieke's concert cost 11.5 euros. In total, with the round-trip ticket, which cost 8 euros, it cost me 68.3 euros, which is a lot for such a small trip.
Summary
In summary, Cork is a very interesting and colourful city with its own unique atmosphere. Due to dietary restrictions, I wasn't able to appreciate the gastronomic palette of the city, but judging from the signage, many local establishments are considered the best in the whole of Ireland in their category. It's possible to visit all the attractions in a day if you plan the trip in detail, but I find it's impossible to get completely absorbed in the atmosphere of the city in one day, so I usually plan trips that last at least two days.