"I feel like just jumping on a train and going somewhere tonight... who's with me?" I had come home slightly manic from work. The combination of a guest to entertain, spring, money and spare time was too alluring to resist.
30 minutes later at Heuston Station, Jared, Sarah and I were buying train tickets.
Destination: Cork.
We arrived at 9:45, and the night, like the clouds, was full of potential.
We roamed around town doing a manual version of Trivago, figuring we could get better prices in person than online. We eventually found the Clayton Hotel and they well satisfied our luxury and budgetary requirements.
Bags deposited, we set out in search of food. Hill Billy's was recommended to us and it certainly lived up to the hype. Their fries are some of the best I've had in Ireland. I had the chicken burrito bowl and it was delicious!
The rain had started falling when we went in search of a bar, so we decided to start close by with the Shelbourne Bar. Little did we know we had discovered a treasure trove of whiskeys - over 300 - and the most charming, enigmatic bar keeper to waltz us through them.
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| Dry Cork Gin is delicious |
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| The lovely Sarah, a friend from Canada staying with us |
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| A small selection of their full range. |
Last drinks were called at 12:45 and we finally departed as the staff packed up around us at 1:30. After quizzing the staff about where to go next, we were steered in the direction of Crane Lane.
Crane Lane is tucked away from the main drag, and is a sprawling rabbit warren of theatres, pubs and bars.
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| This is what it looked like by 3am ;) |
The speakers were cranking metal music as we arrived, with myriad grey haired gentlemen frequenting the establishment.
Across the covered walkway was another bar that had a past life as a pharmaceutical wholesaler, and its quirky decor was tribute to this history.
We dined, drank and danced - our night was complete.
The next morning, I decided to take advantage of the Hotel's facilities by way of the pool. My swimming plans thwarted by small children having lessons, I settled upon the spa pool instead. A delightful way to commence a lazy Sunday.
I met Jared and Sarah at the Breakfast buffet, where we proceeded to indulge in everything from pain au chocolat to pancakes to roast potatoes to cold cuts to baaaaaccccoooooooonn.
After some cursory research, we set out across Cork,
Passed cute lanes,
Passed a strange school,
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| St Peter and Paul's Female and Infant National School |
Across the River Lee,
Up the hill to Shandon Historic Quarter,
Past the circular theatre called the Firkin Crane,
To the Cork Butter Museum.
The Butter Museum is where you learn about how men had to go cattle raiding to be considered men in the dawn of Irish History, and read poems about farm life.
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| The butter roads into Cork |
We learned that bogs used to used as a 'fridge' for Irish butter.
Irish butter is now in over 93 countries.
And that the Irish like butter enough to make an entire museum in tribute to it. (I don't really get the big deal - like it's really good, but it tastes just like NZ butter tbh.)
After listening to the lyrical stylings of some bird singing about 'please leave my butter alone', we exited the museum, shouldered our bags and set out for the train station to get our 12:55 train.
I mourned that we couldn't come back next weekend as well.
And stopped for necessary supplies, which included the best caramel slice of my life.
When we arrived at the train station, we realised to our bemusement that there was no 12:55 train, and we had in fact missed our 12:25 train.
The next best option was train to Mallow, and then transfer to the Tralee train back to Dublin, so we did that. We then got to enjoy the sun, the wind and the rain at Mallow whilst waiting for the train.
We played Great Dalmuti to while away the hours home and arrived in an exhausted heap back at our apartment at 4pm, whilst Sarah went off to a flat viewing.
And so this weekend in the battle between the impulsive and the implacable in my head, the impulsive won... it will be very interesting to see how these battles go in future.
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