A weekend in Cork

Cork is a city on the southern coast of the isle, about a two hour bus trip from Limerick.  I left around 7am Saturday morning with a group of 12 other international students to start our adventure in Cork.  As we stood at a bus stop for an hour, lost, a random parade of cars raced by, like Lamborghinis, Ferraris, BMWs, they were all there.  We never really found out where it they came from but it was a great random start of the day.

Cork is a lovely town with beautiful building and lots of great shopping.  It is slightly larger than Limerick and a lot prettier as well. I find it funny what American places have made it big in Ireland.  Of course you see McDonalds and Subways everywhere, but unlike in America, Europeans actually love these places.  Seeing any American business is just a little taste of home though, so I am beginning to enjoy seeing random stores around.
After and hour of circling the city looking for out hostel, we finally found it and then set off to explore Cork.

Just a half hour outside of the city is Blarney Castle where four Australian girls and I spent most of the day touring and seeing the beautiful gardens. The thing about it raining in Ireland is that it never lasts for long.  By the time we reached the castle, it started pouring, but once we made it to the top, there wasn't a cloud in sight!

The view off Blarney's Castle

The 4 Aussies and myself

Sunday we spent wandering around the city and seeing the beautiful buildings in the city.  There is a clocktower of St. Anne's church that has a view of the entire city so we got to climb 130 some stairs and play songs on the bells.

Cork from the clocktower

St. Anne's Church

Shandon Bells

It was a long weekend but such a great city and a lot of fun.  If you ever get a chance to come to Ireland, Cork should be your destination on your list of destinations of must-sees!