Saturday, October 31, 2009

Holidays in Cork

Date: 23rd October 2009 to 26th October 2009
Venue: Cork, Ireland
Event: My first holiday outside Galway =)

23rd October 2009
~ Anatomy Spot Test ended at 5.30pm and the bus to Cork was at 6.30pm!! I met Bryan and since he's from Cork, I followed him to his house where he got his bag and we called a cab.. Phew! We got to get there on time.. The journey to Cork took 3 hours 40 mins which I don't enjoy any second of it! Coz I'm hungry, hot and feel like vomitting all the time! Anyway, Bryan texted me when we were about to reach Cork City and it was like heaven when we walked down the bus and arrived in St.Patrick's Quay.. My first impression of Cork: It's really pretty!! Bryan then took a cab back home while I waited for Emmanuel and Vinitha at the Quay. Thats when I met these two drunk men along the Quay and thinking that I couldnt speak English, they started to speak foul languages to me. Ta daa.... Vinitha called me and I spoke English perfectly and they were startled! I felt like laughing that time. They then walked away while I walked over to Merchants' Quay to meet Vini and Emm.. We walked back to Castlewhite which is their apartment.. After dinner, I slept like a pig because I was too tired after the gruelling journey!

24th October 2009
~ woke up at 9am but I didn't wake Vini up since she's still sleeping soundly.

My first stop: St.Finbarr's Cathedral. I followed the direction given in the map and managed to find this breathtaking cathedral. Everything in there is totally magnificent! And here's where all the great things happened! I met a lady from Texas and she helped me to take some pictures. Before she left, she gave me a souvenir from Texas =) I got myself a replica of the cathedral at the souvenirs shop.


St. Finbarr's Cathedral


2nd stop: Cork English Market. I met two NUIG girls along the way and we went to the market together. It's not that big, comparing to Sibu Central Market. XD But I'm fascinated by the stuffs they sold there. The berries, their 'unique' dragon fruit, cakes, cookies, pies, etc. I saw a stall selling some hot and nice pies and I couldnt resist myself from getting a mushroom and cheese pie for 2.50 euro.. *its delicious*


The mushroom pie that I had..


3rd stop: St.Patrick's Street. Walked along the street and I was really lucky enough to stumble upon Jazz bands which were performing in conjunction with the Jazz Festival. They were really superb! Bought some souvenirs from Failte Ireland shop too and it cost me 10 euro!! I then went to Crawford Art Gallery for a tour.



Jazz band along the street

It was dinner at Gaya's house at night. There, I met lots of new friends and after dinner, we decided to go out to town and settle ourselves in a pub for the Jazz Festival..



25th October 2009
~ Vini and I set off for the famous Blarney Castle. It took us only 20 minutes to reach the castle by bus.. We paid 8 euros each at the entrance and acted like kids, squealing here and there, fascinated by the awesome scenery. We are clicking our cameras all along the way to the castle. 20 minutes were used ofr us to reach the top of the Castle. *believe me, it was not an easy feat for those who have weak hearts* By the way, I kept on telling Vini that the castle is discriminating people who are horizontally challenged since there's a guy in front of me, who kept on knocked his butt onto the walls of the castle.. Anyway, back to the top of the castle. The view from the top is nothing but just amazing, really amazing and seriously amazing. BREATHTAKING! And the wind is blowing extremely strong that my camera pouch was blown off.. =( After coming down from the Catsle, we strolled along the Rock Close and came across the Fairy Glade, which is the only tree with red leaves among the greenies. Rest of the time was spent in Rock Close, capturing the precious moments.. We went back to the city at around 3pm and surprisingly, Vini still had the energy to follow me around the city. We went looking for the famous Shandon Bells at St.Anne's Church. It was said that whoever rings the bell will have their wishes came true. Dinner was at Silk Thai Restaurant where we had tom yam, and both of us slept like babies that night...



Blarney Castle behind me..


View from the top of Blarney Castle.. *breathtaking*




We felt like we were on top of the world.. ^ ^



Fairy Glade...

26th October 2009
~Last day in Cork was terrible! It was raining the whole morning and it was the Bank Holiday, which means that shops are only open at 12pm. Anyway, I did get to visit University College Cork (UCC) and had lunch at Istanbul Burgers.. I took the bus back to Galway at 2pm and this time, I remembered to take pills to prevent car sickness.. ~.~




St.Patrick's Quay

p/s: Cork, I will be back !!






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