Day 4: Adventures in Cork
Hotels always have the best beds, I don't know what it is, but the Pembroke Kilkenny Hotel wins...great night sleep, super hot shower, tons of coffee pods for the Nespresso machine and tiny little "coffee biscuits." If you're ever in Kilkenny I'd recommend this place and the staff in a heartbeat.
So after we pulled ourselves out of bed, we packed up (only stayed a single night in Kilkenny, which we now regret - next time it would definitely be a 2 or 3 night stay in this town) and dropped everything off in the car. The hotel staff let us keep the rental there all day and told us "no rush" in terms of moving it, which gave us all morning to continue exploring, before we had to leave for Cork. With that out of the way it was time for breakfast (let's call it brunch given the time we rolled out of the hotel). The day before we had seen a cafe on the corner of one of the major intersections, so we headed that way immediately and grabbed a table. This particular place is called Willoughby's Cafe - another great place, polite staff and great crepes! We both got giant pots of tea, since we were already juiced up on coffee from the hotel room - Brendan got himself a granola bowl. Something about vacation, but everything just tastes better...
Breakfast was achieved, so we decided to attempt one more site before heading out - Saint Canice's Cathedral! The site has been a place of worship for over 800 years at this point - the architecture and history surrounding the Cathedral are amazing. Since we had to meet the AirBnB host in Cork at a specific time we did the self-guided tour at a bit of a hurried pace, but we still got to see the entire cathedral and climb the round tower. This thing is over 100 feet tall and one of only two towers like it that you can climb in the entire country. As you enter the base you look up and see crisscrossing wooden ladders all the way up, and once you reach the top there are these small stone steps that bring you up the final few feet and out into the view of Kilkenny and the surrounding area. Worth every awkward moment and tight squeeze along the way!
With that accomplished we headed back down the hill and through town to the hotel to pick up the car. Two easy hours later we entered Cork (after being ran out of our lane by a truck...no big deal) and navigated the hills and narrow streets of the neighborhoods just north of City Centre. Shortly after we were checked into our AirBnB and heading down the massive hill that leads into the city. For obvious reasons we defended in record time, given the pitch of the hill...we didn't quite realize what it would be like coming back up. Please check out this fine gentleman on YouTube who recorded his bike ride up the hill...you'll get the idea.
With this hill between us and our AirBnB each day we've determined there is zero guilt associated with what we eat and drink while in Cork.
That being said, we've come to the food part of our story, as Cork seems to be a foodie city. For lunch we headed straight for the English Market, walked around all of the food and vendor stands to work up an appetite, and finally headed upstairs to the Cafe that overlooks the market itself for some lunch (and a beer). Afterwards we grabbed a few chocolates and made reservations at two restaurants that came highly recommended via our Lonely Planet guidebook:
Cornstore (Tuesday night's dinner)
Cafe Paradiso (Wednesday night's dinner)
Right before making our reservation at Cafe Paradiso we walked through part of University College of Cork, which of course was green and beautiful and looked like something out of a guide book, but real life.
Cornstore was very good - and the staff was incredibly kind. Brendan had mentioned to the host earlier in the day (when making reservations) that we were traveling and in the country for our honeymoon, so at one point in the evening the manager came by and gave us a free round of drinks in celebration. Cork is good so far!
Stay tuned for Cork Part II - it involves a Castle!
