The first thing some of you may have noticed if you've been checking up on me is I've been having trouble with my blog template. Considering my inability to understand anything in the realm of technology I wasn't excited to sit down, delete the entire thing, and then try to rebuild it (as per my tech guru Brian's advice, as the template appears to have been "corrupted"). As it is my newly rebuilt blog template is still not up to snuff as far as I'm concerned, however I have spent the last hour cursing at my iPad so it will stay as it is for the moment.
Besides, I desperately need to update you fine people since I am roughly a month behind.
So, after my visit to Galway I made my way South to Limerick, which I will be the first to admit I visited mostly for the name (anyone else write limericks in elementary school?)... My bus arrived in the afternoon, and after about a 25 minute walk I found my guesthouse.
And there was nobody there.
Thirty minutes later I decided I was done being patient and hopelessly ringing the doorbell, so I walked down the street to a local hotel. Luckily for me, the lovely girl at reception called my guesthouse for me.
(Ah, the downside of not having a phone rears its ugly head.)
Unluckily for me, nobody answered the phone either.
Or responded to the email I sent using the hotel's wifi.
So there I was wondering the key question, "now what?"
Well, when all else fails, food is the answer.
So I found my way back to the center of town where I happened on a thai restaurant and charmed my way into being allowed to use their wifi.
Long story short I was able to get in touch with the woman running the guesthouse about 3 hours after my initial arrival, and after dawdling my way through another hour and a half with the help of a bottle of Prosecco I did gain entry to my room.
Despite this initial shakey impression the owner, Helen, did turn out to be lovely and to be fair the screw up with more booking.com's fault than hers.
The next day Helen made me an authentic Irish breakfast of "bacon" (see my notes on european bacon), sausage, fried eggs, and black and white puddings. It was absolutely artery clogging but also amazing. Surprisingly I was able to walk after this, and made my way to the Hunt museum, which was originally a private collection which has now become a lovely little museum. One of my favorite pieces was a jeweled ring; the first letter of the name of each jewel spelled out "beloved." Gorgeous and clever.
Walking near the waterfront.
Spring has sprung!
Display outside the museum.
After leaving the Hunt Museum I took a walk through the cemetary at the local cathedral, which has a very long and interesting history which I couldn't remember all of right now for all the tea in China.
Nice little bridge I spotted on the way.
The cathedral.
I then wandered through the local castle, where I learned about the history of Limerick and how it influenced Irish history in general.
Views from the ramparts (or as far up them as I was willing to climb).
The main thing I took away from this was that the Kings John and Richard from the Robin Hood stories were mentioned repeatedly - although they never actually visited they had something to do with the construction. (Note to self, updating a blog a month after visiting a place is not conducive to my already questionable memory skills...)
For some inconceivable reason I was actually hungry after this, and found my way to a pub where I ordered a beer and some sausages and mash with red onion marmalade. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous.
I stopped by the river to relax for a bit before heading home, where I took about a million photos of the swans before the rain started in.
View of the city and river, with the locals.
An early relaxed night at the guesthouse and then an early bus the next day.
Whereupon I arrived in Cork the next afternoon and settled in at the hostel.
I will admit I slacked terribly with my camera during my stay there. Cork is a great little city and the staff at the hostel were big fun. I ate awesome crepes, visited a church with the most gorgeous mosaics, wandered through the city, and went out and experienced the nightlife.
And these are all the photos I have to show for it:
The weather may look gorgeous, by the way, but it was cold, don't be fooled by that sun.
Which brings me to my next adventures in Northern Ireland, which I'll continue with next time. Which will not be a month from now, promise.
Cheers!
~Swan
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