Ireland Travel Log Day 2

This is when the vacation actually started. First we enjoyed breakfast in the dining room. And what a breakfast it was. Again, this was a 5 star place; I felt under-dressed in my shorts and shirt. I think the uniforms alone cost more than all the clothes I packed for this trip. You ordered anything you wanted off the menu, plus they had all sorts of things laid out to snack from: juices, pastries, salmon, bread, fruit, yogurt, just about anything you could ask for. So of course I started out with a full Irish breakfast. Since I am not a coffee person, I had tea. The greatest thing in the world for the tea is the sugar. It isn't in little packets, it is cubed raw sugar. I am now hooked and will only use raw cubed sugar for tea. After breakfast and making dinner reservations, we headed out into Cork proper.

Most of the day was spent walking the city of Cork. We first saw the North Cathedral and then proceeded to St. Anne's Church. At St. Anne's, we climbed to the top of the bell tower and got a breath taking view of Cork from above. You had to wear ear protection so if someone rang the bell while you were at the top, you wouldn't lose your hearing. After that, we had a bit of lunch at a nice cafe near the River Lee and proceeded on our walk. We next visited St. FinBarre's cathedral. This was what I imagined a cathedral should look like. Stained glass windows surrounded the place, each one depicting a story form the Bible. The stonework was impressive; the intricate designs were amazing, especially considering they were done over 300 hundred years ago. After that, we saw the remains of a fort that had been converted into the local gaol; really, all that was left standing was a stables and some rock walls. After hours of walking the city, we headed back to the Manor for dinner.

After changing for dinner, we headed back to the same place we had lunch so they could redeem themselves after the previous encounter. Ah, no such luck; they coudln't find our reservations. The manager did find us a table, but of course they were fully booked so we were situated near the kitchen and the entrance to the restaurant. The meal was grand though, and they even gave us a discount when my wife said her duck was just "fine" when asked. That's right, at this place, "fine" was an insult. So after a nice meal, we headed off to bed for our next adventure.