Monday, March 18, 2024

The day after St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday in Ireland, so the girls did not have school. Charlotte and I cleaned up the house and then went for a little walk outside to enjoy the last of Cobh. We got back and got everyone ready to get on the 11:00 train. Mark was complaining that he felt rushed–well there’s a solution for that, it’s called “get up earlier”. We did make the train and arrived at Cork and then took an Uber to our VRBO. We couldn’t find it at first but finally did by using the photo so hopefully included with our instructions, so very central, around the corner from the English Market and actually at the bus stop where Charlotte sometimes takes a bus home. The place was very nice, newly remodeled and I have to say, after staying at a few older places it was nice to be in a modern one. And a nice view from the window!

After we got our luggage situated I went with Charlotte to her dorm to change her Cobh stuff for dirty laundry and then we walked to the Cork City Gaol. Mark had to work and Genevieve had homework, so it was just us.  The jail is actually really nice, like it’s a nice building although of course the cells are pretty horrific and the things people were put in jail for were laughable. There was a sad tale of the woman who got arrested and taken to jail with her five-year-old son who they just left outside the jail for a week by himself until they let him in. Later the pair was sent to Australia but their boat sank and everybody drowned. And she got arrested for stealing fabric! They jailed an 11-year-old for chronically stealing food. She eventually got sent to reform school with her brother and then both of them were sent to Australia. Basically, the English were not very nice to the Irish, there were all these penal laws about how Irish couldn’t go to school, own a good horse, or have a good job. And then of course the potato famine which wasn’t a famine at all but really a choice by the British landlords to prioritize exports over feeding their tenants. Anyhow, it was interesting if a bit sobering.

Charlotte and I got an Uber back to the apartment, started a load of laundry, and then we all went to the Marina Market for dinner. What a nice place! I can see how fun it would be on a warm day. We all had good food–sushi even! But no beer because they don’t have any alcohol there. So when we returned to the apartment Genevieve judged she had enough time for a drink before her train. She did, except her first Uber ditched her and then it took a while to get another (Charlotte had to use her account so now we wonder about Genevieve’s rating) and we really thought she’d miss the train but she didn’t. So far she’s been very lucky cutting it close and making it. More laundry for Charlotte and then bed.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Charlotte had class this morning so we walked over to University College Cork (UCC), which was a straight shot down Western Road from our rental. Took some photos of Charlotte, dropped her off at her classroom (had to discourage Mark from actually entering the classroom building!) and then walked around ourselves. We walked through campus and over to Fitzgerald Park which is really a very nice park and then over to the bridge that Charlotte and I had crossed the day before to get to the Goal, the Shakey Bridge (actually Daly’s Bridge but it is a suspension bridge so it swings when you cross it). Then we headed back to campus to go to the book store. We asked someone in the student union where the bookstore was because we wanted to get some UCC stuff and she said “well you really want the gear shop” yeah whatever, they were attached to each other. Mark got a hat but the sweatshirt I liked best was actually back at the tourist information stop in the Aula Maxima which is the original and probably the most scenic building on campus. Then we headed back to the apartment and got ready for our lunch with my grade and high school friend Carla and her husband Michael, who now lived about an hour from Cork and who I had seen on my trip to Ireland when Genevieve was an exchange student. We had a truly delightful time, so delightful I neglected to take any photos. And again I lament that they live so far away. Charlotte got back from class and then we went back to the English Market and this time I did take photos. We had a nice dinner at Nosta, and then back to the apartment to do more of Charlotte’s laundry. By now she’d brought over her sheets and towels as well, so we had a lot!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

We had a really great breakfast at the Liberty Grill, sorry Dublin, Cork has you beat in the food department. Charlotte met her class at a church near our apartment and Mark and I walked around a bit and then went to the Crawford Art Gallery. It’s a bit, um, underwhelming (shades of the quilt museum here but they do it better) but it was free so… Then we went to the English Market and finally I got true proper photos. That place really is cool, so happy for Charlotte it’s close enough for her to go to often. She came back from class and she and I headed out to the Nano Nagle Place, This is one of the key attractions in Cork and it’s hard to tell from the name what it’s about. You’d think maybe a miniatures museum? Well, you’d be wrong. It’s an exhibit dedicated to the founding of the Presentation Sisters, an order of nuns, in 1775. Nearby is the ruins of the Red Abbey, a 14th century Augustinian abbey.

The museum was interesting, more about the oppressive Penal Laws, and we discovered that the Presentation High School that’s in San Jose is the last school they run in the US so that was interesting. On our way back from there we passed by the Elizabeth Fort where a very friendly member of their staff was encouraging us to enter because it was free after all. So we did look around the fort and it had some great views and a WWII bomb shelter so we’re glad we did.

We went to the Spitjack for dinner, and who should we see seated in the table right next to us but Charlotte’s friend Oscar and his dads! So after dinner Charlotte and I went to a pub with them while Mark went back to work. Very nice!

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Charlotte and I went to The Grumpy Bakers for pastries for breakfast. They were playing a song from the Sundays and wow, I forgot about that bad and how much I like them. Now obsessed. After breakfast, I walked Charlotte to class while Mark got ready and then we headed out to the Butter Museum! The route took us to the other side of the river and up the hill. We watched a very informative movie about how the Irish decided to make butter a key export in the 1950’s/60’s and how their butter is different (it’s yellow from beta carotene in the grass the cows eat in contrast to pale butter from grain-fed cows). Then we got to walk around and see all of the artifacts from butter through the years including bog butter from the Middle Ages. It was a really interesting museum and I’m glad we went. We returned to our apartment and met Charlotte and got our stuff to leave at her dorm because we needed to check out and our train wasn’t until the afternoon. Mark had a call so we got lunch at a restaurant near her dorm that’s usually fine but today very busy. So we got our food to go and went back to her dorm to eat in the main room. Walked her to her second class of the day and walked around campus some more, then met back up and went to the train station for an uneventful trip back to Dublin. Because the train station is so close to Genevieve’s apartment, we didn’t think a cab would really appreciate driving us so we walked, which wasn’t a ton of fun going uphill as we now were. We did make it though and dropped our stuff at Genevieve’s apartment even though she was in Spain. We then went back to Dolally for dinner because Charlotte had missed our first time and man, don’t go on a Thursday night is all I’m going to say. So loud and two tables had really really loud laughers which was hard to take. We then went back to Genevieve’s apartment where Charlotte was spending the night because she was going to Copenhagen and then on to France the next day. Mark and I said goodbye and went to our hotel, The Carlton, where we’d stayed before.

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