The first leg of the journey was spent in Limerick, Cork, and the countryside leading to Cork. Mom had a wonderful time driving, as the roads here can be more narrow than Poplar Ave at times. There were more than a couple swear words involved. Driving on the left side of the road in the right side of the car is apparently very difficult and disorienting.
Once we got to Limerick safely, the objective was to stay awake as long as possible before crashing for the night. Seeing as we got there in the morning, this was going to be interesting... So we did what we know best: food.
First Irish drink had to be Guinness. Couldn't have it any other way. Anything else would have been blasphemy. That being said, mom got a pint bottle of Bulmer's Irish cider. That will do, I guess...
Im skipping most of Limerick. It was dull. Sorry!
Before leaving Limerick, we needed breakfast. By staying at a bed n breakfast, we were, of course, with the expectation that there would be breakfast. We were not let down. Full Irish breakfasts all around, consisting of "bacon," sausages, an egg, toast, and two puddings. No, not the sweet kind. Black and white puddings. They are wonderful, delightful little tastes of pork products.
Upon leaving Limerick, mom was again subjected to horrific driving conditions. So a short journey turned into an excursion. On the plus side, mom will never again complain about the narrowness of roads back in the states... Pretty countryside, though.
En route to Cork, we stopped at a place called Cashel. I know what you're thinking: "Hey, there must be a castle there!" Well you're wrong. There's a cashel. It's not a castle. It is, as a matter of fact, a stone fortress, not Sean Connery's excellently linguistical interpretation of the word.
It started off as a fortress and was eventually given to the Church to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Clever girl...
While at the Cashel, we also visited the local abbey, named Hore Abbey. I've already made jokes about my friends' mothers, so don't start. It was beautiful and uncommercialized. Loved it.
After a quick lunch (haha kidding, it was around 2 hours) and the prettiest sticky toffee pudding I'd ever seen, we left for Cork. At this point, we had accidentally ordered 2 pint bottles of cider each in this pub. I drank my two. Mom needed to drive, so I drank half of her second bottle. I was... Happy at this point. I took a nap in the car on the way to Cork.
The first night in Cork consisted of us bashing down the front door of the BnB trying to get in. Nobody answered, so we hoofed it across the river to a hotel, where they were more than fine with us calling their competition. They answered, and opened the door. Not the best introduction. The room was nice enough, though. More modern than the BnB in Limerick. The rest of the night passed without incident. We got our grub on at a pizza and nacho joint, went back to the BnB, and slept away the night. And as always, America, stay classy. I'm Cody Murrell.
