Out and About in County Cork

Irish Beauty

This was a very busy weekend! Last week, we booked our first two international trips to Paris and Amsterdam for October (yay!!), and decided we wanted to use the next month to become acquainted with as much of Ireland as possible. Luckily, our Archaeology class was helping us with our sightseeing. Our field trip to West Cork on Friday brought us to a beautiful part of Ireland with some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. People are right when they say about Ireland that you will never see more shades of green anywhere else. Even before we made it to our first sight, the bus ride into West Cork brought us out of the busyness of Cork city and into the rolling countryside. Everywhere you looked there were hills, pastures full of sheep and cows, and views that stretched for miles. I tried to think of absolutely anything I have seen at home that could compare to this. I came up with nothing. It’s such a different environment here. Overall, the field trip was really interesting and gave us some real life examples of the Early Modern and Medieval places we have been referring to in class. We have another field trip planned for this Thursday to North Cork which I'm sure will be just as exciting.

Sunday was just as busy. On our quest to truly get to know the surrounding area quite well, we took a bus to Kinsale, a quaint Irish resort town right on the coast about 30 minutes from Cork. I was very excited about this trip. I had heard such great things about Kinsale from friends at home and from people here, so I knew it would be worthwhile. When we got there, the weather was typical Irish weather – not so good. Luckily, after a lunch of trying fish and chips for the first time (so good!), the weather cleared up. We picked the perfect weekend to spend in Kinsale because it was National Heritage Week. Many of the sites and events were free to attend, and we really got a taste of the local culture. We took a walking tour of the town, stopped by a crafts fair, and even witnessed a military reenactment at Charles Fort. It was great to get out of the more urban feel of Cork and be in Kinsale for the day. After such a successful visit, we are even more excited to keep planning more weekend getaways! Anyone have any suggestions? We are open and ready for anything!


Slan!

SO many cows in Ireland

Out in Clonakilty on our field trip

An interesting looking 

Irish fire hydrant

Kinsale Harbor

Kinsale had some of the most colorful streets I've ever seen!