Tuesday in Ireland: Kinsale

Tuesday was my first day on my own! Last time I went to Ireland, I spent the whole week exploring Cork and some of the major sights nearby. This time, #1 on my list was the little picturesque coastal town of Kinsale. After breakfast I hiked across the center of Cork to the bus station, confident in my bus ticketing and navigation abilities from the last trip. I purchased my ticket and when I looked at the board that listed the bus routes and their departure bays, the one to Kinsale was the only one not labeled with a bay number, but instead said "DS." This was just my luck. I was hoping to be such a savvy tourist that I would fit in with the locals, but no--I had to ask someone what "DS" indicated. She said it was the stop at Dean Street and directed me to the location like it was no big deal. I went out there and saw that the bus route was posted, sure enough, so I waited... and waited... soon I saw the bus pulling out of one of the other bays! I have no idea what happened, but it never came to the "DS" bay. I had to wait another half hour for the next bus, which left from a NORMAL bay.

Still, I got to Kinsale before much was happening. I was so tempted to take off on foot but I had two walking tours on my agenda so I didn't want to overdo it. 

Don't you just LOVE the Irish?!?

Instead, after snapping a couple of photos and popping into a gift shop, I went into a little coffee shop bookstore called The Poet's Corner. I ordered the Kinsale blend coffee and wished I had enough room for one of the incredibly tempting scones, but alas, the River Lee has an amazing breakfast buffet. The delicious coffee warmed me up as I looked through a book and people-watched. 

Lots of book shops! You can see Poet's Corner on the right.

After coffee I headed to the tourism centre for a much-lauded historic stroll of Kinsale with Barry. This guy's personality and friendliness exemplified the Irish manner I experience everywhere I go. He introduced himself personally to the 30 or so people in the group, and then remembered everyone's names! He also asked a little about where each of us was from, where we were staying, and what we planned to see and do in Ireland. I told Barry about my family and he told me they call it a "gentleman's family" in Ireland when you have just one boy and one girl. He joked about it being a Protestant, wealthy family (therefore "gentleman's"), in contrast to the large, often poor Catholic families like the one he grew up in!

Notice the tiny door... the building is so old that the street has been built up over the centuries, leaving a rather short entrance!

 I really enjoyed the tour and all the history of Kinsale. It was the site of the historic Battle of Kinsale in 1601 where the vastly outnumbered British quickly defeated the Irish and Spanish forces. 

Like so many places in Ireland, some of the buildings were unbelievably old and you really understand the phrase, "If these walls could talk..."

Not a great angle but you can see behind the building part of the original wall that surrounded the city.

Some of the roads used to be waterways, which you can tell by the shape

Oh, just a pub established in 1690. Incredible!

 After the tour I was quite hungry but had trouble deciding where to eat! Kinsale is called the "gourmet capital of Ireland" and this puts a lot of pressure on you when you are only there for one meal. I think I picked a good one, though! I finally settled on Dino's fish & chips take-away, where I was only third or fourth in line but ordered and waited probably twenty minutes because they fry everything fresh when you order! 

The white building is Dino's, where I ordered fish and chips and then sat outside to eat!

My view during lunch

After I finished, I set off on the Scilly Walk (pronounced "Silly"), a long and arduous uphill climb all the way to Charles Fort and back, about 2-1/2 miles, but my phone tracker thought I climbed 39 flights of stairs that day.

Here are some of the gorgeous views from my walk!

My trip was not complete until I met this pretty kitty.

Charles Fort is a classic star fort and while I enjoyed walking around it and taking pictures, I opted out of paying to go inside. 

After going back along High Rd. where many of the millionaires live, I did some souvenir shopping and then caught my bus back to Cork without any problems. 

I hoofed it back to the hotel for a little rest, and then Chris and I went with his coworkers Richard and Walton to Market Lane for a great dinner!