Wednesday in Ireland: Blackrock Castle and Cork

Wednesday we woke up to typically rainy Irish weather, so I decided to visit Blackrock Castle and Observatory near Cork. Again, this required a short bus ride, so I walked to the bus station to buy my ticket, but found out I should just purchase it on the bus. After yesterday's incident, I was feeling good about my bus riding skills. The route to Blackrock Village was 202, so I found the stop labeled "202" a short walk from the bus station and stood in the misting rain with some other people. The bus pulled up on time and I got on. As I was about to buy a ticket, I asked the driver, "You're going to Blackrock Castle, right?" He said, "No, that's the other bus 202. It's right across the road; if you hurry, you'll make it." SERIOUSLY?! Isn't the whole point of numbering the bus routes to avoid this type of confusion? I think the Irish must really get a kick out of this craziness. I hustled across and miraculously got on the bus in time. I asked the driver, "Does this go to Blackrock Castle?" And he said, "Mwlab gwer yreb krotse." Um, excuse me? My understanding of the Irish accent has gradually improved, and so far on my trip, I had been able to reasonably understand people. He repeated, "Mwlab gwer yreb krotse." He took my money so I had to assume he said something indicating that the answer was yes, so I took a seat. In Ireland, the buses don't indicate where they are or give you the route anywhere on the bus. I was trying to follow along on a bus route I picked up at the station but I just wasn't sure where we had stops because apparently people push a little button on the bus to indicate they want to get off. This aspect of public transit mystified me. Can you just push the button and get off anywhere? Isn't there a reason they have specific bus stops? Anyway, after several stops I was getting concerned about missing mine, so the next stop when a lot of the passengers stood up to disembark, I started to step off and asked the driver if this was the stop for the castle. He said, with a peeved expression, "No. I said I'll get you close." Aha! I finally knew what he was trying to tell me. I asked, "So you'll let me know when I need to get off?" He nodded and maybe rolled his eyes. Finally, at my stop, he stopped me and slowly explained exactly how to walk the short distance to the castle, and then told me how to get back to a different bus stop, because apparently that was the better way to get back to the city centre of Cork. Whew! I appreciated his kindness, but he didn't understand that between his accent and my horrible propensity for jumbling directions, there was no way I was going to rely on his information to find my way back to Cork. (I was able to ask a much clearer-speaking Irishwoman where to go once I left the castle.)

There was no doubt I had finally reached my destination!

Despite my bus riding shenanigans, I was still there before the castle opened at 10. However, they had a sweet little cafe in the courtyard, so I ordered a cappuccino and a scone and enjoyed being indoors and warm while it rained outside.

When it opened, I paid my admission and I was told to look around but the tours wouldn't start for another hour!

Blackrock Castle Observatory is a 16th century castle built by the citizens of Cork in 1582 as a watchtower and fort to guard the river entrance against pirates and other invaders.

It is very small but has a gunnery with a replica cannon, a very old limestone mantel, and the tour takes you to the roof for the views.

After being used for a variety of purposes over the centuries, Blackrock Castle now serves as "Ireland's first fully interactive astronomy centre." Part of our history tour also included a planetarium show. You can imagine my surprise when our tour guide showed our group of 11 the planetarium:

No, he wasn't joking. It's an inflatable planetarium. I had to bite my cheeks not to laugh out loud. He instructed us to divide into two groups to enter, as he would have to quickly zip it up between groups so it could reinflate. We sat or lay on the ground for the planetarium demonstration, which was actually good, but I still couldn't get over the feeling that I was inside a bounce house.

Blackrock Castle was cool but the gloomy, rainy day and the not-quite-met expectations made me wonder if it had been worth the effort. I walked uphill to the Blackrock bus stop and as I waited for the bus, it really started to pour on me... and this stop was not covered, mind you. I got to make use of my new North Face rain jacket, that's for sure.

When I got back to familiar territory (Cork City Centre), I popped into Merchant's Quay, their little indoor shopping mall. I was very hungry and tired of walking in the rain so I got a sandwich, crisps and a coke in what you might stretch to call a food court. I found it funny that everywhere in Ireland, their "meal deal" type things offer tea or coffee to go with your meal. I love coffee but I had already guzzled a lot of coffee and I would prefer a soft drink or water with a meal, but maybe that's just me.

I did some souvenir shopping, scoring a great Ireland soccer imitation outfit for Noah that he loves, and when it looked like the rain was clearing out, I started back through town to the hotel. I decided to pop in the beloved English Market, and feeling like I had neglected my camera by putting it away because of the rain, I pulled it out for some fun people watching and food perusing.

 

 

  

On my walk back, I snapped some typical Wednesday-afternoon, post-rainstorm Cork street scenes.

The two larger dogs were chained together but not on any other kind of leash--they just walked themselves!

These signs were EVERYWHERE because Ireland is about to vote on whether to repeal their law against abortion.

This shot is from right outside our hotel, looking towards the city centre as you walk down Washington Street.

When I got back to the hotel, I warmed up with a hot shower and made some phone calls, hanging out in our newly discovered retreat: the executive lounge, where there was always food, coffee, tea, cappuccino, juice, water--just about anything you might want. 

Chris' Irish coworker Ian picked the four of us up for dinner at The Montenotte, a fancy restaurant in a hotel across Cork. I ordered lamb and it was delicious! The hotel had some beautiful views, but I did not have my camera, so you'll just have to imagine.