Day Five - Cork and Kinsale

After breakfast we drove to Cork which is less than an hour away from Kinsale.  With a population of 120,000, Cork is Ireland's second largest city.  When I was planning our trip, I was envisioning the rural areas and small towns of Ireland.  The cities didn't hold nearly as much allure.  Still we were nearby and had to pop in.  From our brief visit Cork appeared to be a vibrant and bustling city which had much to offer in terms of restaurants and shopping but it lacked the charm of the small towns we have seen so far.

English Market

One thing we did enjoy was the English Market.  In an ornate Victorian building with vaulted ceilings, the market had scores of vendors selling meats, cheeses, fresh produce, and takaway food.  The prices seemed quite reasonable, especially for Ireland which is a rather expensive place to live.  The cheeses, in particular, were very cheap - about half of what we would pay.  I had to double check with Neil for the conversion of kilograms to pounds.  I thought I was doing something wrong with my math because it a so cheap.  Of course, it is domestic cheese here while it is imported for us.

The pictures below are largely for the benefit of my mother-in-law.
(left to right: lamb's tongue, kangaroo, and pig's feet)

After arriving back in Kinsale, we took the Scilly Walk out to Charles Fort which is one of the best remaining star shaped forts in Europe.  The idea behind a star fort is to have each wall protected by another wall set at an angle to it.  It was really quite wonderful to actually see how it would work in action.  Located on a high clifftop overlooking the estuary of the River Bandon, it was built to protect the entrance to Kinsale harbour from potential French and Spanish invaders. On the other side of the estuary was James Fort.  At times of war an underwater chain used to be drawn from Charles Fort to James Fort. Its purpose was to damage the bottom of any incoming enemy ship, thus causing it to sink.

Kinsale from Charles Fort

An added bonus to visiting the fort were the views from it which were spectacular whether out toward the sea, across the estuary, or in toward Kinsale harbor.

Neil and I both have colds.  I am further along and he is just coming down with it.  That combined with over 10 miles of walking today, much of it uphill, made us elect to stop and grab some groceries to snack on in our room.  I do believe it will be an early evening.