A trip to Ireland. Day one. cork
The first thing that attracted attention when visiting Cork were numerous rainbow flags, unicorns, and shops decorated with LGBT symbols.
Residents of the city, including couples, children, elderly people wore T-shirts with the words "Thanks for your coming out", "We proud you". Surprisingly, the sponsor of this holiday was the company Smirrnoff, which produces vodka. The main slogan on the posters is Will open. Suddenly, we were at a celebration in support of the LGBT community. The abundance of appropriate symbols gave an unusual entourage to ancient streets, pubs, houses built in the classical English style.
We wanted on the first day just to plunge into the atmosphere of the country, sit in a pub, eat after a long trip the famous Irish breakfast and visit Fort Elizabeth. The navigator and map did not help in finding this attraction, so we asked for help from locals.
The Irish are very smiley and friendly, if they can’t help you, they will apologize and ask for help. As a result, a group of people gathered around us with children, dogs.
One of the women decided to go in search of the fort with us, although she had come back shopping from the store. She mistook us for Spanish and was upset that we were staying in Cork for just one night. Almost all the Irish people we met during our trip love where they live and have a negative attitude towards Dublin.
The woman took us instead of the fort to St. Anne's Church. The church's tower clock is nicknamed the "four-faced liars" because four dials can show different times, converging only once an hour. There is a Four Liars pub next to the church. We were charged four euros instead of five, saying that we looked like students, although I was sure that after a forced overnight stay at Dublin airport, we looked like gentlemen.
At the entrance, everyone is given headphones so that visitors do not become deaf from the sound of bells. They can be called on the ground floor, playing the song The Bells of Shandon (each bell corresponds to a certain number).
You can hardly hear the likeness of a song. On the second floor there is a small exhibition dedicated to the history of the church, as well as a figure of a man and a woman looking out the window, and several ancient columns. Going up to the third floor, put on headphones, suddenly at this time another person who wants to decide to perform a song. After passing the clock mechanism, you will climb to the observation deck, from which you can see the whole city. On the spire there is a figure of salmon as a symbol of the city, since for a long time the extraction of this fish was one of the main incomes of Cork.
When we came down from the bell tower, the Irish woman was waiting for us downstairs, wishing to find Fort Elizabeth (Fort Elizabeth). During this time, she collected information and showed us the route on the map. Amazing people! When we parted, she told us to walk straight and not turn anywhere. How I felt! Because we swerved into the Thomland Cork pub to eat our first Irish breakfast.
It's usually served all day. The pub owner examined us critically and asked if we were sure we needed two breakfasts instead of one. But when we got there, they shouted cheerfully. “We’ll make you breakfast for the champions.”
Full Irish Breakfast is really impossible to eat, but if you master it, you will not want to eat all day. Traditionally, it was prepared early in the morning for men who went to sea or pastures, and did heavy physical labor all day long. It consists of scrambled eggs, toasted bacon, sausages, two types of pudding, fries or fries, beans and vegetables (options are possible).
After breakfast, we finally found Fort Elizabeth. Once this fortress in the shape of a star protected the whole city, but after the surrender of the troops of William III lost its military importance. For some time there were military barracks, then a women's prison and until 2013 a police station.
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Currently, the fort is only partially open to visitors, entrance is free. Inside the fort, you can see figures of fighting soldiers, a master making cannon balls, heads on peaks that were hung to intimidate citizens.
You may wonder why it took so long to find this fort.
The fortress is interesting not only in itself, its walls offer excellent views of the city and one of the most harmoniously built cathedrals I have seen in my life, St. Finbarr Cathedral.
And when the Spaniards on the wall are still standing next to them, singing songs just because they are young, just because the sun is out, the day is magical.
Naturally, seeing such splendor, we could not fail to enter this cathedral. By the way, this was the only place where we were given a booklet in Russian. Entrance costs 6 euros. In my opinion, this cathedral is more beautiful and majestic on the outside than on the inside. So decide for yourself whether to enter it or not.
St. Finbarr is the patron saint of the city of Cork, his name can be translated as “beautiful hair”. In the seventh century a monastery was founded on this place. In 1864 the old temple was demolished and a new one was erected in its place. The cathedral was built at a time when the British authorities deprived Irish Anglicanism of the status of a state church and funding.
The cathedral was designed by architect William Burgess and built with donations, the largest of which came from local brewers. The initial budget was overspended seven times, but this allowed for an impressive unity of all internal and external details.
The gilded “Angel of the Resurrection” on the roof is a gift to the cathedral from the architect himself. Behind the cathedral is an ancient cemetery and a small labyrinth that the monks used for meditation and reflection.
In the evening, you can walk along the banks of the Lee River, walk to Wellington Bridge and Fitzgeralds Park or sit in one of the city's many pubs. We were able to do both. The last pub we visited that day was asked about the best beer. The best beer is Jameson.
It's a pity to part ways with Cork - free, friendly, different, inspiring. But tomorrow we have Carcivin and the Atlantic coast.
Text and photo: Elena Konysheva