After leaving Kenmare, our next stop was to be Kinsale. We decided to take the scenic route down along the coast instead of the direct carriageway to Kinsale, and it turned out to be a good decision. Since we'd gotten a taste of fresh mussels, we stopped both in Skibbereen and in Bantry to sample the local offerings.
All this dilly-dallying cost us the hotel room that we'd reserved without a credit card, so upon arrival in Kinsale, we had to find a place to stay. Finally, we found the San Gregorio B&B, a block away from downtown, and run by Jimmie the Leprechan. Always smiling and cordial, Jimmie made us feel right at home. There weren't really many sights in Kinsale, but there were many botiques and restaurants.
In fact, Kinsale was an important port in the 16th century with trading links to many countries. Wine, salt, metals and luxury goods were the main imports, while ships leaving the harbor usually carried hides, cloth, wood, and fish. In 1569, Kinsale was one of sixteen designated Wine Ports in Ireland, which was an auspicious beginning for the future "Gourmet Capital of Ireland".
We began our culinary investigation at Hoby's Restaurant in downtown Kinsale. Bill thoroughly enjoyed his Clonakilty Black Pudding Salad appetizer - fresh greens with several hearty pieces of the famous Clonakilty black sausage, surrounded by slices of poached pears, and covered with a warm cream sauce. (Black sausage is the same thing as "black pudding" and "blood sausage/ pudding".) The salmon filet and Seafood Tataglielle with mussels and salmon entrees were very good, as was my dessert, the chocolate rum mousse. Bill had something called "Banofi pie" for dessert, which was comprised of a biscuit or cookie topped with a thin layer of caramel, a layer of sliced bananas and topped with whipped cream. ("Banofi" = caramel (coffee) and bananas, or something like that.)
Thursday, June 18th
We took the morning off and lazed around our room until it was too late to make breakfast downstairs. We headed downtown, did a little shopping, and had lunch at the Blue Haven, which was supposed to be one of the better Kinsale eateries. I had a lovely chicken sandwich with apricot chutney, and we both had broccoli/cauliflower/spinach soup which was tasty. Bill chose a grilled smoked ham and cheese sandwich with home made relish that was excellent. The food was so good, we decided to come back for dinner that night.
After lunch, I picked up some postcards and stamps, along with a handmade silver "Newgrange" ring at Kinsale Silver. Bill picked up a CD called "The Afro-Celtic System" that we've been hearing at various places through Ireland that combines African drums and rhythms with Celtic instruments and vocals.
We retired to the room until hunger drove us back to the Blue Haven. Unfortunately, the place was packed and they had no tables available for the evening. So instead, we went to The Vintage restaurant in Kinsale. After sitting in the tiny bar with a drink of our choice, looking over the menu, we were escorted to our table. We both ordered lobster, and actually met our dinner when the owner brought out two healthy specimens for our approval. The lobster was delicious, as was the recommended bottle of Pouilly Fuse and the homemade ice cream for dessert. We felt it was a little overpriced, but good. We returned, happy as clams, to Jimmie's place for the night.
Friday, June 19th
We got up late again, looking forward to the blessedly short drive from Kinsale to Cork City. After breakfast, we said a fond farewell to Jimmie, and headed out. Once in Cork, we landed at Lotamore House located on the N8, just outside Cork City on a hill overlooking Cork Harbor. The room was large, but even better, it actually had two wonderfully comfortable overstuffed chairs next to the window that overlooked the harbor. And of course, it had the ubiquitous, yet useless (to us anyway), trouser press.
Cork was a bit difficult to find our way around in because it's bisected twice by the River Lee. There were like sixteen bridges in the city. We explored the downtown area, stopping in the Tourist Information office for maps and souvenirs. Try as we might, we couldn't find any trad music being played anywhere in town, so we ended the day at Clancy's Bar on Princes Street. I loved Clancy's. It was a large place, complete with two mirrored bars and plenty of carefully placed snugs, each of which had its own decor. (A snug is a small area of a bar set apart from the main area with panels and/or doors of its own for privacy.) One snug, which seated about eight people, was decorated like a library, with shelves of books and a marble fireplace. We had a good, reasonably priced steak dinner upstairs at Clancy's bistro, having had our fill of seafood for awhile.
Saturday, June 20th
Today, we went to the Cork Summer Show, which was advertised with signs all over the city. It was just like an old-fashioned county fair with livestock, crafts, food and flower competitions. I visited the arts and crafts area first, and became immersed in conversation with a local landscape artist, who confided that her dream was to become skilled at modern art, and was particularly fascinated with Dali's work. After describing the subjects of each of her paintings in painstaking detail, she gave me her name and address in case I wanted to view more of her work. (Corkians are noted throughout Ireland for their gift of gab.) We saw some gorgeous floral arrangements, and were delighted to find a Tele-Tubbie ("La-la") made out of squash in the vegetable area. We saw some sheep and cattle judging, and visited the horses, braided and brushed, in their stalls. The mayor of Cork even showed up and gave a little speech. It was a great way to enjoy a part of Cork not usually seen by tourists.
In mid-afternoon, we drove about 12 miles to Midleton to visit the Jameson Whiskey Heritage Center, which is where all the Irish distillers except for Bushmills, manufacture their "water of life". We took the tour and got a good look at the world's largest potstill. Once again, Bill bravely volunteered to be a taster following the tour, and received his second official Irish Whiskey Taster certificate, which would be hung in his office at work, along with the mace and his other certificate. It was a proud day.
At about 3:30pm, we headed back to Cork City to a pub called The Gables, which featured trad music at teatime nearly every day of the week. We didn't know however, that teatime in Ireland (6-ish) is different from teatime in England (4-ish). So we chatted with the owner, Fergus Murphy, for an hour or so, and he told us that depending on their schedules, the trad musicians might or might not show up later, and to call before coming back. He recommended several restaurants in Cork, and we ended up dining at one called "Jacque's" (pronounced "Jack's") on Douglas Street. Jacque's is owned by two sisters, one of whom is named Jaqueline. It was decorated in warm orange, gold and green tones with modern art and sculpture lining the walls, and art deco fixtures. For starters, Bill ordered the celery soup with small chunks of a locally made blue cheese melting in it, and I had prawns wrapped in thin strings of pastry and lightly deep-fried accompanied by a peanut oil/soy dipping sauce. Both were excellent. For the entree, I had a rare sirloin steak topped with a pat of seasoned butter and a dipping sauce, along with roasted potatoes, snow peas, baby carrots, and mushrooms. Bill had the venison with pesto sauce, which was tender and delicious. We shared a tasty bottle of Rioja, and for dessert, we both had the creme brulee. This was one of the best meals we've had so far.
Since we were so close, after dinner we went over to An Spailpin Fanach (pronounced SPILL-peen fun-ACH, meaning "traveler"), one of the pubs in Cork famous for traditional music. Unfortunately, Saturday is the only night they don't have trad music, and when we called the Gables, there wasn't anything going on there either. (We should've checked the Irish Music Calendar first!) So we went back to Lotamore House for the night, visions of Ceilis (pronounced KAY-lees, which are Irish dances) in our heads.
Sunday, June 21st
Before we left Lotamore House, we called and made reservations that evening in the tiny Welsh seaside town of Tenby, as well as in Bath, our destination after Tenby. At 8am, the sky was clear and blue, but by the time we left a couple hours later, it was raining cats and dogs. We were planning on driving a total of about 150 miles to Rosslare (near Wexford), where we'd be boarding the high-speed car ferry back to Britain at about 5:30pm. On the way, we talked about all the things we loved about Ireland, and where we'd like to visit again.
We stopped for about an hour in Waterford at the Waterford Crystal Center, and spent some punts on some port glasses and whiskey tumblers. I've never really been a crystal-lover, but some of the pieces in the Waterford showroom were awesome. Like the 10-foot tall crystal champagne flute, and the huge crystal chandelier that dominates the showroom. Incredible.
We arrived in Fishguard, Wales at about 8:30pm, were able to find a pub still serving, so we took advantage. We had fish and chips, figuring they'd be good in FISHguard, but the food was nothing to write home about. Then we drove about 30 miles south to Tenby, a cute seaside town in Wales. We were lulled to sleep by the waves lapping along the beach directly across the street.
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