Cork has had quite a first impression! I have made three conclusions after my first two weeks here.
First, Cork is beautiful and reminds me of Boston. There are old, grey cobble stone roads leading you to the City Centre. Then once you are there the streets are filled with restaurants ranging from Turkish Kebabs to McDonalds. A Starbucks around every corner, and no doubt convenience stores where I have already spent WAY too much money on Cadbury chocolate. Mixed between them are pubs, with people constantly there telling stories and laughing. Don’t let me start about the shopping here as well. Stores of all types, and Penney’s is definitely a new favorite (You can not beat 2euros scarves, am I right??). When you actually stop and look at the building and architecture you realize how old all of the buildings are, and how much history fills the city. Tanner and I stumbled upon St. Nicholas’s church while we were exploring. It is a massive church that sits close to the river running through downtown, and was simply beautiful.
The second conclusion I have made is that the people of Cork are beyond kind, especially to those who are clearly not from Cork. The first time #TeamCORK decided to use the public transportation system we had no idea where we were supposed to get off. Until a woman chimed in on where we should get off, and then decided to walk us three blocks in the opposite direction she was going in to take us to the store we were going to. Then on the way home, a gentleman told us where to get off, and good thing (the next stop would have been a 30 minute walk). We have had many blessings in disguise and I will never forget their acts of kindness. Funny enough, someone on the bus asked me where City Centre was the other day, and I confidently told them where to go and when to get off the bus. Starting to feel like I am from Cork already!
The last conclusion I have made is that I do not think I have ever walked more in my entire life. I have never walked more in my life, and I have never noticed more details about a place because of it. In our busy lives we do not stop enough and just look around at how beautiful our surroundings our. Living in Ireland has already taught me, that even if we do not think we have time, we always have time to just take a second and realize how beautiful the world is.
