Time to....

put a Cork in it...  get it?jl  I may "binge blog" if i get the time today

editor's note.  we need to leave Ireland as we are about to embark on another journey over the Thanksgiving Weekend, which will provide even more riveting reading upon our return.  It is short enough that i probably won't try to post from there, but you FaceBookers might pay attention.

We began our day in Cork with the usual breakfast, served buffet style as usual,

I think I may have commented on this before, but all of these places tend to serve eggs in some form, poached or “fried”.  It’s always a crap shoot as to the condition of the yolks.  These were not bad, and actually were runny, at least at the time of sampling.

But more time under those heat lamps, and hard boiled, here we come.

Our touring day started out with a visit to one of the most famous (is there a “least” famous?) sites in Ireland

I think it’s a world heritage site, and they do a nice job with it.  Quite a pretty castle

Although you kind of have to crane your neck when closer

Of course the big attraction is to smooch the blarney stone, and they market that to the max

The stupid stone is at the top of the Castle, meaning you have to get up there, by means of several circular stair cases, which at this point, the Feeder’s knees kind of said: “well, you can hear about it” so I didn’t attempt it.  Kind of a good thing, some poor soul fell near the top and broke her arm, requiring the emergency folks to get to her.

I did go up the first couple of flights before deciding to bail, and there were some nice views

I love these “window shots”

After hearing about kissing the stone from those who climbed and bussed it, we boarded the coach and stopped at the little town of Cobh, which used to be Queenstown.  The city is sort of “famous” for being the last port of call for both the Lusitania and the Titantic.  It was also the traditional departing point for emigrants bound for the new world.   There were several tributes the people lost at sea, like this quilt

We then returned to our hotel in Cork, and this being a “free night” MFO and I fulfilled the last of our pre-determined restaurant visit at a place called Market Lane.  The restaurant is one of those that doesn’t accept reservations, but I got a nice email from the owner when I tried, and said he would make sure we got a table.  It was pretty crowded, so we were seated at the bar, and I spied a gin on their spirit list called “Saffron Gin”, and requested a Martini.  For once it didn’t confound the bartender, and it got me a rather interesting and good drink.

Which I enjoyed while perusing the offered menu, which normally I don’t care to do.  In just a little bit they came and got us as our table was ready..

I don’t know if I talked about this before, I think not here, maybe on TripAdvisor, but we were seated along the wall on a banquette that was right below the kitchen.

Now some folks might think “Oh, you poor tourist they sat you at a bad table!”.   Aha!  Not the bottom feeder.   I got to watch and hear (if I listened attentively, they were quite quiet).  I just love to watch the dance of the ticket emerging, the captain telling the staff, and people swinging (or keep swinging) into their station.  Pure choreography, no yelling, just quiet efficiency resulting in dishes placed on the pass, inspected by the captain, and then delivered to the table.  A real plus for this diner.

We were given an extra sheet with the daily specials on it

And lo and behold, notice the Blasket Island Lamb!  No fuzz on what I ordered!  I started out with a lovely Pate (sucker dish for me)

Followed by the lovely lamb

It reminded me of the “Salt Marsh” lamb we enjoyed on our French journey at Mt. San Michel in Normandy.  MFO enjoyed her “Pan Seared Salmon with spiced arancini, in coconut, ginger and coriander curry with pickled pepper relish”

I must admit it was right on, if not a bit over the line of spicy for me, but she likes it.  

We paired it with an Argentinean Malbec,

A lovely meal indeed.  Notice no mention of the service?  That’s because it was just right.  There when you wished, not when not needed, although a watchful eye was noticed as he passed the table on occasion.  A nice touch was that when he made his initial approach to the table, he kneeled so that we were eye to eye not looking up.

A wonderful experience.  And of course we were

DFD