A sunny day at the seaside

To get a sunny day at the seaside is not something that you can take as granted when spending your summer in Ireland. Oh, yes, there is a lot of sunshine, but usually, the sun just goes and comes and you can never be sure how long does this magical moment last and unfortunately it never lasts as long as you wish. But this day started with the blue clear sky and ended the same way so I feel that it’s something that needs to be written down and remembered 🙂

Our plans took us to the Camden Fort Meagher, the next fortress, this time, a Maritime Fortress, situated in Crosshaven, just above the sea. Camden Fort Meagher is a coastal defence fortification, one of the best remaining example of that kind of fortification. It was built to defend the mouth of Cork Harbour and the first fortifications date back to 1500. 65% of all the fort is built underground in the tunnels and chambers, but as the weather was so beautiful, we didn’t spend too much time underground but paid more attention to everything that was on the ground, especially the marvellous views over the Cork Harbour and all these small and bigger boats who were enjoying the nice sailing weather.

This time, I didn’t forget to take my selfie stick and therefore I had a lot of fun to practice how to use it properly. It’s not only good for taking selfies but also for all nice views over the sea and that’s why I have so many photos of myself and the sea 🙂

Of course, there was a band 🙂 it’s almost everywhere where they expect tourists and it gives the day a perfect Irish taste. I know, that I sound like tourist now but I am still not tired of hearing them playing Land Rover over and over. The fort is taken care by the local volunteers who really do care about the history and the buildings and give you a good overview of the place and also chat with pleasure like all the Irish like to do.

After walking around we found a nice cafe above the sea and had a cup of coffee before we went home to cook the dinner. On our way home we stopped also in Crosshaven, where all the local pubs were busy and people were enjoying the weather and being outside with their friends and families. I would really be happy to get more such kind of weathers here because it’s so unbelievably beautiful here, so beautiful, that very often you just forget about the weather. And I have to say, that this summer has really been nice and warm – I can prove it by going through my photos of the last summer where I was wearing a coat on almost all of them 😀

You cannot avoid whiskey in Ireland

1-IMG_7461_1A trip to whiskey factory, that was meant to be a year before, was carried out now. I guess it was one of the rainiest weathers and so we had to pick something that will take us indoors. In that place, you again have to take a guided tour and at the end of the tour, when it’s possible to taste different whiskeys, you could get a Jameson Irish WhiskeyTasting Certificate, which I did of course 🙂

whiskeyCongratulations! You toured, you tasted, and now you can tell the world. Thanks for visiting the home of Jameson and toasting over 230 years of history. Enjoy your Jameson Irish WhiskeyTasting Certificate. And remember bragging is optional.

That’s what was the text that came with e-mail and the Certificate. I must say that the Whiskey Tour was much better than I expected and we enjoyed it a lot, despite the rain and the raincoats that we had to wear all through the tour because we had to walk around on the premises and move from house to house.

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You never get too much of it

During summer 2015, I was lucky to travel around a bit. Some places I visited had been on my way before, some places had just been on my list, which is still really long and I hope that it will never get short.

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I still haven’t been in Cork, but I have been in lots of places around Cork. This time, I spent a day at marvellous Blarney Castle with all these beautiful gardens and walked all these mysterious paths and hidden grounds around it. It was a bit like a fairy world and I am pretty sure that if somewhere is the place where they live, then one of those has to be the Blarney Castle.

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Of course, I couldn’t miss kissing the famous Blarney stone, but I still cannot say if it has made me talk more or not. Maybe you have to be Irish for that. Or maybe I just don’t want to admit that I have started to talk more than usual.

 

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But even if you don’t want to kiss the stone or the procedure makes you a bit dizzy, I will definitely suggest you climb up there and have that gorgeous view of the green Emerald Island that is spread beneath and could be enjoyed as far as your eye reaches.

 

And here are some places which don’t exist in this world 🙂

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Around Cork

 

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It’s my first trip out of Dublin and it happens because someone’s sister lives near Cork 🙂 At first about three hours by car and here we are, in a nice house in the middle of the fields in a place called Crosshaven. And we are going to stay here for three days.

 

1-1The first place we visit is a small town Kinsale which has a fort which is called the Charles Fort, a historical port and a lot of nice colourful picturesque houses. It is located about 25 km-s south of Cork and sits at the mouth of the river Bandon with only a bit more than 2000 people. But I believe that in a summer time they have lots of tourists wandering around and enjoying the atmosphere of the town.

They have a big yacht port as well and a nice promenade to walk and enjoy the yachts beside you.

Here is a collection of my favourite houses in Kinsale:

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And the tiny Hat Shop with lots of beauties 🙂

And a tiny Chocolate Shop with handmade chocolate, yummie …

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And something that reminded me Haapsalu, unfortunately, we didn’t see the Hotel itself

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And some good advice here and there, why not 🙂

On our way back we stopped and counted the Irish cows and enjoyed the landscape. I still don’t know how many cows were there, but quite a lot.