We actually didn't spend that much time in Cork while I was there. Both Saturday and Sunday, we spent the daytime in other nearby towns, and only returned in the evenings, but I don't say that with regret. With only two days, there's only so much that it's possible to see, and everything I saw was great. Maybe if I come back, I'll spend more time in the city.
Saturday we took a train to Cobh (pronounced "cove"), which is just south of Cork, on the coast. It was the last stop of the Titanic before it departed for Crashyville, and there's a museum there now. A museum which is immediately above the train station. We left the station and said "okay, we're on the street, it should be pretty close by... oh, hey, there it is." It was a funny moment. Interesting info about the Titanic, but also about the shipping of convicts to Australia in the early 1800's. Small place, but there was a lot of good stuff.
We went back to Scott's (Scork's!) dorm later on, and cooked up a whole mess o' pasta, then watched a very, very silly Irish game show. Late at night there's an infomercial-like live program which runs for hours from midnight until something like 3AM. There's a puzzle with a very, very vague question (i.e. What is White?) and every once in a while (like, 20 minutes) they give hints. People call in the show and guess the answer to the question (which in this case was a white object). Of course, it's more or less impossible to guess until the third or fourth clue (there are many white things in the world). The highlight of the show is the fact that it's just a host talking to a camera, but dead air is a big no-no in the entertainment industry, so the host JUST KEEPS TALKING. It's hilarious, and it makes no sense, but they just keep going. The woman hosting that night was trying to pretend there was any urgency whatsoever to solve the puzzle, but ran out of good lines about ten minutes in. I don't blame her, though. It's a tough job to talk for three hours straight. So, she was just sputtering nonsense or repeating herself for hours. "Come on! Call in! We NEED you to solve this puzzle! Think! You know this! It's white! You can do it!" I never did find out what is white, unfortunately; we went to sleep instead.
Sunday, we went to visit Blarney Castle, and I kissed the Blarney Stone, but did not buy their t-shirt saying such. The legend says that I've now been blessed with the gift of eloquence, but nobody actually knows where the legend came from. They know it was in place 200 years ago because there are accounts of people kissing the stone in the 1790's. However, it's not clear who started the legend, or why. There are some stories that say the stone was from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, or some other famous ancient building. The counterargument is "why the hell would they stick that in a relatively inconspicuous location on a relatively unimportant castle?" My answer is, "They probably wouldn't. This story sounds made-up." And it truly is an inconspicuous location. It's on the underside of a gap on the top of a castle wall, so you have to lie on your back and lean over the edge, giving the stone an upside-down kiss. Now there's iron bars to hold onto and more below, so you won't fall all the way to your death if you slip, but back in the good ol' days*, you could literally kill yourself trying this stunt.
That night we went to the Cork Singer's Club, a group of singers who meet every Sunday night upstairs at a bar. It was a public thing, and anyone could sing, but I felt no need to; the crowd there was far too talented for me to go around mucking things up. It wasn't really a matter of me avoiding embarrassment, so much as it was the limited amount of time. Any song I sang would be one less new song I would get to hear. And I did learn a few new songs I intend to bring back home. I also had a Guinness, which a friend had told me would taste better in Ireland. He lied.
Monday morning, on my way to the bus station, my debit card got eaten by an ATM, and I won't be getting it back; I'm in another city now, and they'll be cutting it up when they retrieve it (don't worry, I've had the card deactivated). It's been mildly inconvenient, but it was another opportunity for me to be aware of my own changing attitudes. Until a year or two ago, I would make a fuss over this sort of thing. I used to be a very tense person. Now, the first thought I had was, "Y'know, some people would freak out over this." I took care of what I could, and made it to the station in time to catch my bus. End of story; I've got what I need to get by, so no real harm done. I still consider myself lucky, privileged, etc.
On the way to Galway, I had a 20 minute conversation with a 77-year-old man who was visiting his son there. I told him about my trip around Ireland, and he told me a bit about himself. He didn't particularly provide me with any new information ("be careful in Belfast," "see some live music," and "it rains a lot here"), but he was a nice guy, and I enjoyed talking to him. He had moved up a seat to talk to me, and we discovered at the end of the 20 minutes that he had been sitting in chewing gum the entire time. There's something to be learned about people from how they handle negative experiences, and I'm not just saying this because of my debit card. The guy had a brief moment of annoyance ("ach, how unlucky can you be?") followed by an immediate impulse to get it cleaned up before anyone else sat in it. He let the driver know, and helped him take care of the mess. It's a minor point, but I sometimes feel like we're all really good at caring about others when things are going well, but when the day goes sour, the reaction is to become focused on the self. It's good to see people care more about others even in the midst of something unpleasant. Sure, it was just gum, but he seemed like the kind of guy who acted that way on a daily basis. Also, he was 77 and still had lots of energy, which makes me happy.
The location changes seem to be good bookends, so I'll save Galway for the next post. Annie and EC have been a lot of fun, and I've met a whole bunch of cool people the past three days. You'll hear all about it soon.
*You know, the good ol' days, when there was rampant dysentery and no indoor plumbing.
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