Cross Country


                        

                             The day started out in Wicklow...⬆️

                                                             And ended in Kinsale...⬇️



And in between there were a lot of miles and kilometers on the roads of Ireland.

                     
                            St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh, Ireland 

Trying to capture the essence of a nation in but 10 days...and a few hundred miles of roads and a few dozen attractions....is hopeless. So many have traveled here and everyone has their favorite stories and places. The main takeaway for the moment is....this country has a lot of hedges. If you plan to drive and enjoy the countryside vistas...That isn't happening. Groomed hedges seem to frame every main highway and every country backroad, you can't see beyond them. It's an Irish thing I guess, but I really should talk with the Irish Tourist Board.

                           
What would the day be without us visiting a massive cathedral or two? In the midst of all the details of our trip, I had missed that St. Colman's would be on our agenda when we reached Cobh, Ireland...pronounced Cove. Linguists note: "bh" is pronounced "v"...also note that our "Agenda" consists of what we decide about 20 minutes before we arrive somewhere.)

                       

This church sits on a hill, with the rest of the city higher up the hill. It looks out over the harbor and is very impressive from the sea, from the back parking lot, and from in front of the colorful houses just across the street. (I don't even want to consider what the rents for THOSE houses are. In any case, they make for colorful picture postcard-style photos...if one even remembers what a postcard is.)

                               

The church was built in the early 1900's....about 700 years after church that we saw yesterday near Dublin. Scaffolding was everywhere. For the Centenary, the church was being cleaned (not so much repaired for it was in excellent condition...but a thorough cleaning of the interior due to age and modern society's pollution.) About half the church was cleaned and about half was in scaffolding. Props to the Buildings and Grounds Committee!

                          

We did a 360 of the cathedral. Walked along the wharf. Got trampled by tourists and retreated to a restaurant for soup and ale. The Disney Cruise ship left port...with it's horns playing the first lines of "When you wish upon a star..." No kidding.

            Inside detail

                      Outside Detail

                   

Among other things, Cobh's claim to fame is that the Titanic's last port of call before heading across the Atlantic to its fate, is this city. They contribute to its history and keeping the name alive and monetizing everything that is possible out of that 100 year-old tragedy.


But our destination was further down the road and further around a dozen more towns and inlets and bridges and seaside parks....to Kinsale. From the summit just up the street from our room are these sights. And across the street is a cemetery with the wall of an old castle...that's it....just a wall....or perhaps a pillar. 

                 
Nighttime comes to Kinsale, Ireland


And we find ourselves, once again, driving and walking around the edges of the sea and mountains.


Driving and walking the edges of the historic and the modern.

Peace,   Bob






















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