June 09 West Cork

Mary and I had planned a little trip (after she returned from her other little trip to Edinburgh!). So on Thursday, Dana drove us to Cork. We all ate at my new favorite place - Quay Co-op and then she explored while he and I went to a doctor's appointment - the shortest one in history - hurray! We then met Mary. Dana dropped us off at the bus and we rode to Kinsale and checked into our very nice B&B. We then immediately took a boat ride on Kinsale Harbor - such a beautiful place and time of day (6 pm, still sunny). It was a little chilly, but as you can see they passed out blankets! We ate dinner and had a good rest. The next morning we took a walking tour of Kinsale, which was beautiful and fascinating. This Grey Hound pub dates from 1690!We then went to Charles Fort, a huge star shaped fort that dates from the 7th century (and was burned by IRA forces in 1922). It is interesting and huge and worth a return trip, as I slept on a bench for part of our visit! Diane (SLT from Cork) picked us up there and we did some mandatory shopping and then had a wonderful dinner at Fishy Fishy! Diane then drove us to Bantry where we had another nice B&B. The next morning (Saturday) we walked around Bantry, then took a bus to Glengariff. The plan was to meet Dana there - and amazingly, we found our B&B, walked out the door, and there he came down the sidewalk- great timing! Our B&B was actually a hotel in the middle of the little village. I'll continue this narrative in the next post. This post is all Mary's pictures!