Previa Road Trip: Cork, Cobh and Other Cool Places

Friday, June 5, 2015

We must do laundry and we are lucky enough to have a laundry minutes from our front door.

We just have to go to the administration office to get tokens for the machines and the code to get into the laundry. While the laundry is being done we go to the bagel and coffee shop housed in the same main building as the laundy. After having a very decadent coffee frappiccihno I finish the laundry only to discover I forgot to wash many of my own clothes. Duh! I am not dirtying many clothes anyway because I am living in one wool sweater and believe me, I am not sweating much.

We do not do much today considering this is the first day we are in a new city - Cork, Ireland. We go for a few walks here on campus, to the Quadrangle and other old buildings. This is an old campus from about 1845 era. These old buildings on campuses are stunning with rich architecture and well manicured yards.

I am finding it quite cold here especially once the sun goes down.

We both needed to rest today, especially me. We have been on the go without taking enoug down time. Today is a day for down time and rest, it is very badly needed.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

We slept in trying to heal my sore knee, good excuse, right. I have to do something about this knee. It is giving me too much trouble not to. I will just have to forget about touristing it up and concentrate on doing nothing for a few days. Not my cup of tea, I can say that here, because I love walking.

It is hard to get used to having people using the kitchen that you to are using. The Oriental family and friends here that we share with are very clean and mostly organized. We are lucky to get nice people to share with. They are definitely not bossy or rude. They are friendly and offer us food to sample which is tasty. I have tasted a seaweed soup with a grain and perhaps mung beans in it. I have also sampled a Chinese pancake, delicious. Last night it was a quinoa looking dessert with little berries in it.

I am doing genealogical research on the O'Neill family from Nova Scotia, my Mother's maiden name. I can go back as far as my Great-grandfather, Simon Riley O'Neill 1855-1929. Then I am stymied. I have looked at so many sources and found nothing. I did found information on his wife's family, my Great-grandmother, Clara Adelaide O'Neill (nee: Risteen). Yes, a very Irish ancestory. That is why I was hoping I could find the link between Ireland and Canada. The Risteen side came from Tyrone County in Northern Ireland, but in about the 1700's.

We take a bus to the Wilton Shopping Centre. Normally we would walk that distance but my knee needs to rest. I find some vitamin C and CalMag that I need to be taking. I am getting a few things to help heal my knee, a compression bandage and a freezer pack. I know both will help me in my way to recovery. I am rather upset that I let my knee get to this state because I need to walk while I am here, without the pain of a sore knee.

Ken is continuing to work on Radio stuff. I know he has lots to do because he just had a radio meeting on Wednesday evening and I over heard some of the things he volunteered to do.

In the evening we walk across the street from the College and go for a walk. We find very old house and an old bridge. Until the bridge was built that area was an island and only serviced by a ferry. Next we find a park with garden after garden of roses, many blooming some about to bloom. They are heavenly scented with bigger blooms than I am used to.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

We slept in again to day, a bit past 8:30. I am really putting forth an effort to rest and heal my knee. It is not fun hobbling around and also being unable to walk for than a few blocks when I am used to over ten kilometres a day. I am going to cut out the tons of wheat or gluten that I have been enjoying lately. After being quite ill just before going to bed last night I am trying to figure out what it could be. Maybe it is something else I ate yesterday but cutting out gluten will not hurt.

Ken is continuing to work on the CKGI Radio project. I am continuing to do the genealogy on the O'Neill family, my Mother's Father's line of the family. So far I have found nothing except today I found where my Great-grandfather was buried and found a different year of birth which was 1853 instead of the 1855 which I found yesterday. Wonder which one is correct of if either is. Also his name could be spelling either O'Neill or O'Neal - which was it originally? I have still not found any clues as to who his parents were. I do have his wife's name and her parents and grandparents, so that is something. I took a screen shot of it so as to not lose the information.

I had several naps today keeping in line with my rest scenerio. I almost feel guilty that I am not doing more in a city I have wanted to come to for most of my adult life. Oh well, a sore knee is nothing you plan for.

We again take the bus to the Wilton Shopping Centre. Ken needs to replace his computer and reading glasses - both pair have broken and are bothering him. He is trying to use one pair taped together. Very geekesk.

Boole rocks!

Monday, June 8, 2015

My leg/knee is still bothering me but I read that you lose quite a bit of muscle tone is the affected leg if you do not get out and do something with it. Rest is good to a point but you must use your leg too.

For Breakfast we go to the University's main cafeteria, good ol' fry...

We are going to go into Cork town today. Ken needs to get quotes on computer and reading glasses. I just want to get out and about after resting and taking it easy all weekend. It is supposed to go up to about 16/17 degrees today and be sunny for part of the day. Hurrah!

We get off the bus right near the downtown library and that will be our meeting place because we are going our separate ways. It is so nice to be out in the sunshine. It is a very old looking downtown area with all the buildings attached. I have to walk slowly and I must say that having this sore knee thing makes me feel old.

Somehow we meet up before we get to the library and go for lunch. We go to a place called the Box Noodle. I like the ring of the name Noodle Box better myself. We get friendly service. Our waiter tells us Irish people generally like Canadians.

I am sure I walked more than I really should have but my knee did not really hurt. I was tired from my experience.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

It is so wonderfully sunny today. This is really the sunniest day we have seen since to arrived here and even before that. It has likely been about five or six weeks without a sunny day.

Today, in the sun, we are going to take the bus to the seaside town of Cobh, Ireland. On the bus we meet a friendly man who tells us the proper pronunciation of the town - the "bh" is really said more like a "v" sound.

We need to hurry down a long flight of stairs in order to get to the train station on time. While in our hurry Ken sees a Toyota Previa of much newer vintage than our Pepe. Hmmm, should we take one back with us to Canada? That is certainly a thought if we could get it reasonably priced. Using our LEAP card to pay for the train ride did not work and it was supposed to, in a hurry or not we have to pay. But do we really? A wonderful worker at the train station just let us into the loading ramp. Ken put money on our LEAP card but somehow is did not show up yet. I guess the system is not quite working that well.

Our trip was wonderful. The scenery was spectatular, around rivers and ocean inlets. There are green, rolling hills dotted with old, brick buildings. The age of the buildings makes them particularly interesting to us. Yesterday we were in a coffee shop older than Canada. The train station in Cork was from the 1850s.

We walked around Cobh, starting by climbing up the hill and seeing an old church - The Scotch Church. Further up the hill was St. Coleman's Cathedral - huge and spectacular. It was started in 1868 and was finished in 1915.The style of architecture is French Gothic. it has 47 bells which we unfortunately did not hear. The inside was equally impressive.

The part of Cobh down by the Ocean was the most developed for tourists. Lots of coffee shops and cafes. Glad it was sunny because the breeze off the Ocean would have been really cool. We actually were able to eat outside at likely the best restaurant in the town. This hopefully is a sign of things to come, warm, sunny days eating great food outside in the fresh air.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Part of our strategy for Cork was to rest so my knee would be better. It is not much fun touring around with lots of walks if you have a sore knee or legs. We did get to see others things of interest, too. I would imagine we could have seen lots more had my knee not have been acting up. On a positive note, my knee is feeling much better, well on the mend.

The weather was quite lovely today, a proper Spring day. Since I was walking in a more relaxing, less painful way we did a quick tour of some of the buildings mid-campus. We made our way through the Gothic Revival Quadrangle, by waking down the hallway with the Ogham stones. There had just been a recent ceremony in the Aula Maxima (Great Hall) and the Lewis Glucksman Gallery but we snuck in to take pictures. At the main cafeteria we had a spot of tea and a snack where the cashier remembered us. It was very nice to welcomed personally and not just be part of the crowd for once.

Ken went back to the room to get some business things done. I went off to the visitor centre. In is located at the centre of the UCC campus. It had a textile type of exhibit on called a Stitch in Time. Several years back the city of Cork had a knitting type of competition happening. There was a huge knitted piece draped down the wall and across the floor that had been compiled by many citizens throughout the city. There was also an exhibit by other artists of textiles. One exhibit of someone who makes enormous fabric banners for parades, protests or union events. There was also an artist who does beaded pieces relating to people of other lands. You are stuck by the colourful tapestry with a picture of Queen Elizabeth being the headliner of the piece.