We left Kilkenny this morning, promising ourselves that we would return, and headed south to the coast. As it seems with most travel on Ireland's winding little roads, the scenery was amazing and very diverse. We stopped at the Cobh Heritage Center which tells not only the story of emigration during the potato famine (most Irish left from the port of Cobh), but also tells about the Titanic, which also embarked from Cobh on it's fatal voyage and the Lusitania, a British liner sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Cobh. We didn't necessarily intend to, but have learned a lot of Irish history on this trip!
We took a ferry from Cobh across the bay to save time and avoid driving in Cork traffic and arrived in the charming little seaside village of Kinsale mid- afternoon. We found our hotel, the Trident, on an ancient street called World's End. We checked in, went to our room and found it warm and stuffy with windows that wouldn't open. We called the front desk to find that the room was not supposed to be available and was mistakenly given to us, so they upgraded us to a nicer room at the same price! Sounded good to us!
We walked around and explored the winding little streets before going to dinner. Kinsale is known for its many wonderful restaurants. We went to Fishy Fishy--a restaurant recommended to us. The mussels we had as an appetizer were gritty--ugh--but our entrees were wonderful. The irony was not lost on us that Dick's great-great-grandfather, Peter Casey, may have left Ireland from this very port because his family was starving, and here we were, having a gourmet meal. Thanks for leaving, Peter!
After dinner, as we wandered around, I found a great Irish wool sweater-for the first time in a week, I am finally warm! Now that I have my sweater, the weather is supposed to be nicer, but I'm still glad I have it!
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