The English Market

While in Cork we decided to go to the English Market.  I had watched an episode with
Samantha Brown, travel guide, and wanted to see it for myself.  It was fun but busy.  I think we went during lunch time, not what I would do again.  I later went back in to get some chocolate and it was much nicer since it had less crowds.
Click here to see Samantha Brown in Cork

A year ago the Queen spent some time in Ireland.  One of the places she visited was the English Market.  Because of that, there is multiple pictures of her hanging up above and on walls.  Almost every merchant has an actual picture of her visit hanging in their area of sales.  Some were able to take pictures with her.  Everyone seemed to be very proud of that day.

In case you can't read the sign below it says, Fresh Game @ O'Sullivans Poultry. 

Your choices are Guinea Fowl, Poussin, Quail, Quail eggs, Veal, Duck, Kangaroo, Ostrich, Rabbit, Venison, Pheasant, Pigeon, Partridge and Smoked Chicken

And for something a little more appetizing...

Click here for more on the English Market

Cork City

This last weekend we were blessed with the ability to do a little traveling.  Monday was a bank holiday which meant Paul was off of work.  With three free days on our agenda we decided to make our first travel day in Cork City.
Entering Cork you first see water.  The River Lee goes right through the city which makes it feel a little bit like Dublin.  The city is a major Irish seaport. 

 Since the day was filled with dark clouds and rain much of our day was spent in the shops.  All of the photos you will see were taken in the car or very quickly before the next shower hit. 

A little Shopping

Some Pubs

A common scene here is old houses.  It constantly amazes me that people actually live in them.  Many do not look fit for living in.

It is amazing to see what the Irish can fit into a small space! 

Below is a typical city street.  You can see just how narrow it is.  I had posted one similar when I blogged about Dublin.  Since this was worse I thought I would show it as well.

And some shots of just a few of the buildings there.

One of many statues in the cities here.

This man was playing his guitar for change.  It was so much fun watching him.  As people would pass he would play a song that he thought matched the person.  For instance when a child would pass he would play a song for them.  They were always common ones that most children would recognize, like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  We stayed and watched for a while.  It was interesting to see what song he thought matched the person.  For some people he would play a real heavy fast song and others would get slow ones.  As soon as the person was no longer in front of him he would move on to the next.  I was blessed to be able to get this shot since the streets were so busy that day.

Another common site in Ireland is Ale.  This glass was sitting with no one around.  I am guessing it's owner must have had one-too-many. 

These men caught a whole lot of attention.  It was more interesting watching the looks on people's faces around us then to watch them singing.  There was more of them then what you see here.  They were walking through the streets playing some sort of instrument (drums being the most common) singing hail Krishnah.

The River Lee is very dark.  I have heard about the dark waters of Ireland and now I know what they are talking about.  In some places the rivers look black.

School has begun!

I have so much to blog about I don't know where to begin.  We went to 4 different places this past weekend so I have a ton of photos to sort through and share with you.  Paul had his first bank holiday this past Monday which meant he was off of work for the day.  It gave us the ability to spend some extra time traveling.  I was thinking that I would share some photos with you about some ordinary things instead of Ireland.  Hopefully it will give you something to look at while I spend the time to sort through all that we did.  We did so much I will be blogging about each place separately. 

Last week was our first official school week for the school year 2012-2013.  Our older kids were excited to start since there isn't a lot to do during the day around here.  They love to read and I think they were really wanting to dig into some of their new books.  We read quite a bit in our own time and a lot more in the school year.  Tater-tot has no idea what school is yet but she is having fun learning. 
Below is a picture of what it looked like in the house after our shipment came in.  This pretty much drove me crazy for the duration but we were then able to get some shelves. 

Ah!  That's better, some organization.

This isn't all of it.  We put some of it in the kid's rooms. 

Tater-tot is having a blast with her new lessons.  She is now making new decorations for the fridge.

 Keep an eye out for more school adventures as well as travels (which is school in itself).

Name Change

I figured it would be wise to update you on the name change.  Due to this being a public blog we have decided to give the kids nick-names.

This is Sunshine

This is Babby (name given by Tater-Tot)

And this is Tater-Tot

Our Day to Glendalough (pronounced Glend-uh-lock)

This past Saturday was spent in the Wicklow area.  We left early in the morning and arrived in Glendalough at just the right time.  Getting there early meant that the crowds of visitors were low and it just so happened that the rain wasn't too bad. 
On our way to Wicklow we drove through many little towns and enjoyed seeing several sheep.  Most of us expect to see sheep when coming to Ireland but soon discover it is much more likely to see a cow than sheep.  I am hoping to get a picture of a cow one of these days.  It is hard to get a shot of them standing since most of the time they are laying down. You might wonder why I would want a picture of a cow.  Irish cows are much larger than our American cows.  They look more like they should be in a State Fair then roaming a field. 
Below is some pictures I took while we were driving to Wicklow.  It was extremely cloudy, foggy and dark that day. 

 We can now say that we've been to Hollywood.

Below we are walking through the Wicklow Mountains to go visit  one of Ireland’s monastic sites founded by St. Kevin in the 6th Century.  Click here for some information from Rick Steves about Glendalough

Below is our first good view of the Round Tower as well as pictures of what it looks like within.  We didn't visit all that there is to see here.  We are hoping to go back and and see much more of the sites in the future.

Located in the Monastic City, Glendalough, this fine tower is built of mica-schist interspersed with granite. It is about 30 meters high with an entrance 3.5 meters from the base. The conical roof was rebuilt in 1876 using the original stones. The tower originally had six timber floors connected by ladders. The four stories above the entrance are each lit by a small window. The top storey has four windows facing north, south, east and west. Round towers were built as bell towers, but also served as landmarks for approaching visitors, and were used on occasion as store-houses and as places of refuge in times of attack.  (Information taken from the Wicklow National Park website)

(below) 
I took this photo with the kids standing below to show you just how high the tower is.  While we were there we overheard one of the guides explaining the way to enter the tower was on a ladder through the lower window.  They would then pull up the ladder so that others could not enter.  When the Vikings would invade they would light a fire and force them out with smoke. 

Below we are standing in front of St. Kevin's Kitchen also known as the church or Monastery.

Below we are standing in St. Kevin's Cathedral which is the largest building in Glendalough.

The Cemetery at the site.

After visiting the Monastic City we then went for a walk to visit the two lakes that this place is named after.  The walk was a bit exhausting but extremely worth it. 

The picture below is of the lower lake.  It is all I have for now.  I didn't take many pics of them and didn't get any of the upper lake.  By the time we made it to the upper lake it was raining too heavy for photographs.

 

Umbrella's were definitely needed this trip.  It rained off and on the entire time.  Thankfully we ignored the forecast and brought them anyway.

We stopped to play in the stream below.  The water was so clear it looked like you could drink from it.

 The dandelion's in Ireland are enormous.  We took the picture below with Sunshine's hand so that you could see just how big they are.

 Below is a picture a very large bog.

 We were able to see a baby dear with it's mother which made this day out extra special.

Below we are almost to the waterfall! 

The waterfall!!!

When we were done with this trip we were hungry, wet and tired.  We drove over to Glencullen to visit Ireland's most famous pub, Johnnie Fox's.  More details coming in another blog.