Welcome to Kinsale

Day 10: June 26, 2012

The sailboats and the
Kinsale Yacht Club marina

            Tuesday we headed out on a bus to Kinsale, about 30 minutes outside of Cork. Kinsale is a harbor town that on any day looks gorgeous. It is the smallest town we have visited so far, but I really enjoyed going there. I wish we had longer to visit but some people were trying to get back in order to watch an improv show as a part of the Cork Midsummer Festival.

Open-faced crab sandwich.

            We started in Kinsale looking for something to eat. Apparently it is a very big fishing town so we ended up at a restaurant called Fishy Fishy. It was a small little place, but luckily we all found a table to share. The food was delicious; I got seafood chowder and an open-faced crab sandwich. While we were sitting there eating our meals I noticed a little girl eating alone. She came out of the kitchen with a plate of fish and chips and sat at a table near ours. She sat quietly swinging her legs under the chair looking around the small restaurant watching all the different patrons. She had a face full of freckles and straight brown hair. An American couple came in looking for a place to sit and there were no tables open. She quietly turned to the man and told him that he and his wife could sit at her table. The man, unsure, asked if the little girl was ok with that, she replied sweetly and got up and took her plate behind the counter to finish eating. I’m guessing her older sister, our waitress, talked to and made her smile and laugh with a full mouth. I can only wonder if this little girl will leave this little town of Kinsale. I know if I lived in a place where the people were just as friendly, and then harbor just as beautiful I might try to stay my entire life.

Out front of the KYC

            After lunch we split up into several groups. I went off with a few people to try to walk to a fort at the far end of the harbor. This trip was unsuccessful, but on the way we had a few good stops. We stopped at the Kinsale Yacht Club. I work at a yacht club back home, so I thought it would be fitting for me to swing by and say hello. I talked to a man who worked there and he was very nice. He mentioned that he had visited the Norfolk Yacht Club, but never the good old HYC. On our way back from our unsuccessful journey we went to a church in Kinsale. It is called St. Multose Church and it was built in 1190. This is one of the oldest churches in Ireland. The interior of the church was extremely modern, but it still had a good amount of what looked to be like original pieces. The stone fount which hold the holy water and a couple wall fixtures seemed to be very old. 

The fount inside
St. Multose Church

            After Kinsale we took the windy bus trip back to Cork. I headed back to the apartments from the city center on my own because the rest of my small group was going to the improv show. Once I arrived back I got to enjoy a wonderful Skype date with Haley. Even though the connection goes in and out it is always nice to Skype her and my family back home. I am having loads of fun here in Ireland, as you can probably tell from my posts, but it’s always great being able to talk with and see the people you love even when you’re practically 4000 miles away.