Photos from Cork City -- Day 1

Cork City is my kind of place. The food, the art, the overall "vibe" of the streets feels like a city that would be easy to call home. The University of Cork is a mix of weeping willows and a winding river a la Cambridge University, but it is also has modern architecture that somehow fits in. We visited the Butter Museum, rang the bells at Saint Anne's Shandon, and read poems out to the rooftops of the city.

Breakfast at Garnish House

If you are thinking about a visit to Cork and like to eat, this Bed & Breakfast is a dreamscape. People from town come here just to eat. Someone counted and there are over 40 different breakfasts to choose from. Sinful, yes. Fresh, innovative, and the top rated in the city. Check all of the above.

Mustard Jars at the English Market
There is a theme developing: amazing food. More on this later.

Wildflowers along the banks of the River Lee

This is my fourth time in Ireland and it now seems a place that lives under my skin ---in a good way. I've known my friends Geraldine and Peter for 10 years since my first visit here. This is a land that honors poets. In fact, there's is an actual "poet's rate" set by the government on how much poets are paid for services --- and it's a living wage. Taxicab drivers in Dublin and Galway break into verses of Patrick Kavanaugh or Seamus Heaney when I tell them I'm a writer. Bookstores don't hide their poetry sections. What more could a girl want? (Insert warmer weather here.)