Craic in Cork: Scones Feed the Soul

Friday was the beginning of one of the first weekends that I have been in Cork with nothing to do, and I could not be happier. It was so nice having THREE WHOLE DAYS to get organized, relax, and enjoy Cork.

Jane and I love trying new places on Fridays. It became a routine last semester, and we are trying to keep it up this semester, when we are in town. This Friday, we decided we would find a cafe with some scones for breakfast. We went to a very cute place, The Half Door Cafe, which is right across the street from O'Conaill's. This obviously meant the we had to go to O'Conaill's after :). People make fun of us for how often we go there, but, when we are back in Worcester next year and everyone else misses O'Conaill's because they did not go enough, we will be the ones laughing! We need to embrace our favorite places in Cork as much as we can right now, we only have (less than) three months to go!!!!

After scones and hot chocolate, Jane and I went to the English Market to get a little grocery shopping done. I have been craving salmon lately, so I deiced I would make Dad's famous maple salmon recipe (which came out sooooo yummy). Once we finished grocery shopping, Jane and I chilled out for a little while at the apartments, and then headed to the gym. We were planning on trying a few new pubs later in the night, so we were trying to be as productive and efficient as we could be during the day!

Jane and I decided we would make a pub crawl for the two of us. This consisted of three bars, two of which I had never been to. Our first bar was Rising Sons Brewery. This is a new brewery here in Cork, and one that was on our bucket list we made earlier in the semester! The beers were really good and unique, and I would definitely go back there again with my many visitors I have this semester. It is sort of trying to mimic a sports bar, while still being really nice (and not divey). The second place was a little fancier. This was known as The Woodford. It had a very cozy feeling, with live music. The Woodford was not too crowded, so Jane and I were able to grab a seat, which was really nice! We saved the best place for last, The Oliver Plunkett. You can never go wrong with going to The Oliver Plunkett. There was great live music upstairs and downstairs, lots of people, and great drinks. As the Irish would say, it was "great craic."

Jane and I definitely started to have panics about leaving Cork that night. I love this place so much, and I do not know how I will be able to parts ways with my new home come May. I do miss everyone back home and I really miss HC, but, I cannot say it enough, going abroad is the best decision I have made at Holy Cross!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Nothing beats the scones in Ireland!