County Cork

We have just returned from a very pleasant long weekend in Cork. Although it drizzled a bit on and off, and on Saturday night we experienced ridiculous gale force winds, there were some really nice patches of blue sky and sunshine. Saturday we spent exploring Cork, ducking into a fair few pubs to take shelter from the rain, wind and cold, as it was the worst day weather-wise. We also visited the English Market, a big hall that is like a farmers market with all the fresh food you could ever want. We spent a good hour drooling over all the cuts of meat and poultry, fresh fish, sushi, cheeses, fruit, fresh breads, salad rolls, pastries and chocolates, and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the cafe (our first taste of black pudding). Sunday we took a bus out to a place called Kinsale, a very pretty port town. We took a very nice 45 minute walk out to Charles Fort, a defense fortification used in the 17th and 18th centuries, and visited a couple of bookshops and lovely pubs. (Dave's shining moment was mistaking a post office for a pub...seems to be a bit of a recurring theme lately!) Monday we returned like magnets to the Farmers Market for brunch, before flying back to London. Some photos below.
Our next trip is a while away – 20th April, after I finish up at work. It will be a longer one, though, as we will be gone for about 5 weeks. We will spend that time travelling through Eastern Europe and Norway! Very excited. More on that later.
Meanwhile we are frantically trying to see a little more of England before we leave for good. We have a day trip booked to the Cotswolds in March, and may attempt to squeeze in a day in Brighton, depending on costs. We are also planning a few days in Yorkshire in June just before leaving. In London news we have scored some Premier League tickets (yay!) We will be attending Fulham v Portsmouth on the 31st January at Craven Cottage. We are also leaving Earl's Court and returning to Angel!!! We move out on 1st February and in with Jo, Daisy and Laura in rooms above the York, which is great for us as we will save on rent and travel to work. (And we get to return to an area we both love). Dave is also excited as (apparently) it is his dream come true to live above a pub and I am excited to be living with people again!
We are both well and, although we are looking forward to coming home, are still enjoying London very much, especially now the temperature has begun to creep up (sloooowly). We no longer need the heater on at home and some days the mercury reaches double figures!
So that’s about it for now. No doubt we will be doing something for Australia Day, with celebrations at the Aussie bars here planned for the Sunday and the Monday, so will update again soon. Much love to all.

At Charles Fort outside of Kinsale

Kinsale

Charles Fort

Charles Fort

Looking across to James Fort opposite

On our walk, looking back towards Kinsale

Views on the walk

Fresh fish at the English Market

On arrival in Cork, about 8am Saturday morning

Cold Enough for You?! Innit!!

Our flight landed in Copenhagen, Denmark, at about 10 on Tuesday morning. Dumping our bags, we took a walk to orientate ourselves with the city (where Blue mistook the art museum for the Carlsberg brewery, much to my amusement). We spent that evening at the Christmas markets in the Tivoli amusement park - very pretty with some great mulled wine and burning coal fires to warm us in the minus 2 degree temperature. We did think, however, that the 12 pound equivalent entry fee would entitle us to some rides as well - wrong!! Each ride was about 40 kroner (6 quid), with an unlimited pass 20 quid! Copenhagen, as we found out a number of times, is not an inexpensive city.
The next day, New Years Eve, we continued our exploring of the city with the King's Garden, and the adjoining Rosenborg Slot (17th century castle). As we were walking in the gardens, music reached our ears on the wind, so we followed it to see what was happening and stumbled upon the changing of the guards ceremony (we think, or something like that). Think Buckingham Palace with a handful of people instead of massive crowds. It turned out to be much much better than that, though, as the guards and the band marched through the city, before returning to the castle. For a moment we did think we were in with a chance of sighting Mary, and got excited, but no luck. Following that, we went over to Slotsholmen, an island separated from the city centre by a canal, but being NYE most of the museums and the palace there were closed for visitors, so we retired to our room for a few beers before venturing out later. Our first stop was a pub for a few more beers, then we made our way to the lakes at the edge of the city to watch some fireworks. Copenhagen doesn't have one official fireworks display; people let off their own fireworks all night long. Often you are surrounded by noise, at times it can sound like a heap of bombs are hitting the city. All those fireworks are quite spectacular though, and we heard them going off till 2 in the morning (could have been longer, but we fell asleep).
New Years Day we slept in, and then stopped at the outdoor ice rink for some skating. Dave, however, opted out after his last experience in London, so I skated on my own. The rink was fantastic - like a massive roundabout - and at 1pm on New Years Day there was only a handful of people; plenty of room to skate and pick up some serious speed! Afterwards we headed down to check out the Little Mermaid Statue, perched on a rock looking out to sea towards Sweden.
Our final day we had our fill of Danish food - Danishes (called wienerbrod in Denmark) and smorrebrod (little open sandwiches that are just delicious). We also visited the Hans Christian Anderson museum (delightfully nostalgic) and the Carlsberg brewery, before catching our late flight back to London.
A very pleasant, although REALLY cold, New Years break. We are still excitedly planning the first half of this year and are at the point now where we are both really looking forward to coming home! Work starts back again tomorrow (boooo). Next trip will be Ireland in a few weeks time.
Hope all are having a great start to 2009.

Watching fireworks in the cold on NYE

The guards and band march through the streets

The Tivoli Xmas markets - Xmas scenes

The Tivoli Xmas markets - Xmas scenes

Entrance to the Xmas markets

The roundabout ice rink

One of the canals

Smorrebrod

The Carlsberg Visitors Centre houses the world's largest collection of beer bottles - 18,000 at last count

With the Little Mermaid statue in the background

Down at the harbour