Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Day 83: Kilkenny to Cork
August 17: Little rainy and cold today. First stop was at the 'Rock of Cashel' - where we had a look around at the castle ruins - the 12th century chapel, 13th century cathedral, round tower and graveyard too. Cashel is known as being one of the oldest medieval castles/ruins still standing in Ireland.
Then drove to Midleton to do a tour of the Jameson Irish Whisky distillery. Got to see the equipment, learn about the process and how Irish whisky is distilled three times (unlike scotch which is twice and bourbon which is once), and how it's different to other alcohols. Got to taste it too but it didn't tickle my fancy.
In the afternoon, we saw Cove (also known as Cobh (Irish name) or Queenstown). This town was the last place the Titanic docked before it sank in the Atlantic Ocean. A heritage centre presented this information in an exhibition, as well as the topics of the potato famine, the huge wave of emigration to countries like USA, Canada and South Africa and how a huge number of convicts were sent to Australia. There was also a mention of the Lusitania cruise liner ship which left Cove and was then bombed by a German torpedo during WWI with all passengers dying.
Momument of these events were also evident in the main square of town.
We had some spare time to look around Cork (3rd largest city in Ireland) in the early evening, where we were staying for the night. Most of us did errands more than anything else. Our hotel was very nice, so most of us had an early night and chilled in the hotel, in anticipation of a long day tomorrow.
Then drove to Midleton to do a tour of the Jameson Irish Whisky distillery. Got to see the equipment, learn about the process and how Irish whisky is distilled three times (unlike scotch which is twice and bourbon which is once), and how it's different to other alcohols. Got to taste it too but it didn't tickle my fancy.
In the afternoon, we saw Cove (also known as Cobh (Irish name) or Queenstown). This town was the last place the Titanic docked before it sank in the Atlantic Ocean. A heritage centre presented this information in an exhibition, as well as the topics of the potato famine, the huge wave of emigration to countries like USA, Canada and South Africa and how a huge number of convicts were sent to Australia. There was also a mention of the Lusitania cruise liner ship which left Cove and was then bombed by a German torpedo during WWI with all passengers dying.
Momument of these events were also evident in the main square of town.
We had some spare time to look around Cork (3rd largest city in Ireland) in the early evening, where we were staying for the night. Most of us did errands more than anything else. Our hotel was very nice, so most of us had an early night and chilled in the hotel, in anticipation of a long day tomorrow.
# posted by mishij @ 2:38 PM 
