Church in Cork, Ireland

Ciao Bellis!

My wonderful Chasing La Bella Vita team has been fanning out across the globe to bring you travel tips from all  over!

Today CLBV team member, Tech Wizard and Wonder Scout, Pete Sobolev weighs in with his experiences traveling to Cork, Ireland!

Take it away Pete!

Stunning, Historic, Cork, Ireland

I stopped by Cork, Ireland a few days ago (for the first time) to visit one of my company’s customers, and immediately caught an infectious enthusiasm for the area from my taxi driver, who proudly pointed out sights on our drive from the airport to my hotel.

According to him, Ireland is making a resurgence after the global economic crisis of 2008 and is growing rapidly now (according to the Central Bank of Ireland, forecast GNP growth is 4.9% for 2014). As we were driving through downtown Cork, he described it as “vibrant” and I would soon see for myself that this was true.

I stayed at the River Lee hotel which offered wonderful views of the River Lee from my hotel.

The River Lee, Cork, Ireland

The hotel was situated on a main road right between the University College Cork (a top-ranked university founded in 1845 comprising about 18,000 students).

University College in Cork, Ireland

I noticed on both Tuesday and Thursday nights that a steady stream of students would start moving into the downtown area around 8pm, and noisily return around 3am! A local bartender confirmed that a lot of students would migrate to the pubs in town on those two days of the week!

Cork has a very picturesque collection of old buildings and churches.

House in Cork, Ireland

Architecture in Cork, Irealnd

Store in Cork

One of its most famous landmarks is the St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral (See photo below). It was built between 1865 and 1879 and stands on an ancient site where Christian worship has taken place continuously for over a thousand years.

Cork’s downtown area is small (Cork’s population is only 119,000) which makes it very easy to explore on foot. It has a collection of many different restaurants (the diversity of which has expanded significantly over the last few years according to a local source).

On successive evenings, I had steak, curry chicken, and an italian Chicken Cassanova! In fact, the steak there is superb because it comes from the local, grass-fed cows which you can see roaming the countryside.

Cork is the home of Murphy’s Irish Stout, and there has been ongoing lively rivalry between Murphy’s and its chief competitor Guinness. After having conducted intensive in-depth taste testing, I have to say that I do prefer the taste of Murphy’s to Guinness, probably because it reminds me of chocolate milk (there’s much less carbonation in the Murphy’s, and I tasted a definite hint of chocolate).

There’s a definite procedure involved in pouring these stout beers. The bartender starts by slowly filling the glass until it’s almost full, then letting it sit (for just about two minutes for the Guinness, a little less time for the Murphy’s), then fills it up again so the top of the head extends just a little above the rim of the glass). You can see the entire procedure here:

If you enjoy an historic place with great people, food, and fantastic beer, make Cork a part of your travel itinerary!

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