The Mork's and the Bellanti's take on Ireland!

One final down, one to go! I still can't believe how quickly the time is going by! Its almost exactly two weeks until I fly back to the States.  So many things to see and so before then!

For those of you who don't know, I am heading to Scotland today.  Just going to casually bop over to Scotland for a few days you know… My life is so cool! Even though Scotland is literally going to clean my bank account out I am pretty excited for my last European adventure for 2014.

Also, for those of you who don't know my grandparents and my great aunt and uncle were in Cork for about a week.  They stayed at a B&B right next to my school which was a pretty good location for me to walk to and pretty close to the city centre.  The B&B was awesome.  Their breakfast, which they treated me to a few times, was unbelievable.  They had a buffet of fruits and yogurt and little scones and bread, then the first course was porridge any way you want it, second course was a cooked dish like eggs benedict or an omelet or full Irish breakfast and then the staff came and asked if we wanted pancakes! I have not been that full for awhile. So that was good!

Some of the main things I did with them were:

1. Showing them around Cork.  I brought them to UCC and showed them a bit around my campus.  We went and checked out the English Market, then headed over to some O'conaills hot chocolate of course.  They wanted to see St. Finbarr's cathedral so we went there and stayed long enough to hear the organist practice a bit! My grandma really thought that was a treat because she is an organist herself! So, glad we were able to hear him play grandma :)  Last but not least we had a late lunch at the Farmgate cafe which is overlooking the English Market.

2. Visiting the Ballynatray Estate.  This was where my grandfathers great grandfather was born.  So, a distant relative for me, but the blood still flows through me! I had no idea I had any ancestors from Ireland when I picked this program so I was very happy to hear that I am a wee bit Irish after all :) Anyways, his great grandfather was probably born in a workers home because his own father and mother were employed by the people who owned the estate.  He and his father and sister emigrated to the U.S. around the time of the famine when he was about 10 years old.
This was a really special thing for my grandfather and I to share together.  We got to spend some time walking and talking together and I will cherish those moments for the rest of my life!

3. Listening to trad music at my favorite pub, An Spalpain Fanach.  John, my great uncle, told me many times after that night that it was the highlight of the trip for him! So I think they liked it :) They all got to try some real Irish beer in a real local Irish pub.  The people you will find at a place like this don't get any more Irish! At the end of the night a man got up and began to play the bagpipes.  The music literally filled the room and you could just feel that everyone was listening and appreciating his skill and the beauty of the music.  It was a real treat for me as that was the first time I have heard a bagpiper at An Spalpain!

Grandpa and Carlolyn at Ballynatray

Ballynatray Estate.  I thought that little rope swing made for a nice picture!

Dinner out

Aren't they cute? 50+ years of marriage here people. They are some incredible people!

Got to see the Atlantic Ocean!

Sharing a meals and conversations with the four of them is something I will not forget! My grandfathers sister and her husband, Carolyn and John, are really great people and it was fun to get to know them a bit better and hopefully it was fun for them to get to know me! Sharing my life in Cork and Ireland with them all was also very special.  I am glad they had a good excuse to come to Ireland and experience the culture and the people that I love so dearly.

The days I have left in Cork I can count on two hands.  I never thought this would come so quickly or would have guessed how much I would fall in love with Cork, but its here and Cork has such a hold on my heart that will make it incredibly hard to say goodbye.  BUT I have Scotland to think about for the time being and then I have to think about my last final and saying goodbye.

Next post will be Scotland! Maybe I'll see some kilts? (dad)