A rambunctious reunion and whirlwind tour of Cork, Ireland.

This past weekend was my first full weekend off from school, and I used the extra time to visit my sister. She’s traveling in Ireland right now, and was able to host me at an equestrian facility near Cork. After two months of Eastern German architecture, being around so much nature was a refreshing change.

Tea and a tour of the grounds.

Meeting a local.

My sister, the horse barber.

Annelise, I’m no expert…but even I know that’s not what how you feed a horse.

We had a chance to visit a nearby craft fair at Ballymaloe, an old farm that now operates primarily as a hotel.

Somehow I always find the metalworkers / druid camps.

We ate lunch at the nearby Balleymaloe Cookery School — delicious and highly recommended to anybody in the Cork area! The restaurant is very farm-to-table oriented, so they grow a lot of the food in giant gardens out back. There are chickens, cows and pigs on the property, and extra produce is sold at the store.

The “Shell House” is also on the Balleymaloe grounds. All we knew about about this one-room structure was the name, with no details on what it had to do with shells…so it was unexpectedly magical to open the door and suddenly be surrounded by thousands of sea shells.

Of course, I couldn’t visit Ireland without stopping for an obligatory pint of Guinness.

A final magical sunset. Thanks for the fun visit, Ireland! Until next time.

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