Cork, Ireland

I originally travelled to Cork for 2 reasons. 1) To hear the famous Cork accent; and 2) because Galway's hostels were all booked for Friday night. I ended up not being so impressed by the accent (i.e. I could understand it, which meant it wasn't as thick as they said), and discovered that there are other cool things around Ireland's 2nd largest city - namely the towns of Limerick, and Blarney! They actually have a castle and village named Blarney - and who thought of the name? The QUEEN (of England, Elizabeth I). I kissed the stone, but sadly don't feel any more articulate.