Jack and Noodles in Eire

Jack and Noodles have left the Emerald Isle for the odors and other charms of Venice. Eire lived up to it's green reputation for them, however. Their visit was heralded by the most terrific electrical storm on Monday morning: Polly was reminded of her time in D.C. Aside from a squall or two while we were in transit, however, the weather couldn't have been nicer. Ireland's green fields sparkled.

There was some trepidation surrounding their arrival: they had a very tight window to transfer flights in Dublin for the final leg to Cork, where we were planning on meeting them. Thankfully they made it and their flight arrived twenty minutes early: put another way, we were ten minutes late. Having found each other, and happy reunion out of the way, we headed into town. Some low key sightseeing followed a pizza lunch (a place downtown has pretty decent slices, even by my standards), featuring most prominently a visit to Cork's famous English Market.

The English Market is an indoor market that traces it roots back to the early 17th century, when the traders were required to be of English extraction. Today it features an extraordinary selection of meats, produce, seafood, and other County Cork products; including fine examples of the County Cork fascination with offal. For the uninitiated, offal usually refers to the parts of an animal not fit for human consumption, the viscera. The most famous expression of this culinary interest is tripe and drisheen: the former being the stomach lining of a cow, and the latter a dark, thick sausage made from sheep's blood. Jack and Noodles each enjoyed a piece of fried black pudding (blood sausage); before they realized what it was. Slim received muttered admonitions for his efforts to broaden their culinary horizons. The present market building dates to 1786, although it received extensive rehabilitation in 1980 when a fire gutted the place. PK and I like to do a little shop-up when we're there as the market carries such a variety of imported goods as well as local product. We stocked up on Asian ingredients this time.

After any trip to a market, a pint is called for. We found a traditional pub in the city centre, where our visitors enjoyed their first Irish Guinness.

After any afternoon pints, a quick nap is called for: so we retreated to my now traditional B&B in Cork, The Blue Dolphin. For dinner we headed to Wagamama for Asian noodles. It's something else PK and I do when we visit Cork, as such repast is not easily available in Waterford. Noodles was, not surprisingly, very happy. We then capped the day with a visit to one of my favourite pubs, The Oval. Great character, better than average music, and a decent pint of Murphy's stout.

Next morning Noodles and Jack were introduced to the heart attack on a plate that is the traditional Irish fry. Jack dispatched his breakfast in a particularly expedient fashion. Thus fortified, we sat around and waited for our visitors to complete their morning routine, a surprisingly lengthy affair to be honest, before heading off to County Tipperary. But that will have to wait for another post.

Slainte!