Written on 29th November 2014

All the best laid plans…. has so far been the theme of the trip,  from an abandoned second night in Cork to the discovery that off-season often means closed, has made for some creative and unexpected twists to the trip.

We rocked up in Cork on Friday evening and in keeping with the way the rest of the tip has panned out got ridiculously lost trying to find our hotel. The AA route planner I’d printed before leaving telling us to head up a road that simply didn’t exist. But after some directions from friendly locals and discovering the inbuilt satnav in the rental car, and around an hour and a half after leaving the airport for the 20 minute drive, we pulled up outside our accommodation.

The Belvedere Lodge was a comfortable, warm lodge on the outskirts of the city. Our room was huge with a single and double bed, but best of all the tea and coffee accompaniments were KitKats!

We ventured into the city for dinner armed with a list of places to go from the guest house owner, only to find the first place on the list was catered far more for a Friday drinking crowd than two tired girls looking for dinner. The second recommendation proved difficult to find but turned out to provide us with a delicious Mediterranean (well Turkish) feast.

The following morning we perused maps over breakfast and decided to spend the morning at Blarney Castle then the afternoon in Cork before a Saturday night in an amazing Alice in Wonderland style club we had read about. But all the best laid plans….. The lodge was booked out for Friday night so it was back to the maps.