Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect €200

We were enjoying our time in Ireland a lot.

We took a coach bus from Dublin to Cork. We honestly didn't know much about Cork other than it being the second biggest city in the Republic of Ireland. The coach was so much cheaper than the train. Flights to cork were cheaper than the train as well but then you have to pay for transport to the airport. We decided that taking the coach was the best way to go. The bus ride was 3 hours long and was only 11 euros each.

The Irish countryside looked very nice.

It was such a beautiful drive. A great opportunity to listen to some music and look at the scenery.

The sun was setting just as we were arriving in Cork city.

We found Clon Ross Guest house without a problem. The room came with breakfast so we mentioned that we are vegan and they said they'd try and find us some soy milk or something so that we could have cereal in the morning.

This room was a little bigger, but the place was a little run down.

After unloading our stuff at the hotel we went out to see Cork and find somewhere to eat dinner. We used the Happy Cow app to find a place called Quay Co-op.

To get to Quay Co-op it was a 20 minute walk.

Luckily the walk was gorgeous.

River Lee

We went inside the Quay Co-op and it seemed to be just a café in a supermarket. It was strange because all the descriptions online of Quay Co-op made it sound like a full on restaurant. The food was good but we were surprised by the lack of a real restaurant. Later we would get to the bottom of this mystery.

Best sandwich I've ever had.

We looked around the market before leaving. That is a shot of the outside.

There was a Christmas fair so we went across the bridge to explore.

We went on a Ferris wheel. It was pretty scary because it was so old and wet. You could spin around in it too. We thought it was kind of sketchy. It did give us a good view of Cork at night.

The ride was quite scary.

Next we went to a glowing Christmas set up in the park.

The park was designed for children but we had fun.

Lots of the streets in Cork were decorated for Christmas. It was nice and festive.

We decided to walk around the city centre to see all the lights on the main streets.

A little over the top, but hey, it's festive

We made our way to a Wetherspoons pub called The Linen Weaver to hang out for a bit after walking around town seeing the Christmas lights and sights. We were thirsty and cold. Wetherspoons have vegan food options so they are a reliable place to go for food since they are all over Ireland and the UK.

After a couple drinks and food we made our way back to the guest house.

Cool walls. The walk back was alright but we could tell that we weren't staying in the greatest of neighbourhoods.

The next day we woke up and headed for a walk to the Cork City Gaol. Which is a prison in case that wasn't obvious. According to the brochure it is "Cork's Most Captivating Experience."

It wasn't raining very hard but the walk was 40 minutes so we got soaked.

We walked up a hill and had a great view of the city.

We continued walking...

Oh, here it is. Right in the residential area!

Inside they gave us some tickets that had our inmate numbers. It was a self guided tour and we walked around the Gaol with the aid of the maps we were given.

Some of the manikins were life like and a little scary to be shut in a room with. Being in a prison gives you some creepy vibes.

Prisoner - Thomas Raile. He was convicted of stealing books.

We locked our friend in a cell. He's trying out the bed.

Prisoner - Mary-Ann Twohig and her baby.  She was 16 and gave birth in prison.  She was convicted for stealing a cloth cap and kitchen utensils.

It was neat looking at some of the writings on the wall. Some of the writing was from political prisoners from the Irish War of Independence.

Prisoner - Henry White. He was convicted for being a con-man. His real name is James Burns.

More writing on the walls.

Prisoner - Cornelius Kelleher. Reported  as having been a notoriously bad character, repeatedly sentenced for being drunk and disorderly.

Child prisoner - Edward O'Brien. convicted for pick pocketing two brass ball cocks.

Exercise yard where prisoners walked around in silence.

After touring the prison we took a taxi back to our guest house because we were all still soaking wet. We got dry and had a nap for a bit before going out again.

We decided to go back to Quay Co-op. We went to the café and they didn't have much choices in their display case so we asked if they made sandwiches to order. The server said casually no they don't but they have more choices in the restaurant upstairs. Turns out that we missed out on going to the actual Quay Co-op restaurant on our previous visit. We were glad we came back to Quay Co-op as this time we got to try out the actual restaurant. The restaurant had some incredible food.

Tofu Thai curry with chips and veggies.

Tempeh curry with chips and veggies.

Vegan "cheesecake".

We walked through the Christmas fair again and headed back to the guest house.

Next we walked around, looked in shops, then we went back to the guest house and planned out our day for tomorrow.

The next morning we enjoyed our free breakfast, then made our way to the coach stop. We were hoping to get on a coach that was an hour earlier than the one we had already booked. They let us on and we made our way back to Dublin an hour earlier than planned.

If you enjoyed this post and want to see more of Ireland, check out our post "Don't Delay, Go to Bray, Today!"