Ireland includes 4 provinces, divided into 26 counties. So in the province of Munster, County Cork is located – it’s the second largest city in Ireland.
You’ve probably already imagined a city of a million people, full of skyscrapers and surrounded by a thousand bright lights. Forget it. The area of Cork is only 37.8 sq km. For example, the area of Moscow is 2511 square kilometers, and St. Petersburg is a little behind the capital, occupying 1439 square kilometers.
In Cork, there are only 119 thousand people, while the population of the entire country is equal to 4.904 million people.
“Family life”
I happened to live for 2 weeks there, in an ordinary Irish family, and I may destroy someone’s idea of the locals, but the Irish accent is quite understandable. We didn’t have any difficulties in understanding each other at all. Moreover, the Irish are quite friendly, cheerful and open people. Every night, we would gather downstairs for dinner, discussing our day and other pleasant things. In my host family, I didn’t feel superfluous, on the contrary, I felt like a part of it. The discovery was that the locals are not particularly steamed with cooking, setting the table with cereals, sweet pasta and toast. Dinner was quite good — usually it was pizza, French fries with ketchup, and on rare occasions lasagna.
The only disadvantage of living is the time of taking a shower. In Europe, as you know, hot water is very expensive, so there was a very noisy water heater inside the house, which excluded the possibility of washing while the owners were asleep. Thus, it was possible to go to the bathroom only in the evening, and then for no more than 20 minutes.
City
I had to get to study by bus, although to be honest, it was possible to walk on foot. Traveling by bus brought suddenly a lot of positive emotions, as from the second floor of the “red tracks”, as the local buses are called, a wonderful view of the outskirts opens.
The city is really very small, but incredibly beautiful. Small, picturesque streets evoke an indescribable sense of comfort, but the eyes of visitors are attracted not by architecture, but by a clothing store. It attracts visitors, it isn’t an assortment at all, although the things there are really high-quality and very cheap.
Of course, this isn’t the only local attraction. In Cork, you can go shopping, visit the well-known Irish park or wander around the city. During a walk, it is possible to sit down at any time to relax on the lawn, without fear of getting dirty. Relax on the lawn, enjoy the sky and breathe the fresh, Irish air, what could be better?
Ireland can also attract you with an incredible number of ancient castles, the most famous of them is Dublin Castle, founded in 1204 and still it’s the main castle of Ireland. Cair Castle is the most impregnable and best-preserved castle in the country, Cashel Rock Castle, a former royal residence. When we were there in person, we not only enjoyed the views, but also had a good time lying on the grass on the local slopes, which was also part of our tour. Killarney Castle, impresses with the incredible beauty of its territories, and especially with an incredible number of lakes of the same name.
However, castles are not the only highlights of Ireland-tame geese, that’s what really pleased tourists, more than the excursions themselves.
Other interesting animals – cows, they are found in almost all abandoned, dilapidated Irish castles. However, it is better not to get close, as you can easily get into a cow surprise.
In addition to various interesting places, I would like to mention the studying at a local school. Teachers and students feel very comfortable with each other, the chain of command is very weak, and the atmosphere is more companionable than working. However, all this doesn’t interfere with the workflow at all.
The school also hosted amazing parties held in a local nightclub, which is completely different from our school discos.
To it sum up, Ireland is a wonderful country, both for traveling and for traveling as an exchange student.
