Weâre hurrying, trying to catch a bus that wonât think twice about leaving us, and weâre hungry. We donât know if time will permit us to find a place this early in the morning. As we walk through the thick, grey mist hanging over the streets of Cork, Ireland in the wee hours of the morning, Ben and I hardly speak for fear that our hunger will begin talking to one another and will leave a nasty mark on the start of our day.
The night before we had waited too late to venture out into the city in search of dinner and ended up with late night pizza from the only place open in Cork at 10pm. We learned days before, in Dublin, that dinner is served strictly between the hours of 5:00pm-8:00pm. Thinking that we would be so lucky to stumble upon a restaurant that was open in the wee hours of the morning to serve us an Irish breakfast was but a dream. Tension ignited when, finally, our ravenous hunger could no longer stay quiet. Ben and I began a heated conversation, fueled by hunger, that had spilled over from last nightâs dinner frustration. Quickly, the tension ratcheted until weâd both bitterly relented on the fact now weâd certainly have no time to find a restaurant open to fill our growling tummies.
Weâd lost our way on our missed search for breakfast. With heavy sighs and narrowed eyes, we stomped down block after block, still no closer to the bus stop that would take us the the Blarney Castle. Angrily, I opened my bag and pulled out the tourist map given to us the day before. With glaring eyes, we scoured the map attempting to find our current position. In the background, our stomaches still moaned. After concluding that weâd simply walk towards the River Lee, knowing that if we found the river, we could find ourselves on the map, we turned the corner to the most unexpected alley. The alley started off wide, then curved and narrowed the further in you went. Thatâs when we saw the glimmer of an interior light at what looked like a miniature cafe. The outside of the cafe was painted red and read, âNo. 5 Fennâs Quayâ. I perked up, and encouraged my cynical counterpart to entertain me in walking down to the lighted window with a spark of new hope in my stomach. We began our descent into the alley as we walked from the wide street to the more narrow, curved end of the alleyway.
Just then a woman exited the cafe to set out two chairs to accompany the lonely table sitting outside. I suddenly felt as if we were intruding. It felt as if we were long-lost relatives whoâd been away, without even as much as a phone call, for much too long. As if my guilt for showing up and suddenly expecting food was going to be judged by family members who were bitter because of our long-time absence.
But to my surprise and delight the woman hurried us in with great enthusiasm ready to feed us as if we were her visiting grandchildren and sheâd been doing nothing more than waiting for our return. The restaurant owner, as she revealed herself in the first few conversational exchanges, explained that their menu would be typed up and printed later, but that she hadnât the time to do it before we arrived. And without a menu to choose from she asked us, âWhat would you like?â. My companion and I looked at each other as uncertain smiles grew on our faces. It was like being at grandmaâs house again. Waking up sleepy-eyed and plopping down into a chair to place your order for grandmaâs family-famous breakfast. And just like that, Ireland felt like home.
Stories from Ireland- Story 1: CorkÂ
 Thank you for reading. My goal is to tell stories from places all over the world that only I can tell. I could write to you about the majesty of the Blarney Castle or the enormity of the Cliffs of Moher, but thousands of people have been there and have written about that experience. The sweet stuff, the stories only I can tell, is what lies in between.
 Stories from Ireland- Story 1: Cork. Click to read. My goal is to tell stories from places all over the world that only I can tell. The sweet stuff, the stories only I can tell, is what lies in between destinations. Cork, Ireland- We're hurrying, trying to catch a bus that won't think twice about leaving us, and we're hungry.
