After our first week of our early start program, we all felt the need to treat ourselves. I'm taking the Marketing and Management in the European Union program, and unlike the other classes, we are on campus every day from 10-5. A day trip to the Jameson Distillery that Saturday was much needed. Jameson Whiskey was originally founded and produced in Dublin, but moved to Midleton, a small town outside of Cork, in 1976, and now every bottle is produced there. We were able to see the aging process of the whiskey and the room where all of the oak casks are currently stored while they age. Some of the whiskey has been aging for 18 years. After the tour, we got a complementary Jameson, ginger and lime drink, the traditional Irish way to drink the whiskey. It wasn't terrible, but I'm still not a fan.
The following Sunday, we took a day trip to Cobh, pronounced "Cove". Cobh was originally called Queenstown and is a coastal town just south of Cork. It was also the last call of port for the boarding of the RMS Titanic. I love anything that has to do with the Titanic and our professors have all raved about Cobh, so we thought that it was a good place to spend the day. After grabbing lunch at a restaurant on the water, we bought our tickets to tour the Titanic museum. The museum is located in the original White Star Line ticket office where passengers bought their tickets and waited to board the ship. Each person who went through the museum received a ticket with the name and information of a passenger from Queenstown. We were able to see mock set-ups of first and third class cabins, original breakfast and lunch menus, and the preserved dock where the passengers waited to board. At the end of the tour, you were able to find out the fate of your passenger. Unfortunately, my ticket belonged to a 15 year-old third class passenger who sank with the ship and who's body was never recovered. After the museum, we found the Deck of Cards, which Cobh is famous for. The Deck of Cards is a row of colorful victorian houses that line a steep street overlooking the bay. After walking around the town and touring St. Colman's Cathedral, we got some ice cream and hung out by the water where we were able to see a seal swimming right up to the edge of the seawall. Before catching our train back to Cork, we found the famous Annie Moore statue. Annie Moore was from Queenstown and is famous for being the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island in New York City.
Early the next morning, I left with my early start group for a 3 day field trip to the western part of County Cork. On the way, we drove on the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's longest coastal drive that covers 7 counties. The views were amazing and our bus driver was nice enough to pull over to let us take some pictures.
Our first company visit was the Castletownbere Fisherman's Co-op. Castletownbere is a small fishing community located on the Beara Peninsula. Afterwards, we visited Milleen's Cheese, which won the overall award at the International Cheese Awards in 1997. What made this company so impressive is that it is a family business that is ran entirely out of a small shed in their backyard. After our company tours, we headed to our hotel in Bantry and were able to walk around the town for a bit before being treated to a 3-course dinner. There was live music in the hotel bar, and we spent the night listening to the music and bonding with our professor.
The next day we toured Carbery, a much larger company than the previous two. Carbery is an international company that specializes specifically in Dubliner cheese, which is available in the states. After sampling many types of cheeses and meeting with the marketing manager, we arrived at Glenilen Farm, famous for their award winning yogurts. Glenilen Farm is also a widely successful company that is a family business ran completely out of their backyard. This was by far my favorite company visit because the owners' passion for the entire process starting from the cows to the yogurt-making was obvious. After having lunch, our professor Clare wanted to take us to Mizen Head. This was an hour south of Bantry and is the southern-most point in Ireland. On the way, we passed Barley Cove Beach where we were able to see some surfing. We spent hours climbing Mizen Head's cliffs and crossing the famous bridge. Places like that make me wonder why I live in Iowa.
The next day we toured Carbery, a much larger company than the previous two. Carbery is an international company that specializes specifically in Dubliner cheese, which is available in the states. After sampling many types of cheeses and meeting with the marketing manager, we arrived at Glenilen Farm, famous for their award winning yogurts. Glenilen Farm is also a widely successful company that is a family business ran completely out of their backyard. This was by far my favorite company visit because the owners' passion for the entire process starting from the cows to the yogurt-making was obvious. After having lunch, our professor Clare wanted to take us to Mizen Head. This was an hour south of Bantry and is the southern-most point in Ireland. On the way, we passed Barley Cove Beach where we were able to see some surfing. We spent hours climbing Mizen Head's cliffs and crossing the famous bridge. Places like that make me wonder why I live in Iowa.
On our final day, we spent the morning learning how to make chocolate at Lorge Chocolatier. This was a tiny, French chocolate shop in the countryside of Kenmare, but is known for its quality and is sold at high-end restaurants and hotels throughout Europe. We had a traditional Irish lunch at Molly Gallivan's, a 200+ year old cottage. On our way back to Cork, we explored Kenmare. When we thought we were finished with sightseeing, our bus driver surprised us and took us to the Top of Coom, the highest pub in Ireland located in County Kerry. I don't know how we didn't die driving a bus on the tiny winding roads to the top of the mountain, but somehow we made it.