Ireland – It’s Intrigue is Irresistibly Interesting: the English Market

Hello! Thank you for joining this adventure and reading about some of our favorite, most irresistibly interesting moments in Ireland. I expect the story will speed up from here, as our trip transitioned from pleasure to business, for me.

When we checked out of our hotel in Cork City Centre on Monday morning, the front desk personnel kindly agreed to keep our bags so we could explore a bit more. We especially wanted to visit the English Market while we waited for check-in time at the other hotel, where my company had arranged for our team to stay.

From what I’d read about the English Market online, I expected an indoor cafeteria, of sorts. I thought it would be a good place to grab a cup of coffee, a baguette with sliced cheese, and maybe some fruit. What we found was intriguing, although not what I was expecting.

The English Market offers fresh meal ingredients, more than prepared food for takeout.

The English Market had all the items I was thinking of, but they were not individually sized. It was more like an elevated farmer’s market; a conglomeration of fresh, local grocery vendors. There were loaves of bread, blocks of cheese, freshly caught fish, and organically grown produce, among other things. There was a restaurant upstairs from which patrons could watch the action.

For sale at the English Market! I’m sorry if this is gruesome, but I had to laugh. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we would play dead – we’d always stick our tongues out. Did you do that?

The English Market was an incredibly interesting place to browse! And since my husband would be hanging around the hotel room while I worked the next few days, we purchased some staples for him to have on hand. We rounded out his grocery supply at the Aldi supermarket a few blocks away.

I could swear I’ve heard of Aldi in the US. But I’ve never had one near me. Does anyone have an Aldi in their town? I could be mistaken.

Cork City Centre is an easy place to “waste” time. We found a wonderful souvenir shop, a toy store, a Hallmark store, and several other things we don’t see much of anymore, where we live in the states. We got lunch and enjoyed it next to the river Lee.

Beautiful bricks and spire!

So many corner doors in Ireland!

I am a sucker for these corner doors, built into buildings on acutely angled intersections.

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Does anyone know the name of this cathedral?

Cork has many cathedrals with beautiful architecture.

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Bamboo, a good alternative to plasticware.

A creative way to sit outdoors, by the river, in any kind of weather.

It was such a beautiful day, compared to the storms the day before!

When it was time, we retrieved our luggage from the hotel and hailed a taxi. My company’s Cork office is located on Fota Island. To get there, our taxi driver drove approximately 20 minutes away from the City Centre.

It was hard to leave the English Market and everything we’d adored in the city. I didn’t know it then, but we’d be back, for an unexpected reason, at the end of the week. Stay tuned for that story.

Fota Island was completely different than Cork City Center. I correctly suspected it held new and different items of intrigue to show me about Ireland. Still, my imagination fell far short of God’s artistry! We’ll talk about that next time.

Until then, what is your favorite city you’ve ever visited? Why was it your favorite? Is it somewhere you’ve been only once or a place you’ve felt drawn to time and again? Have you ever been to the English Market or anywhere like it? God bless you, my precious friend!

Curious how this Ireland trip came about?
Click here for the introduction post.