For my first night in Ireland I stayed at a local hostel called the Aaran House in Cork.

The lady in-charge was very nice. I got the chance to talk to her for awhile. She specifically set up the hostel for students because she enjoys talk to people and learning about other places. She gave me a map of Cork along with a list of places I had to visit. 

As soon as I put my bags down I started walking. There were colors EVERYWHERE. Every shop and house is a different shade and has bright signs hanging outside declaring its purpose. Saturday must be the major shopping day because everyone and their cousin was there. It was fun listening to all the accents. I'm quickly learning that there is more than one type of accent depending on what part of Ireland they are from. 

Cork has a main street called St. Patrick way that holds most of the traditional shops and pubs.

There is an English Market tucked in the middle of it. there were open stalls with cheeses both goat and cow.   Many MANY types of meat and even a bread shop. the walking paths between the stalls was small and I quickly learned to keep moving or others would help you move along. :)  I wanted to take some photos but I quickly learned that the market is a serious business.

One of the things I love about Ireland already is that among the ordinary shows and houses are little random bits of beautiful architecture, like the stain glass door below. 

More to come soon! Hoping to set up a way to put more pictures up, I seem to have a few :)