Cork

Our stay in Cork was a short, but fabulous one. When we arrived in our hotel, we were indeed surprised. The Hayfield Manor is indeed just that. I don't know that we have ever stayed in such a beautiful, spacious hotel. It was a former estate, and we were treated like the Lord and Lady of the Manor.

While we were wandering around, we realized a wedding was going on, and we met the family - from Topeka. They and their 70 guests traveled from many parts of the US to go to the wedding . . . and the game. So this one day made up for all of the purple we had not been seeing in other towns! We met the parents of the bride and groom, talked with numerous guests, and watched the bride and groom drive away in a Rolls Royce. Spectacular.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the friendliest of reception desks we have ever encountered. We were invited to sit down, provide our credit info, have taxis ordered - whatever we needed. I am sure somewhere in our tour package we paid dearly for this, so I am glad I don't know how much it was, but it was certainly fun.

Thoughout the hotel, various libraries and sitting rooms would suddenly appear. It also housed two restaurants, one a garden room with an aviary behind it complete with homing pigeons.

Our bedroom was larger than our family room in our home in Wichita, and it came complete with a sitting area, a desk, and a putter! The bathroom not only had a shower complete with a towel warmer, it also had a claw-tub bathtub. Now, in terms of size the bathtub vwe have at the cabin is bigger, but this one certainly had the spigot and water valves that beat the rubber sprayer in ours!

After lunch, qe visited the Cathedral of the Church of Ireland, and then we decided to come back and just stay in the Manor for the rest of the day. It was just too nice to leave!