The small town of Kinsale lies about a 15-mile drive away. However, the road between it and Cork is twisting and constricted between river and forest and thus takes a good deal longer to travel than its distance would propose. Much of the traffic and delays that people have so far complained about in the south are caused less by I-35 type traffic and more by old, narrow streets.

I walked through narrow streets without sidewalks alongside manicured houses until arriving at Charles Fort, an English star-shaped fort from the late 1600s and in use for another 250 years. There were a whole lot of 20-foot drop-offs and holes for cannons along its multi-layered walls. I'll talk about its most famous siege in 1690 in a dedicated post.

Eventually, I found myself walking through a lot of mud and, after finding myself on a 20-minute detour and in front of a threatening farmer's warning signs, climbed up cliffs and walked along the Celtic Sea. When the sun became low in the sky and I had to turn back, I took one last set of photographs or what was still ahead of me, what would probably never be explored by me. The last one was this.

Although the fort had closed an hour before, when I passed it on my long walk back the fish and chips food truck in front was still open with a crowd. I ended up with leftover time waiting for the bus. Should have tried those chips at least.