Driving on the left side of the road was very weird at first and I was startled the 1st few times a car came at me from the right side of the road. Fortunately there were few cars on the road early in the morning while I was getting used to the driving. We had trouble finding Julia's apartment when we got to Cork. People were very eager to provide directions but somehow they didn't help much. We drove in circles for a while before Julia saw us go sailing by her building and ran down the street and flagged us down.
Cork is a city of approximately 200,000 people with a bustling downtown area with a great variety of shops, pubs and restaurants. Multiple River Lee channels bisect the city West to East; Julia's Grattan St apartment building was on Bachelor's Quay on the South bank of the river.
It was a good hotel but the shower controls were different than any we had ever seen. We felt pretty silly about not being able to turn on the water but we finally got it flowing.
Almost all the cars in Ireland are small so the parking garage had VERY narrow ramps and spaces but somehow I got the van in and out without hitting anything.
