Sunsets at Ten

Hi! It's Jo. This is Week 2 of the challenge I am doing with Marian Ledesma. From June 12 to 19, I got a chance to travel to Paris and Cork with my mom and my brother (sadly, my brother had to leave before leaving to Cork because of his job). It has been 13 years since the last time I traveled a European country, which I do not remember much since I was 6 years old. Because of such reason, this trip was very special to me. I hope you enjoy my letter to Mare about my trip!

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Dear Mare,

I'm currently sitting in front of Priory Coffee Co., a coffee shop I found in Cork, Ireland, while I was walking around after lunch. Cork is very peaceful. It's fun to watch people's daily lives going by in this city. Few minutes ago, I saw a little boy with his small scooter while I was drinking my small cup of cappuccino. He was not able to make steps towards his mom who was like 100 feet away because he saw a fire truck across a bridge. It was very cute to see him getting distracted and quickly riding his scooter to catch up his mom who was in a hurry.

These are some snaps I took of the city Cork:

It's very easy to know why green is the best representative color for Ireland because green pastures are everywhere (so as sheep, goats, and cows). It's beautiful around Cork. Cork is a simple city, however, outside of Cork is filled up with greens. Yesterday, my mom and I went on a tour of Ring of Kerry. Ring of Kerry is a round trail formed to see a part of the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland. It was so beautifully green and filled up with various plants and rocks everywhere. In the beginning of the tour, we got to have a horse ride tour in Killarney National Park in Killarney, and the sceneries of Mountain Carrauntoohil and lakes at various angles were absolutely stunning. Capturing the beauty through my camera was not perfect as the beauty I see through my own eyes. During this tour, we passed by a spot that a new Star Wars movie was filmed. Apparently, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Far and Away were filmed in Kerry Country as well. Thankfully on this day, Ireland treated us well with weather. There were strong wind and few showers during the day but it could have been worse. Our horse "driver" told us that we are lucky to have such weather because Ireland is known for unpredictable weathers. Forecast has been not useful for because of such reason. However, I was grateful for that we were able to see reflections of a clear sky on lakes in front of the mountain.

Before I came to Cork, I traveled Paris with my mom and my brother for four days last week. It was my first time in Paris, and I really loved it! I liked that I only had to walk or take a public transportation to visit so many landmarks of the city. Paris is well-structured. Everything was constructed centering the Arc of Triumph and districts were formed by a spiral-roll from the center. Throughout the four days, we went to see Eiffel Tower; took a tour on Saenz River and saw Paris by night; visited several art museums like Louvre Museum, Picasso Museum, and Museum of Orsay (by the way, I am an art "geek-ish." ); walked up to the top of Arc of Triumph; went on a small shopping in Champs-Élysées. We walked a lot during this trip. We walked over 20,000 steps every single day. My feet and back were in a great pain from walking but it was so worth it. Especially when we visited Museum of Orsay where has many art pieces from Impressionist artists like Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Degas, Gauguin, Renoir, Cézanne, Pissaro, and Luce, I dragged my body in pain to see each of the paintings. All the paintings I have learned and seen on art history textbooks were in reality, and I could not be more amazed. Visits of art museums stimulated and made me want to paint again, which I should when I go back to Korea.

Food in Paris was pretty good too. I ate sandwiches at local bakeries for most of the meals in Paris, and they were probably the best sandwiches I've ever had. NO LIE! The baguette, salmon, jamón, and vegetables put in the sandwiches were so fresh (and I was always hungry from walking around...that makes them even more delicious:)) Other than sandwiches, we got chances to eat crepes, eclairs, and other desserts. With such sweet food, cups of coffee were the best friends. I drank a bunch of coffee while I was there. Most of the times, I got cappuccinos but I also tried Vienna chocolate coffee once. All of them were really smooth and thick. I CANNOT even compare them with Starbucks (gross, gross...sorry, Starbucks).

In Midnight in Paris, the movie I coincidentally watched 2 days before this trip, two main characters have a conversation about Paris,

"I can never decide whether Paris is more beautiful by day or by night." "No, you can't, you couldn't pick one. I mean I can give you a checkmate argument for each side..."

I got to see Paris by night at a ferry. The city was filled up with two colors: navy blue and yellow. Sky was dark as navy blue while all lights on buildings glowed yellow. It was pretty romantic (except that it was freeeeeezing to be outside of the ferry). However, as my personal opinion, I liked Paris by day. I could see squared-shaped trees lined along the streets at the top of Arc of Triumph, and its color assembly with clear blue sky and ivory antique urban buildings in Paris was very satisfying. During the day, I could see all the details and touches on buildings better than during the night.

Paris and Cork are very different cities. While Cork is a space to enjoy slow-walk, Paris was more faster-paced. I had to continuously be careful with my backpack or purse because of pickpockets; there are so many people, buses, cars, and taxis everywhere; people are going somewhere in a hurry. There are not significant landmarks in Cork as in Paris, however, there is a gentle peace the city gives me. But both cities' days are long since the sun sets around 10 in both France and Ireland in summer.

It has been great to spend my time with my mom and my brother through this trip. I definitely want to visit these cities again!

Love,

Jo

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Here is a link to my post of photos from Paris an Cork. Enjoy!