The Shans spent a week on holiday in Cork earlier in the summer, a trip from which these four photos originated.

The first was taken in Cobh, a harbour town that was close to our hotel. It's a very nice place to visit, but some of the streets are VERY steep, and on our first day we were drawing towards the end of a rare Irish heatwave. This was taken halfway up a hill, at the top of which our carpark nestled. I'm not ashamed to admit that there may have been one or two rests along the way, and an awful lot of panting!! :-)

On one of the days we went to a lovely little park called Fitzgeralds Park, which features a nice, imaginative playground, some nice, imaginative sculptures, and a nice, imaginative cafe. So if you're in Cork and happen to be in a nice, imaginative mood... :-)

Just behind the park stands a bridge that wobbles quite alarmingly as you walk across it. Dante and Mrs Shan had great fun stomping across, to make it vibrate as much as it could. Gaia and I progressed more gingerly -- one of us was still feeling queasy from the heat and the climb in Cobh... :-)

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