Summer Soap (Episode 3): Mixed blessings as Natalie lands in Cork

The airline lost her baggage.

That wasn’t entirely true. They’d lost half her baggage, but it was the suitcase with all of her clothes in it, so as far as Natalie was concerned it may as well have been all of it.

To make matters worse, she’d flown in on a Sunday, when a good amount of the shops were closed, especially at 7pm in the evening.

When Natalie asked her hotel’s reception where she could find a toothbrush and other basics, she was told that her best bet was to try a Centra.

As soon as she dragged her suitcase stuffed with jackets and parkas through the door to her hotel room, she pulled out her phone so Google where the closest Centra was. It seemed that there was one on Oliver Plunkett Street, but she didn’t know how to get there.

It looked like she needed to walk through alleyways to get to it, but the one piece of advice she was given before flying to the city was to avoid alleyways, so that was out of the question.

She hadn’t sorted out her Irish phone plan yet, so she couldn’t access the internet outside of the hotel’s wi-fi network. She made a screenshot of the map of the city centre and used that to find her way around once she stepped outside of the hotel.

Phone and screen-shot in hand, she walked along South Mall until she turned a corner onto Grand Parade and finally found the Centra on Patrick Street, walking into the store with a sense of pride that would turn into a punchline in just three short weeks.

All it took was one night sleeping in her clothes for Natalie to decide that, despite wanting her first order of business to be looking for dorm decor, she’d have to spend her first morning in Cork looking for pyjamas, spare shirts, and other necessities.

After asking reception once again, Natalie managed to find her way to the Penneys. After buying enough clothes for a few days, she made the first of many trips back to her hotel room. Walking down the street in a new turtleneck, Natalie decided she had earned a trip to Butlers Chocolate Cafe for breakfast.

The cafe had exceeded her every expectation, especially when she learned she could get a free truffle with her croissant.

Coffee had posed a bit of a problem in the cafés of Cork city, though. Growing up on Starbucks meant that Natalie’s definition of coffee usually consisted of macchiatos and frappuccinos, neither of which were on the menu. Not wanting to hold up the line, she just ordered a latte.

Four packs of sugar in, Natalie decided she would need to find an alternative coffee order if she was going to survive. Preferably before her semester started and she’d really need it.

Despite her mixed feelings about the latte, the free chocolate had been more than enough to convince Natalie to become a repeat patron.

After breakfast, she was lucky enough to notice the Vodafone store right across from the cafe. With her phone bill sorted and internet accessible, she searched for the nearest department store.

After considering her options, Natalie opted for the Dunnes Stores. It looked like the closest one was located in Merchants Quay, and she could take the same route she did the night before to get to the Centra.

Out she went, turning right on South Mall, right again on Grand Parade, and right again onto Patrick Street. She was getting pretty good at this.

Thankfully, navigating the shopping centre was much easier with half of the stores being closed for construction. It didn’t take her long to find Dunnes Stores, but it seemed more like a grocery store than a place to shop for dorms. There wasn’t as much as she’d hoped in the way of house items. There weren’t any pillows or comforters, which she would need once her residence hall actually let her in. She did, however, manage to find a set of plates and some glasses. The cashier even found a cardboard box in the back to pack them in.

All she had to do was walk all the way back to her hotel without breaking them.

With her box of cutlery in both hands, Natalie made her way carefully onto the escalator and out onto the street she came from and hoped she could remember where she was going without her phone.

She kept a careful eye on which shops were on her side of the streets. They looked familiar, so she must have been on the right track. After a few minutes, she felt comfortable enough to look across the street to see what other...

Dunnes Stores!

There was another one!

If the window displays were any indication, that location probably carried the bulk of the household goods too.

Natalie spent the afternoon in her hotel room until she was absolutely certain the Google Maps on her phone was aware she was a person, and didn’t need to follow the same roads cars did.