Alone on the Ring

Today dawned bright and sunny, not super common here in Ireland, and I was especially thankful because I planned to head out to Caharciveen, a little town on the Ring of Kerry.  Now, I know what you're thinking...why was sun so important and what is the Ring of Kerry?  Well, the ring is probably the most popular scenic drive in Ireland; it forms a big circle when you complete the whole drive and it's in county Kerry.  And in order to get the best views and enjoy the scenery, sunshine was essential.  Plus, I planned to do a hike which is always better without the rain. 

The day was great, the portion of the Ring of Kerry I saw truly is beautiful.  God's creation is amazing; I have definitely been reminded of that multiple times here in Ireland.  Check out the photos and videos, they're the best way for me to describe the experience.  The hike was great, I got to explore some castle ruins and I have the whole hostel to myself!  It's definitely low season as far as tourism goes.  Currently, I'm sitting in front of a little wood stove and I get to put the wood in myself!  So great!  

"A little less old"

The past couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind and I haven't had a chance to sit down and write about them.  I've visited Blarney Castle and kissed the infamous Blarney Stone (felt like I should put hand sanitizer on my mouth afterward).  Photos of that are in the Cork photo album.  I travelled to Killarney, a small town that borders a beautiful national park which I have done a bunch of great hiking in!  Just have a look at the Killarney album, the Gap of Dunloe album and the Torc Mountain album for more details on those.  I met a great Australian girl named Hannah and an equally great German girl named Monika who I hiked with today.  And randomly, I re-met the Canadian guy (Sean) I initially met in Cork.  Small world hey?  I saw him at the check in desk and was like, "Hey, haven't I met you before?"  It was fun to catch up on his recent adventures and then we went to the pub for some supper and moved onto a different pub to listen to some traditional Irish music.  I tried something called a hot whiskey which I think is whiskey mixed with hot water, cloves and lemon.  Not as bad as straight whiskey but probably still not my drink of choice; I'll stick to water.  :) At the last pub, we ran into three German ladies who are also staying at our hostel.  It was so great to watch as an older Irish gentleman tried to woo one of them to take a spin on the dance floor with him.  After they had all rebuffed him (poor Paddy, that's what I imagine his name to be), he left and then they got up and danced with each other!  Obviously, he just wasn't what they were looking for.  One of the ladies said to me in slightly broken english, "I think I might be needing one who is a little less old." 

Back amongst people

Friday was a sad and exciting day.  Sad because it was time to leave Westport, a place I had grown to like and feel comfortable in, and exciting because it was time to experience something new!  New = Cork.  Cork is the second biggest city in the republic of Ireland which means that I'm back in the land of department stores, tons of ethnic food choices and lots of people!  It also means I'm back in a hostel which has been an adjustment.  I got pretty spoiled in Westport by having my own space and my own routine, much like regular life.  Now I'm sharing a 4 bed room and having to locate my clothes in the dark (because when you're the first person up, that's just the considerate thing to do).   On the up side, I've met some nice people and even done some exploring with them.  Nice to be back among people again but challenging in the fact that I've gotten used to just being on my own and making all my own decisions.  Pros and cons....hmmm. 

Yesterday, I got out and saw the city centre, an art gallery and some historical sites.  It was a great day and I spent most of it with Sara from Italy.  She's super nice and even though she thinks her English isn't good, she does really well!  I introduced her to Subway…not quite Italian cuisine but she seemed to enjoy it. 

Today I headed out to Cobh (pronounced Cove) which is a small town about 30 minutes from Cork by train.  At one point in its history, it was called Queenstown.  Cobh is historically significant because it was the last port of call for Titanic before she took her fateful voyage.  And it’s also the site where a German u-boat torpedoed the Lusitania and a lot of people died.  The tragic thing about that story is the ship was only about 35 miles from shore and filled with civilians.  Sad.  There is a great museum detailing the history of the town which I enjoyed.  And there are a ton of historical sites throughout the town that you can see via a few different walking tours.  On my way home, I hopped off the train at Fota where there is a wildlife park and botanical gardens.  You can explore the gardens for free and even though it is November, they were still beautiful.  I had made plans with Sara to go to a pub for dinner so when I got back to the hostel we connected and decided what time to head out.  I wanted to go at 6 (being Canadian) and she wanted to go at 8 (being Italian), so we compromised and decided to go at 7.  We ended up heading out with Susan (from Australia) and Stefan (from London) and enjoyed some delicious fish and chips at a local pub.  And Susan was kind enough to let us try her locally made beer, Murphy’s.  Not as bad as I thought it would be…maybe Ireland is changing me more than I think.  After eating, we headed to another pub for some local traditional music (fiddle, Irish harp and Irish flute) and we met up with a Canadian and Australian guy who we had previously met at our hostel.  It was fun, with lots of discussion about our various countries.  Sean (from Edmonton) had some Canadian money with him and I think I got a little teary at the sight.  It was so nice to be able to chat with someone from home.  I never realize how good it is to be from Canada until I’m away.   So, all in all, a great day and my first time at an Irish pub...I'm definitely a local now.

Umbrellas made in Canada don't really cut it

One day about a week ago, the rain and I became less friendly.  Normally, I love the rain!  But when it single handedly destroys my hair (which I happened to actually do that day which is rare) and my umbrella in one fell swoop, I was definitely not feeling the love.  Here's how it went:

1. Put jacket and shoes on
2. Think to myself, "Boy, it sounds like the wind has picked up out there.  Hmmm...I'm sure it's fine.  Hey, maybe I'll try out my umbrella!"
3. Open door
4. Open umbrella and step outside
5. Bye bye umbrella! (see cause and results visual below, the whole process took about 5 seconds...I'm sure anyone watching had a pretty good laugh!)

Public libraries...helping poor travellers and educating the masses.

Hmmm…what can I tell you?  To be honest, there’s not that much noteworthy going on lately.  I celebrated my first holiday in Ireland, Halloween, but it wasn’t much different than home.  It was raining rather than snowing and no kids came to my door which was ok with me because I didn’t have any candy.  Ok, that’s not entirely true.  I did have a few mini chocolate bars, but those were definitely already reserved for someone.  J  There were fireworks randomly being shot off on Halloween night as well as the nights previous. I think that was the biggest difference, we don’t have fireworks at Halloween right?  And I did manage to carve a pumpkin which is kind of a tradition for me.  Without my stencils and tools, I was forced to rely on good old fashioned knives and creativity but little Petey turned out OK. 

Before Halloween, I moved into my new place which is actually in the town of Westport.  It’s really cute and definitely warmer than the little house, not warm, but warmer, which is an improvement.  I now sleep with two blankets rather than six.  There’s a video tour and some pictures in my “Westport Apartment” album, see the link on the right, if you want to check it out.  I’m about a twenty minute walk from the town centre and it’s nice to be able to walk to anywhere I need to go.  It’s especially nice because as of Oct 31^st, I become vehicle-less.  I dropped off the rental in Galway and took the bus back to Westport.  It was nice to let someone else do the driving for awhile, although I was beginning to like the driving here. 

Did you know that Ireland also participates in daylight savings time?  Well, they do!  And I definitely did not know.  I was saved by seeing the time on my computer on Sunday morning; Windows is smarter than me and had updated my clock automatically.  Luckily, it’s “fall back” time so I wasn’t late for anything, just extra early. 

Due to the lack of internet at my current place (and neighbors that have intelligently password protected their wireless connections), I’ve discovered the Westport Public Library where they have wireless access for anyone with a library card.  And seeing as how I just recently received my first piece of mail in Ireland (my PPS number for tax stuff), I was able to provide proof of residence and get a brand new library card for only 3 euro.  Now I’m set and yesterday I even borrowed a movie to watch, such luxury!  I did receive my GNIB card finally and because I got my PPS number in the mail, I was able to open a bank account.  Yahoo!  I’m just waiting for the debit card to arrive and then I should be good to go.  Now if only I had some money to put in it.  J 

I'm such a weirdo

Today I was at the Museum of Country Life in Castlebar.  Not a whole lot to say about this museum trip except that like the other museums I visited in Dublin, this one was also excellent!  I learned about the day to day life of Irish people in the country from 1850-1950.  There were great exhibits and some interactive stuff too.  Mostly, the memorable parts of the day were my photo taking experiences and trying not to let everyone around me see what a weirdo I am.  Check out the Castlebar album to see more.  (link on the right hand side)

Tomorrow I move into the actual town of Westport rather than about a 15 minute drive outside out it.  This will be great because I can give up my rental car but it also means no more internet at home so my updates might be a little less regular for a while.  I'm hoping to be able to connect fairly regularly so I won't be completely out of the loop.  We'll see how it goes. 

Ella's Arrival!

She has arrived! The much anticipated birth of Ella Irene happened Oct 28th in the wee small hours of the morning. Tara and Tim's news is of course much more exciting than anything that happened to me that day, even in Ireland. I'm so happy for them and am praying God will continue to guide their newly expanded family of 5. I'm sure that Elijah and Michael will have to adjust a little bit, but I know once they get used to having her around, she is sure to become the toughest little girl in the neighbourhood. :)

Just call me Little Bo Peep

Rather than write about my trek around Letterkeen Loop today, just click here to check out my video diary from the day.  Hopefully, you get a few laughs, I know I did.