Sunday 7th August. It is becoming a real habit. Sunday night, early in bed with a cup of tea next to me. Listening to the radio, typing away on my laptop. Am exactly six months in Ireland now. Strange thought. Everyday from now is one less left, like a countdown. Don’t know if I’ll stay longer or just go home and try to find a job in Belgium. From today on, I better try to think about that from time to time. Have to sorted that out as soon as possible.
Had a great weekend. Didn’t do anything special during the day, but went out last night and it was great fun. Went together with Tracy and a couple of New Zealand people. They left quite early and Tracy and me closed the evening with a bunch of Scandinavian guys. Don’t have a clue what time we were kicked out off The Bailey, but we got home safely anyway. Each accompanied by a nice guy, mine was Swedish, Tracy’s Norwegian. The Swedish guy had to content himself with a good night kiss (after buying me a couple of drinks earlier), the Norwegian one was probably a bit luckier spending the night here. Will they call again?
Have to continue the report on my mum’s visit now. As said, listening to the radio, although one of my housemates music is drowning out. Gave him some of my Christy Moore cd’s. It’s always a bit weird hearing YOUR music in someone else’s room. Especially when they try to sing along.
Second day in Cork so. We were going to go to the English Market in the morning. But before that I had another important point on the agenda. A jeans. My old one is full of wholes so I definitely needed a new one. No better shopping assistant than my mum. Found one in…FCUK. Thanks mum. After a soup of the day in one of the few outdoor cafes Cork has (the weather was indeed great on Monday) direction English Market. My mum loved it. We bought some great food for the night. And had some coffee and cake upstairs. Great atmosphere. They even came around with the coffeepot, filling your cup again. As mentioned earlier, the plan was to go to Cobh in the afternoon. But my mum woke up with a serious pain in her hip the other day and wasn’t able to walk very far. She felt guilty about it. I just felt pity for her. We decided to take it easy instead and just stayed in Cork. After all, my mum loved the place. Shopped around a bit and back to the house for an aperitif in the garden. Glass of Italian wine, olives and sun dried tomatoes. Felt like being home again. Have to do that more. After an early dinner, we went upstairs for a mother-daughter evening in my room. Sitting together in my bed, watching pictures first, a movie after. Listening music. Chatting, laughing, giggling, eating chocolate (Jazus, really sounds a bit cliché, doesn’t it?). We were not really up to go out again and just stayed home so. Around eleven I just took some pillows of the couch, the ‘sleep-over-duvet’ of the house and installed for a night on the floor next to my mum, snoring away in my bed. Strengthening the family ties, that’s what my dad would call it.
I wanted to give my mum a good impression of what Ireland is about and after Dublin and Cork I was going to take her for two nights to Killarney. I booked a room in Bloom Slieve Manor. We took the bus early on Tuesday morning. The guesthouse was definitely all right. A big room with a double and a single bed (left my mum the honour to occupy the double one), clean bathroom, tea and coffee making facilities and television. We went to Killarney town first, to gather some information on renting a bike, bus tours etc. Don’t know if one of you readers is planning to go to Killarney, but if so be cautious not making the same mistake we made. There is a big Tourist Information Office in Killarney. And there is a Tourist Information Centre. The last one, that’s were we ended up first. It’s not what it pretends to be. We should have noticed from the very first moment we entered. Two old ladies sitting behind a desk. They certainly gave us the impression not having left that desk for the last thirty years. Wearing the type of blouses probably fashioned enough in the seventies. They were not there for pleasure. They were there to sell ignorant, naïve tourists a ticket for their bus tour on the Ring of Kerry. So, still not realizing we were not in the real Tourist Information Office we went to the desk and start asking one of the ladies about the possibilities of cycling the Ring of Kerry. Booking us for a bus tour, that was what they had in mind. Understandable they advised against cycling. Not in words but using a much stronger kind of communication, body language indeed. I had been in Killarney once before. Together with Julia. Suddenly remembered her showing me the Tourist Information Office. Somewhere on a corner. Near a big square. So thanked the lady politely and dragged my mum outside. Mum, this is not the real Tourist Information Office, there must be another one. Which we found eventually. Having the information we needed, we decided to go for an exploring walk at the lakes around Muckross House on Tuesday and a big cycling tour the next day.
Had a great weekend. Didn’t do anything special during the day, but went out last night and it was great fun. Went together with Tracy and a couple of New Zealand people. They left quite early and Tracy and me closed the evening with a bunch of Scandinavian guys. Don’t have a clue what time we were kicked out off The Bailey, but we got home safely anyway. Each accompanied by a nice guy, mine was Swedish, Tracy’s Norwegian. The Swedish guy had to content himself with a good night kiss (after buying me a couple of drinks earlier), the Norwegian one was probably a bit luckier spending the night here. Will they call again?
Have to continue the report on my mum’s visit now. As said, listening to the radio, although one of my housemates music is drowning out. Gave him some of my Christy Moore cd’s. It’s always a bit weird hearing YOUR music in someone else’s room. Especially when they try to sing along.
Second day in Cork so. We were going to go to the English Market in the morning. But before that I had another important point on the agenda. A jeans. My old one is full of wholes so I definitely needed a new one. No better shopping assistant than my mum. Found one in…FCUK. Thanks mum. After a soup of the day in one of the few outdoor cafes Cork has (the weather was indeed great on Monday) direction English Market. My mum loved it. We bought some great food for the night. And had some coffee and cake upstairs. Great atmosphere. They even came around with the coffeepot, filling your cup again. As mentioned earlier, the plan was to go to Cobh in the afternoon. But my mum woke up with a serious pain in her hip the other day and wasn’t able to walk very far. She felt guilty about it. I just felt pity for her. We decided to take it easy instead and just stayed in Cork. After all, my mum loved the place. Shopped around a bit and back to the house for an aperitif in the garden. Glass of Italian wine, olives and sun dried tomatoes. Felt like being home again. Have to do that more. After an early dinner, we went upstairs for a mother-daughter evening in my room. Sitting together in my bed, watching pictures first, a movie after. Listening music. Chatting, laughing, giggling, eating chocolate (Jazus, really sounds a bit cliché, doesn’t it?). We were not really up to go out again and just stayed home so. Around eleven I just took some pillows of the couch, the ‘sleep-over-duvet’ of the house and installed for a night on the floor next to my mum, snoring away in my bed. Strengthening the family ties, that’s what my dad would call it.
I wanted to give my mum a good impression of what Ireland is about and after Dublin and Cork I was going to take her for two nights to Killarney. I booked a room in Bloom Slieve Manor. We took the bus early on Tuesday morning. The guesthouse was definitely all right. A big room with a double and a single bed (left my mum the honour to occupy the double one), clean bathroom, tea and coffee making facilities and television. We went to Killarney town first, to gather some information on renting a bike, bus tours etc. Don’t know if one of you readers is planning to go to Killarney, but if so be cautious not making the same mistake we made. There is a big Tourist Information Office in Killarney. And there is a Tourist Information Centre. The last one, that’s were we ended up first. It’s not what it pretends to be. We should have noticed from the very first moment we entered. Two old ladies sitting behind a desk. They certainly gave us the impression not having left that desk for the last thirty years. Wearing the type of blouses probably fashioned enough in the seventies. They were not there for pleasure. They were there to sell ignorant, naïve tourists a ticket for their bus tour on the Ring of Kerry. So, still not realizing we were not in the real Tourist Information Office we went to the desk and start asking one of the ladies about the possibilities of cycling the Ring of Kerry. Booking us for a bus tour, that was what they had in mind. Understandable they advised against cycling. Not in words but using a much stronger kind of communication, body language indeed. I had been in Killarney once before. Together with Julia. Suddenly remembered her showing me the Tourist Information Office. Somewhere on a corner. Near a big square. So thanked the lady politely and dragged my mum outside. Mum, this is not the real Tourist Information Office, there must be another one. Which we found eventually. Having the information we needed, we decided to go for an exploring walk at the lakes around Muckross House on Tuesday and a big cycling tour the next day.
Saskia
