Mum knows best, part 2

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.

Saskia

Mother knows best....part 1

Am listening to Radio Rnag, Irish radio so, don’t have a clue what they are talking about, but do like the music. And the host, John Spillane. I think he’s funny, even if I don’t understand a single word of what he is saying.

My mum visited Ireland for the very first time last week. Up to me now to write about it. It was definitely a great week. An eye opener as well. For both my mum and me. It was the first time ever we spend a week together, just the two of us. Think we both discovered things about each other, we were not aware of before. At least, I did.

Both mum and I were quite busy the week before she arrived, so the journey wasn’t prepared in detail. The general idea was to spend one night in Dublin, three in Cork and two in Killarney. And so we did.

I took the bus to Dublin on Friday morning. I definitely wanted to pick my mum up at the airport. Watched ‘Love Actually’ the week before and was therefore prepared for an emotional reunion like they do it in the movie. But went for a Cappuccino in the bar first, to get my nerves under control. Had still about fifteen minutes left, when I discovered my mums plane had already landed. Got a small panic attack, because I absolutely wanted to see my mum set foot on Irish soil for the first time. Rushed to the big automatic sandblasted sliding doors and as she didn’t appear in the next ten minutes I was really convinced I missed her. Waited another ten minutes, next to a nervy young fellow with a bouquet of roses waiting for a more romantic reunion, when my mum finally appeared. It was emotional indeed. My dad would call it “Hove’s way”(that’s the small town my mum comes from, not that different from the place my dad comes from, but nevertheless such a big issue).

It was quite late, so we immediately took the Airlink Bus to town. We were going to spend our first night in Dublin, in a hostel. Ashfield House was expensive. The room wasn’t impressive at all. Had to share it with two other women. Was a bit worried about that. But there was no need for it, as my mum didn’t snore at all….that night. Dublin was busy, very busy. We went for a quick bite in a nice, not too expensive restaurant in Talbot Street. Wanted to show her Temple Bar. I know Temple Bar is not really Irish, especially not at this time of the year. No surprise so, my mum remarked that everyone was speaking Spanish. But it was a great experience anyway. We had some pints there and got plenty of opportunity to admire Irish dress code, or the lack for it. I am already used to it, but I think my mum’s first evening out in Ireland was a bit of a culture shock. And don’t understand me wrong, it’s not as if my mum is an old fashioned, conservative housemother. My mum definitely knows what fashion is about (that’s her job after all) and she definitely knows as well how to deal with the pints. We did stay till last order and went back to Ashfield House for our first night of the holiday.

I visited Dublin a couple of times before, but never went to Kilmainham Jail so that’s where we went the next morning. After nearly three weeks without rain it was raining that Saturday. I am living in Ireland for almost six months now and so far I never met any Belgians. But it was like my mum brought half of the country with her last week. First on my way to Dublin on the bus, in front of me a Flemish girl with her mother (a “midlife crisis one”, wearing a K-way, too short and definitely too tight cycling pants and sports shoes). And five minutes after the tour in the Jail started, I suddenly realised we were actually surrounded by Belgian, Flemish speaking people. We managed to end up in a group of “Anders Reizen”, one of those organisations in Flemish-speaking Belgium, organizing “alternative holidays”. The tour itself was really interesting. James, our guide was all right looking, and definitely knew what he was talking about. It was a bit less clear for us, as we got so much information in such a short period. Did buy a History of Ireland today at Waterstones. Just give me another month and I know everything about the Easter Uprising and Irish Independence. After all, as a Master in Contemporary History, that’s exactly what people expect of me, isn’t it?

The rest of the day, we just wandered around. We went window shopping in the expensive shops of Dublin and had a tea with scone in Bewley’s, at Grafton Street. Around five we returned back to Ashfield House to pick up our luggage and took the bus down to Cork. Was prepared for a five hour long sleep, leaning against my mums shoulder, but reality turned out differently. Bus was very crowded and so we couldn’t sit next to each other. Didn’t even had a window seat. The trip was hell. The smell of fast food, candies, coffee. Some hyperactive child, crying nearly all the time in front of us. Great was my relief when around half ten we finally arrived at Parnell Place. Rain was lashing down, my mum was having some pain in her hip so we took the taxi home. Had another cup of tea and straight to bed after that. Just can’t understand one of my housemates is taking that bus nearly every weekend to see her boyfriend in Glendalough.

I love living in Cork. I had two days now to convince my mum of the city’s charms. She already gave in after an hour. My mum loooooved Cork. Despite the rain lashing down the whole Sunday. In the morning we went to the exhibition of Sebastião Salgado, named Exodus. Very impressive. One of the people working at the gallery lived in Antwerp himself for a couple of months. He loved shopping in the “Nationale Straat”. Definitely explained why this guy was dressed like three times more trendy than the average Irish guy in Cork. Even his glasses were special (I have a big issue with glasses since I live in Ireland. You who already met me, know I have a pair of black ones myself and for some reason Irish people always have to make remarks about them. Am getting really tired of it.) After the exhibition we went for a quick lunch and after that to The Old Oak, to watch the hurling match. Cork playing in the quarter finals of the All Ireland. There through. Go Cork, go Cork. Think my mum did like it. The atmosphere etc. The friendliness as well. Waterford jerseys sitting next to Cork jerseys without fighting. Back home we enjoyed a healthy salad and got dressed for a night out in Cork. Showed my mum The Lobby (R.I.P.), the legendary live music venue, closed down yesterday night and Sin E, for some great traditional sessions. Night before I slept in one of my housemates room (she was in Plymouth, for a real military ball), but as she was back had to sleep in the living room that night. On an airbed. My mum upstairs in my room. Plan for the next morning was The English Market and some shopping in the morning and maybe Cobh in the afternoon.

To be continued......have a great week

Saskia

Holiday

I am taking a holiday, to show my mum a bit of the country. We'll spend one night in Dublin, three in Cork and two in Killarney. We are dependent of public transport, so avoiding mass tourism is going to be impossible. But nevertheless I'm definitely going to enjoy the whole week.

Saskia