Blogs from Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, Europe

We had left Waterford Castle in the morning and spend some time seeing the historical sites around Waterford as well as the Viking structures that had been left behind. Once we were satisfied we decided to head on out towards Bantry for our next B&B at the Dromcloc house. It had been raining on and off and the streets narrow we were a few miles a way when "bang" we hit a pot hole that was off to the side of the road and filled with water. It was enough though to dent both the left side tire rims and of course blow both tires. Estimated time for help was about two house. The nearest rental place was back in Cork and they had to bring a new car for us. Thankfully this all happened in ... read more

I finished the polytunnel on Monday, with a little help from Annabel and Sarah. This involved digging the remaining weeds, scrubbing the the polytunnel plastic clean, inside and out with a broom and soapy water, to allow more light to reach the plants, and planting salads whilst Annabel and Sarah planted salad seeds, broad beans, carrots and cabbages. Seeing it all completed brought a huge sense of achievement – the polytunnel had changed almost beyond recognition from when I first saw it! However, work here is never done – not only is there another polytunnel, there is a huge garden that needs attention. Monday evening was fantastic fun, the Irish musicians were great “craic”! They brought out the mandolins, flute, Barón drum and tin whistles and started a “trad” session in the kitchen, playing traditional Irish ... read more

After almost 20 hours of travelling and less than an hour’s continuous sleep, I arrived in Bantry, County Cork, South West Ireland. To make matters worse, the moment I stepped off the bus, it started raining. I wasn’t put off - from the wall I sat on I had a good view of a small harbour, which contained a few sailing boats, and the peninsula behind it. To the left of me was the town square and behind that, the colourful buildings of the town itself, including pub that obviously sold a lot of Guinness. When I turned round, I could see the mountains behind me. I decided I had come to the right place. Annabel discovered me a few minutes later; whilst I was admiring my surroundings, she had been waiting at the other bus ... read more

July 9, 2008 We had another day of great biking. We did about 75 kilometers today, but the hills while a constant companion were not as steep as yesterday. We only had to walk the bikes one time. Another Irish biking tradition we observed today was biking in the rain. Most of the afternoon it was alternating between rain and sun. The tour we are on does a very good job of keeping us on less traveled rural roads, which is nice for not a lot of traffic but the roads are hardly wide enough for one car let alone two cars meeting or a car passing a couple of people on bikes. The redeeming factor is everyone is very aware of people on bikes and they always make way for them, to the point of ... read more