Ballycotton

We went from Cork to Ballycotton by hitching but in order to get to the right highway we had to go to Midleton, the town that holds Jameson Whiskey distillery. Our hitching virginity was broken by a man who lived a little before Midleton, a free form mountain climber. He said he was in Switzerland and no one picked him up when he was hitching so he felt like he had a responsibility to get us. He went into Cork to get his bike chain repaired and was on his was home when he saw us...most of the car was filled with the bike but we managed to get our bodies and bags in. It was weird being in a strangers car, talking like we knew each other in some other way. He was probably in his late thirties or early forties. We told him Midleton was not the end of our hitch but that we planned on going to the coast. He said he couldn't take us because he had to return back home to the wife and kids but said he'd take us to the right direction and let us where we could easily get another ride.

After he dropped us off we analyzed what had just happened....we were a little in shock still, did we just hitchhike? Was everything okay? Yes, amazingly we had managed...all the horror stories and urban legends didn't apply to us...we weren't raped, robbed, and brutally murdered in a shed. Before we got picked up we were heavily reconsidering our plans to hitch...1) because we weren't getting picked up (even a old man on a bicycle refused us..) and 2) we were a little nervous. But now that we had such a pleasant experience our minds were on a high. We made a sign for Ballycotton and stood by the road waiting.

A man pulled over and got out to help us with out bags. "You're on the wrong highway," he said. "What?!" He was kind of right....when we got out we walked by a road going to our side and stood at a fork but we were on the wrong side of the fork... he said he wasn't going to Ballycotton but he'd take us to a town close to it. We got in and didn't talk about much, but he was a humble man in his 50s I'd say. He let us off and we went down the highway to try for another ride.

A woman in an SUV (the first I'd ridden in in Europe and one of the only I'd seen). She took us to a road that would get us very close (close enough to walk if no one wanted us) but didn't take us completely to Ballycotton. We went by a famous restaurant and culinary school, "world famous" she told us...but neither of us had heard of it. We got out and stood by the road again.

It was late and Ballycotton--being in a small rural area of countryside--had little traffic running through. We had been blowing our noses, hacking away at the mucus in our throats all day and had walked maybe 5 miles with our packs...so we looked a bit strung out. We waited about 5 minutes before someone in a van stopped. It was a husband and wife with two children in the back.

We told them what we were doing in Ballycotton and what we were doing in Ireland. "We saw you looked pretty tired so we thought we'd do you good by giving you a lift," they said. We asked where we could camp and they seemed unsure about any places. "Kind of risky on the beach or the cliffs, some drunk might find you interesting and try some fun on you. Don't really know anyone's farm you could ask...you can just stay with us, we've had travelers before." After trying to refuse the backyard for a bit and then eventually the guestroom we decided to stay with them for the night. The man had to lifeboat training so they dropped us off in town at the pub and told us they'd be back at 9.

We walked into the bar got a couple of drinks and took in the situation. Did we just find a place to stay for the night? Not just a place, a bedroom? We were still sick, so a bed was a little more than needed...we couldn't pass it up, and they were really kind and entertaining people. We planned out the next day while enjoying a pint of cider and a pint of Murphy's (Cork County's Guinness).

They picked us up and we started to get them to know each other a little better. They were a family of 6. "We had the girl and thought she needed some company, had the second and she was a girl too. Then we had the first boy and thought he would also need company and had the second boy." We found out their names though I forget now. We told them about what we were doing together and how we were really humbled by their hospitality and asked if we could repay some home but they would have none of it.

We walked in and told them we were really exhausted and needed to sleep and as soon as we laid down we were out.

The next day they took us back into Midleton so we could get a bus or hitch a ride to Youghal (our next destination).

Although we barely saw Ballycotton (mostly just the city part and the countryside...not the cliffs) we knew it was going to be one of our highlights of the trip.

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Part of trip: Europe Trip 2

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