Sam Roberts - Hard Road

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Traveling is for me the best way to clear my mind. Not that I am hiding from the "real" world, but it gives me a break from the everyday duties we all have. Ireland is my second home. I think there is no better place in the world. Last time I wrote a blog, I told you how much I wished we would have miss that flight to New York. Well, in Ireland we are again. We land in Dublin almost two weeks ago already.

I decided in December that in March I would give couchsurfing a go. This is exactly what we are doing. Even though, I miss the freedom of being in a hostel and the chaos atmosphere, couchsurfing is amazing. What a great project! I should have tried it before. The people that host us last week where all different and from different age group. Some were almost 60 years, other where 30. Some were grandparents other where the only single guy of its crew. But, they were all great people who were helping us in every single way they could.

So we land in Dublin and stayed in the Isaacs Hostel for three nights. I love the place and it was good to be back. We spend some time with Sebastien and Damien. It was good to see them after four months. We visited Howth together. I do not believe we visited Dublin six times in the last two years and did not go there before. It is only 20 minutes away from Dublin by train. Give yourself a break of temple bar for a three hours coast hike. It is certainly my most appreciate day in Dublin so far.

We then move on to Kinsale. Kinsale is a small fisherman town near Cork. We were meeting our first host. Aurelien was as nice as you want your first host to be. He explains to us the basics of the project, told us where to go and spend an afternoon hiking with us. A big thank you for all you did. We had a great time with you.

Our next destination was Waterford. We were again couchsurfing. This time our host were a couple who has been married for the last 31 years. Tommy pick us up in town and drove us to his great house seven miles away from the city. We loved the experience. His kids and grand kids were at the house and I took some time to play soccer with his grandchildren. Eileen and Tommy cooked for us some delicious meals.

Our last destination before going back to Dublin for St. Patrick's week was Wexford. Wexford is a small town on the south east of Ireland. This time our host was a footballer. He picked us up in town after work and even though he had to work all week, he did is best to help us. He cooked dinner for Chloe and took me out with his friend for a night to remember. We had a great time exploring his favorite pubs and nightclub. Thanks Barry!

We are now in Dublin since Saturday. We move back to the hostel today after three days squatting Damien's apartment. We enjoy another great night out at the Porterhouse yesterday. We will take the next two days easy, resting for St. Patrick's day.

Next blog: St. Patrick's day

Nick

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