Blogs from County Waterford, Ireland, Europe - page 7

Well it was a busy-ish weekend! I went to Cork with some people from work and we went to a pub and then a club. I thought it was so crowded in both locations but apparently it wasn't that busy! Bars let out at 2am and everyone just piles into the streets and heads out to find chips and other greasy foods. I would compare it to the busy-ness in the streets you'd see in Edmonton at a festival. It's pretty busy and people just spill into the roads. Saturday was spent with another food party...yummy! I made a spanakopita but there was no phyllo pastry or even frozen dough to be found anywhere in Fermoy! So I improvised and made a bread base and topping. It was tasty! We also had risotto, stuffed tomatos, stuffed ... read more

Hi all, Can't believe that I only have 2 days left in Ireland. After I last wrote to you I ended up going on a pub crawl in Dublin with other backpackers. Only 9 of us so it was a great way to meet a few other people and see some of the local pubs including Dublin's smallest pub. Had a british person leading the tour, quite typical apparently. The morning after was hilarious. I was staying in a hostel room with 10 others and we heard strange noises, I thought it was coming from the kitchen on the floor below, but one girl got up and looked out of the window. We couldn't believe what we saw. There were two trucks and 5 guys outside rolling empty kegs across the cobblestone road to get them ... read more

The following are some odd tidbits to wrap up my trip to Ireland: Things I learned in Ireland: I love being outdoors. I have been rained on in Ireland, snowed on in the Grand Canyon, had the sun shine in Alaska, survived a drought in Arizona, baked in the sun in Germany and it is all worth it because it put me closer to nature. If you are dressed right it is the best place to be. Ten to twelve days is a good length of time for a bicycling vacation. The saying "rules where meant to be broken" was written in Ireland. A year and a half ago a smoking ban was initiated in all pubs. When the pub has it's last call and closes the doors to new customers, everyone lights up. If you ... read more

On two of the previous trips to Ireland I played the typical role of tourist: fly in; hire a car; trash it by driving on the wrong side of the road; take pictures of green fields, churches and old men in tweed; drink in a pub and rush back home exhausted. One reason to extend the time here is to have the time to discover Ireland for what she really is. Not to set a heavy structure built on my assumptions of what Ireland is, but rather let Ireland reveal herself. A consequence of this 'schedule' is the fear that comes with facing so much unstructured time. Just think about all the terrible things one can learn about oneself. I am learning. Learning to let each moments reveal it's own meaning. The fear comes in the ... read more

Greetings from Cappoquin, Ireland. Situated on a right hand bend of the Blackwater River in County Waterford in the South East of Ireland. With a population of a little over 700 it can only be considered an Irish village. But don't think this is a sleepy little place were the dogs lounge in the middle of the road. There are a number of factories in town and plenty of jobs. The largest factory is Cappoquin Chickens. People are busy here. Now, make no mistake, most shops open around 10 am and close at 1 pm for lunch and again about 5 pm. This week is a big horse racing week so the pubs are full in the afternoon. And I did pass a dog lounging in the street today, but he was off to the side. ... read more