Happy Birthday to...me.

So, despite popular belief, I'm not dead in an Irish ditch somewhere. I've just been crazy busy (finally working and, well, getting old), so I haven't actually sat down and had some quality blog time. That and I had no time to "top up" my God-forsaken mobile Internet, so I went without for about a week, creating distress and worry in the heart of my poor mother. All situations remedied (minus the getting older bit), I'm back at 'er--with a vengeance.

Where to start...hmmph. Job, maybe? I did finally manage to work some Canadian charm via the Internet and secure myself a position in the "direct marketing and sales" industry..Yep, it's door-to-door. Nope, not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It's been really good for meeting new people and traveling around Cork County, so despite it being pretty exhausting, it's been a lot of fun. I love all the people at work and should finally be able to afford to go somewhere other than Ireland for a trip. Next stop? Scotland! Either way, it's nice to be off my lazy bum and actually doing something productive with my days. My new roommate moved in a couple weeks ago, and he's been a whole lot better than I imagined. I thought it would be hard having three people in our house because it's a tiny place, but he gave me a beer after work one night and chilled out with me over some tea after work the next night. Plus, Dave (the first roommate) hasn't really been around much, so it's mostly just been me and Ollie. The only downside to this arrangement is that Mr. New Tea Maker couldn't clean a dish properly to save his life. It's at the point where I'd actually just prefer it if he let them pile in the sink since I have to go back and rewash them all anyway. I did have the place to myself yesterday, so I got the house clean (and my room tidied), so we'll see how long that lasts..don't ask my mom, because she'll just tell you it's already messy again. She may or may not be right.

To celebrate my birthday in true Canadian form, my friend Jenn came to visit with a bag full of goodies--and when I say bag, I mean her checked luggage was full of Canadian food. I've got about half a jar of Cheez Whiz left, which is breaking my heart a little because I seriously don't know how I've survived this long without this plastic cheese product. Oh, the silly things you come to miss. I met Jenn in Dublin the weekend of the 19th, and we went for dinner and partying in Temple Bar. She had a North Ireland tour booked on the Monday to the Wednesday, so I went back to Cork to get some work in and take off the Thursday and Friday of my birthday to do the touristy stuff with her when she got back to my place. It worked out well because Ollie was gone to his brother's wedding in Poland, so he let me use his room for her so we didn't have to try and shove into my double bed. The weekend in Dublin was nice, despite how much I don't like that place. We managed to meet a group of Englishmen in the bar who kept us entertained for the majority of the night. We did a bit of a walking tour of Dublin the next day, venturing to the Guinness factory finally. It was definitely interesting, but I still can't bring myself to do more than use the black stuff for baking.

Jenn came to Cork Wednesday night on the train, so I met her there after work, which is right near the train station. We whipped out the Clamato juice and made some tasty midnight Caesars in celebration of my ascent into my mid-twenties. Yet another delicious Canadian treat I've been missing. We ventured to Kinsale the day of my birthday to get some tasty seafood and champagne and so that Jenn could get a taste of the small, coastal towns that make you never want to leave the Emerald Isle. We had gorgeous weather and ventured up to Charles Fort for the great view of the harbour. Friday, we headed back out to Blarney so Jenn could check out the castle and get the gift of gab. It was a great trip, mostly because we checked out the Blarney Woollen Mills shopping centre, which I hadn't been to yet. I'll definitely be heading back there before I leave the country so I can get some awesome souvenirs and Irish goodies for myself. We had big plans to go out Friday night to check out the scenery at the local pubs, but we were pretty exhausted, so we just relaxed at my place for the night in preparation for Saturday night. We went out for some of the greatest Italian food I've ever had for my birthday dinner Saturday and met up with Alan, Brian, and Alan's friend Ger at Sin E to start the birthday drinking. I also managed to meet a Californian girl at a coffee shop on my way to work one day, so I invited her out and she joined us on our way to our second bar. I quite honestly don't remember where we ended up that night--my weekends all sort of blend together. I believe we were at the Old Oak for a while, where, true to form at that place, some guy started hitting on Jenn. I think we made our way to another bar I'd never been to before. I only remember the Bulmers. Mmm.

Jenn had to go home Monday, so we got up bright and early so she could catch the train back to Dublin for her flight. While I worked all week and had a pretty good time, my poor feet suffered and I decided to take Friday off. I guess I just got way too used to sitting around doing nothing that a part of me couldn't let it go. I met Alan last night for a drink at Tom Barry's pub, which is a neat little place with a huge beer gardens in the back, but we made our way to Suas, which is a loud bar with a rooftop patio--not my favorite place to be, but Brian and their friend John were there for John's girlfriend's birthday party, so we stuck around for a drink with them. The Irish don't like to stay in one place for too long, so Brian, Alan and I made our way to another bar I'd never been to, where we met Graham and Charlotte--friends of theirs who we spent a weekend with in Roscarbery a few weeks ago. It's been an eventful few weeks, and I'm definitely looking forward to my next adventures...maybe after the World Cup is over. I'd hate to interfere with that...*cough*

Anyway, here's the link to my Facebook album if you want to check out some pics from my birthday weekend. Cheers!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=178839&id=511448357&l=ce38bebe71

As I was going over, the Cork and Kerry mountains...

Before I go into a recap of my week-long drinking binge, I need to apologize for not updating the blog sooner. I've been recovering for the last couple days and had absolutely no desire to spend the time online required to give a proper recap of the week. My cousin Lana came for a visit, so we took a 6-day all Ireland tour, which was absolutely awesome. I went up to Dublin last Friday so I could meet her at the airport Saturday morning, only to find out that the plane was delayed. So what did I do for the three hours I had to wait for the plane to arrive? What any Canadian girl living in Ireland would do--I had a pint at the airport bar. And thus commenced my drinking binge. I took Lana to the Temple Bar area of Dublin because it's basically the thing to do in Dublin. Traveling up there again reminded me of why I moved to Cork. I really don't care for Dublin, and apparently the Dublin boys were not raised to be gentlemen (you know, unlike the Cork boys. Mind you, my "gentlemanly" Cork friends may be a bit biased on that one). On Sunday, we took a bus tour of Dublin, which helped me to realize that Dublin may not be as bad as I thought it was. It was nice to explore before settling in for dinner--nice, traditional American cuisine. We ended up at T.G.I. Friday's, where I finally got some buffalo chicken wings (not like at home, but close enough that I powered through). We got up early Monday because the tour left at 8 am from the hostel, and I had a bit of a rocky start. If you've met my mother, you'll wonder how I managed what happened next, but if you've also met my father, you'll understand that I had to take after at least one of them--I left my camera in the hostel and didn't realize until I was about to get on the bus. I couldn't get back up to the room, but they took my info and sent me on my way. About half an hour into the bus ride, Joe, our driver and tour guide, got over the microphone to tell me my camera would meet me in Belfast. So, while I missed some amazing photo opportunities the first couple days, I was able to make up for it over the next four and still had Lana to take some pictures of me on the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant's Causeway. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson after that, but I was still pretty absent-minded though managed to only almost leave things behind for a few days. Feel free to pause and shake your head. Either way, we made our way to Derry in the north, stopping to see the severed, preserved head of Oliver Plunkett, and settled into our hostel for the night. The guys at the hostel put on a barbecue for us for dinner, and as any true Albertan shouldn't say, the beef here is some of the best beef I've ever had. I've eaten more burgers here than I ever did at home. We went to a pub that night with some people from the hostel and our new friends from the tour to listen to some traditional Irish music. Unfortunately, I can't remember most of it since the drinks kept on flowin'. The next morning we made our way to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant's Causeway. The bridge was absolutely amazing, but definitely not for the faint of heart. Though I may have an unnatural fear of ladders, bridges have never bothered me. Jump out of a plane with some weird French dude and a parachute attached me? Ahh, no problem! Cross an unsteady bridge made of rope overlooking some sharp rocks with waves splashing over them? Eep. I managed, though, and it was well worth it. The scenery was breathtaking and really made me want to move to a cottage by the coast. The Giant's Causeway on the other hand...I just thought it would be more impressive, I guess. It was really neat of course, but it just wasn't quite what I expected. We took a black taxi tour when we got to Belfast, which is the tour you'd take to get the history of the ongoing battle between the north and south. We got to sign the peace wall and had an informative ride around before heading for some traditional "boxty", which is a potato crepe type thing filled with meat. We headed out again with a few people from our group, but we were all pretty tired from the night before and didn't last too long. Instead of the peaceful night sleep we had planned, we were woken up by some guys yelling in the hallway. Turned out that someone had gone into the bathroom and had closed the door to the hall leading into the bathroom, despite the sign that said "Do not close this door! You will be LOCKED IN". Boy was he ever locked in. If it hadn't been so funny, we probably wouldn't have been so impressed about the rude awakening. From Belfast, we left the 3-day and 10-day tourists and continued with just the 6-dayers. Things seemed to just get better from there because we had all bonded a bit more (and I had my camera back). We headed down to Galway, stopping at the grave of W.B. Yeats (and me being the dork I am, I absolutely loved it). We stopped in a little town for lunch where we got to enjoy the ocean and marvel at the souls brave enough to venture out on surfboards in the freezing water. Galway was a really fun place and I had basically the best food I've had since I got here--why? Because the sauce on my tortellini tasted like a higher end Cheez Whiz sauce. Don't underestimate my love of orange, cheese-flavored plastic spread. We basically ended up bar hopping in Galway and somehow managed to make our way to a club with a local guy, where we partied it up inside a giant disco ball booth. Yes, I felt way too old for that but had a pretty fantastic time. I left the girls and made my roomie Gavin walk me home (because he had a key and I pretty much get lost doing anything), where I had a pretty good sleep in preparation for the part of the trip I'd been looking forward to most--The Cliffs of Moher. I really can't even explain how truly awesome it was to see them and how the pictures I got really couldn't do it justice. It's a bit unfortunate that I couldn't take more pictures of the scenery as we drove, but fortunately for us, we had a wonderfully fun bus driver who kept us entertained with songs, history, and, well, just the sound of the Irish accent of course. We made our way to the hostel on the Dingle peninsula, which was pretty isolated and attached to a bar. The only stipulation for the night? Karaoke! As anyone who knows me well enough would know, I'm as tone deaf as they come but never hesitate to show off. I teamed up with my new Canadian friend, Andrea, and the two Aussie girls (who I absolutely adore), Hannah and Jodie, and we belted out some Bryan Adams, Summer of '69. These girls plus Gavin and Lana made my roomies for the rest of the trip, and we had way too much fun. After Dingle (where I hopped on Fungie the Dolphin's statue--you know, being the classy Canadian broad that I am), we made our way to Killarney for a carriage ride and more heavy drinking. We ended up in a dorm with 14 beds, but at that point, I was so exhausted and used to sleeping around other people that I managed to sleep through the night. It was our last night with the group, which was really sad because we'd all made some really great friends. So, we partied it up and managed to get Dana and Jim to come out a bit more than they had. They were a 50-ish couple from Virginia who turned out to be bloody hilarious. We had a lot of fun with them and Pierre, who was the French Canadian guy we had picked up half-way through our trip. It was a nice send off before heading to Blarney in the morning. My friend Tanisha was visiting from Scotland, so Lana and I decided to end our trip before heading back to Dublin, partially because I didn't want to make that 4.5 hour bus trip back to Cork after spending the day traveling there. Since I'd already kissed the stone, I figured I didn't need any more gift of gab and watched as the hungover girls I was with attempted not to grace the stone with some stomach contents. Joe dropped us off on the side of a busy motorway inside the city (and unfortunately, it was the side of the city I hadn't ventured to yet). He left us saying "Follow that road down and you can get a cab on that road). Didn't seem so bad until we realized the sidewalk ended and we had to try and hail a cab on the busy motorway. We made it home and Lana was feeling the effects of the week-long binge/lack of sleep probably more than I was (because I turned in early enough most of the time...I'm definitely not 19 anymore...sigh), so she decided not to join me with Tanisha and the boys. Of course, I didn't hear from Alan until about 9:30 telling me we'd be going out at 10:30, and I certainly didn't think I was going to make it all night. I met him and John at a rooftop bar that was packed and loud, so we headed to a pub across the street to wait for Tanisha and Brian before heading to yet another pub to sit with them for a bit. I suppose where the gentleman in Cork boys comes in is where they can't stand to see us empty handed--so much for taking it easy for the night. We ended at a club where Brian's sister was with a few of her friends, and we didn't leave there until about 2:45ish. I cut myself off, from what I can remember, and we headed back to Brian's house to apparently continue with the drinking. I spent the night there and certainly wasn't going to complain because the bed was basically amazing, especially in comparison to the one I've been sleeping on for the last month. He made us all breakfast in the morning (finally some Irish sausage) before playing taxi for us. After checking out the Cork Gaol on a Cork city bus tour, Lana and I decided to go out to a pub that night, which was unfortunate because it was a Sunday and there weren't too many cute locals out where we were. I took her to Sin E, which is the pub the boys took me out to the weekend before I met Lana in Dublin. They had a live band, and Alan ended up meeting us there after a bit, so we had a nice mellow night. We took it pretty easy Monday, ordered some pizza and chilled out at my place because neither of us felt like moving much. Since last night was her last night here, I decided to take her to a place that I read was a "meat market" so that she could hopefully find a cute local to take home to mom and dad ;). We showed up at the Old Oak and it was basically empty. So much for the meat market. After sending a text or two, I found out the place would probably pick up a bit later, so we ordered a few Bulmers and waited patiently. A band came on and the place definitely filled up, so I had the duty of playing wingman. I'm horrible for scoping guys, so Lana basically pointed boys out and I took over the duty of talking to them. Leave it to me to find the one Canadian in the place. We saw the two guys talking and maybe it was the Bulmers, but we thought they were French. Turned out one of them was Columbian living in Rome and the other one was from Ottawa. We had a fun time and called it a night early enough because Lana had to be back in Dublin tonight so she could catch her flight in the morning. As we were waiting for the bus, we got grabbed around the shoulders by none other than the Columbian. The guys had taken off a bit earlier than we did because they had to be back at the hostel, so it was just sort of random to run into him. He was apparently on his way to Dublin too to catch his flight back to Rome in the morning. So, after seeing Lana off to Dublin, I headed home to relax for the night so I can get up and apply for some more jobs in the morning. Ahh, back to the routine of real life. The trip definitely helped me feel better about not being in Canada though. This place is absolutely gorgeous, and being able to "come home" to my place here helped reinforce that I have settled in. It was a really great trip and I can't wait to continue on my journey. No more drinking, though. At least until the weekend.

Oh, and I will post the link to my Facebook album again so you guys can take a look.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=169008&id=511448357&l=5ebcb2b501

Ah, crepe.

More than my lack of job, I'm hating on my blog picture uploader. We'll see how it goes. I may have to ask everyone to suck it up and check out my Facebook album.

Regardless, it was time for an update (and a change). I've been spending so much time in Cork trying to find a job, and it started to get to me. I decided to strap on my ridiculously heavy backpack and hop on a bus to a far-off (but actually super close) destination.

Kinsale is only about half an hour from Cork, but it's right on the coast and quite a bit smaller. I decided to book a hotel (complete with a pool and outdoor hot tub) and treat myself for a couple nights. The weather wasn't great on Monday when I got there, and despite my best intentions of going for a delicious seafood dinner and a chilling ghost tour of the town, I instead ate icky pub food at the hotel and spent the night in the pool (and hot tub) before retiring to my super comfy bed. This wasn't due to laziness on my part but rather that the restaurant I wanted to try closed early (and yes, I was a bit too lazy to try and find another worthwhile) and the ghost tour doesn't start until May. My night was good either way because all the hill climbing and wandering around has definitely improved my stamina (and reduced my waist). I woke up the next morning to gorgeous sun shining on the harbour, so I buggered off after breakfast and took a walking historical tour of the town. I ended up being the only one on the tour, but waiting to see if people were going to join, I managed to meet someone from Banff. Small world.

The guy who did the tour was such a nice guy and super informative. He was giving me tips about finding a job and giving me names of people to talk to. People here are so friendly. He took me to the farmer's market and left me there, so I checked it out before heading up to Desmond Casle. They had a "wine museum" which covered Irish influence on wine in the "New World". I was surprised to find that several U.S. wine names were actually Irish immigrants who had taken interest in wine-making. It's not like Ireland is well-suited for grape growing. It was interesting, and don't worry--it was a dry museum, so no midday boozin' for this little lady.

I headed back to the farmer's market, which was close by, so I could grab some lunch. The food over here is really not doing it for me. I didn't want to go into a pub (especially in the middle of the day) just to get a bite to eat and the weather was so nice that I couldn't turn down the opportunity to try some local eats. I decided to try a savoury crepe, and in hindsight, I should have gone for the sausage bun thing that smelled delicious. The crepe was definitely not what I was expecting. I thought maybe I'd get a delicious Canadian-style crepe, but I got a weird, plate-sized, hard-to-eat monstrosity that was not nearly as delicious as I had hoped. I got about three bites in and gave up.

With "lunch" out of the way, I decided I'd venture to the Charles Fort because it's a must-see in Kinsale. I read online that the walk was only about 3 km, so I thought I would enjoy the weather and take a nice, leisurely stroll. No. Such. Luck. What the internet failed to tell me was that this "stroll" was basically uphill the whole way, with a few downhill dips in the middle. I quite honestly wanted to give up about halfway through, but I was pretty pleased with myself when I made it to the Fort--you know, until I realized I had the nice trek back. Either way, the Fort was pretty nifty and gave some really gorgeous views of the town and the open sea. I got way too many pictures that won't seem to upload properly. I suppose now would be a good time to post the link? Sure.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162941&id=511448357&l=8ef15d4ac4

I really hope that works, since I'm not huge on trying to struggle with this stupid blog uploader again. I managed to get my delicious seafood dinner (complete with a glass of champagne--the real stuff) and settled back into my room. I was pretty keen on staying there because I didn't feel like I would ever walk again, but I couldn't give up the chance to go swimming again. The lukewarm tub didn't seem to do much for me after the swim, but I sat in the sauna for a solid 20 minutes, and it definitely did the trick. It was definitely nice to get away and explore a bit more of the island, but it's also nice to be back at home and back on track. Until my next adventure...

I'm Walkin' on Sunshine

A week of Cork life has passed and yes, I'm still jobless. It's been hard going from working two jobs to working zero. I've been hesitant to do too much travelling outside of Cork until I have an income, so I've been spending a lot of time on the computer applying for jobs when it's raining and heading into the downtown when it's sunny.

The weather is gorgeous right now--about 16 degrees with absolutely no wind. They're not calling for rain for the rest of the week either, which is just an awesome bonus for me. No, I'm not trying to make you guys jealous (well, maybe a little). My roommate, Dave, was going to take me on a hike with him and his girlfriend's daughter today, but he wasn't feeling well, so I ventured out on my own. I finally found the park I'd been searching for (The Lough), which is basically a huge pond with a playground nearby and footpath all around it. It was really beautiful, but because of the weather and the fact that it's the weekend, it was a little crowded. From there, I ventured to the UCC, which is the university in Cork. Sure, I may have been searching for some cute students lounging around, but I got more distracted by the beautiful campus and then remembered that any students lounging around the campus on a Sunday probably weren't my kinda guys ;).

Anyway, no luck on the job or boy sitch, but at least it's not snowing out here. I'm optimistic that I'll find work soon anyway. Sometimes you just need to enjoy your vacation a bit before settling into a job. At least I've found something else delicious to make my days go by just a little smoother...

Enjoy the photos, and I'll be sure to keep you posted if anything actually exciting happens.

The Gift of Gab

Terribly sorry for the late update. I don't have Internet at my new place yet, so I have to lug my incredibly heavy netbook to random cafes with access if I want to be online. It's generally not so bad going, but climbing the hill back up to the house is certainly enough to make me question the necessity for Internet access. Either way, things have been pretty fantastic this week (minus the job search).

I did find a place to live. The house is pretty old and not very big, but it's newly renovated, so it's clean and has a washer and dryer. Maybe shouldn't be the highlight of the house, but it is when you've had to wait three days for your jeans to dry because it rained on them after you hung them outside. My roommate's name is Dave and he's 28. I only understand him about a 1/4 of the time because he's got a thick Cork accent and talks like he's on speed. He's bloody hilarious though and such a nice a guy. He's rarely there because he stays with his girlfriend a lot. There's a 40ish Finnish guy moving in on Sunday, so we'll see how that goes. I'm sure it'll be fine (once I have Internet and can hide in my room if I have to). I may be calling home for a winter coat right away though...to lounge around the house in. Gets a bit drafty in there. Brr.

I stayed at a hostel when I got to Cork on Monday, and I managed to make a couple new friends. I overheard some girls talking about Canada, so I started chatting with them. They're from Toronto, but one of the girls, Tanisha, has been living in Edinburgh for the last five years. Somewhere to stay when I get there perhaps? I think so.

They had met a couple Irish guys who ended up driving us to the Blarney Castle the next day. I was pretty excited because I've been wanting to go kiss the Blarney Stone but really wasn't keen on going alone. The castle was pretty neat, but going up the "stairs" to get to the top of it was an experience in itself. One of the guys had been leading the way and conveniently stepped into a little room so I could be the first to go. He apparently didn't like the narrowing spiral staircase either. Of course, I had to show them how Alberta girls do it.

Tanisha and Jess left Tuesday night after we got back from Blarney, on their way to Barcelona. Yes, I was a bit jealous. Mostly because it's cold and rainy here. As per usual, I guess. I settled into my new place late Tuesday night rather than staying at the hostel again. It was so nice to be able to have a clean, hot shower in my own place. I went job searching yesterday and managed to have a few good chats with some of the managers. Hopefully by next week I will have at least a part time job. I'm not expecting much this week because of Good Friday and Easter Monday. I guess we'll see.

Not having a job has been good for my new "exercise regime" though--pretty much just walking anywhere I need to go. There are hills galore here, so it's been fun just exploring different parts of the city. Dave's girlfriend was telling me about a really beautiful Loch near the house, so I'll be going to check that out tonight or tomorrow. Gotta keep myself busy somehow, otherwise I'll have nothing to update you on.

I'm going to post my pictures from the castle here because I think it will be easier to just look at them all together. Enjoy!

Totally knackered.

Well, I finally have Internet access again (and new pictures fit for sharing). This entry may be a little longer than the last ones because so much has happened. Let's put the (b)log into chronological order!

I had very little desire to get myself out of bed on Monday. I went into Dublin with Maria at our usual 6:10 and grabbed the Luas (lrt) to the immigration office. It was pouring and being the diehard weather fan that I am, I have yet to invest in an umbrella. I made it to the immigration office to get my Garda card at 7:40 and was 76th in line. If any of you have been to a passport office at a peak time, you can visualize what this looked like. I hate to say the word 'unfortunately', but Canadians are as sickeningly polite as other nationalities have described us--at least in comparison to what I encountered at this immigration office. Pushing, outside voices, kids running around screaming--that would have been a treat. I basically just left and walked around, periodically making my way back to see how fast people were being helped. Maybe now is a good time to explain that getting this Garda card is a mandatory thing for anyone staying in the country for an extended period of time and that if you don't pay them the 150 euro, travel in and out of the country will basically not happen. Then they fine you, and I'm fine enough already. Either way, one dorky picture ID, two and a half hours' worth of twitches, and three hours later, I was onto my next task. I went to the USIT office, which is my resource centre in Dublin, and I worked on my CV so I could have them look it over in preparation for job applications. I also needed a "letter of residence" to take with me to my third task, which was applying for a PPS. I got out of there in about an hour and a half and made my way to the bus station, both my dismal, necessary tasks complete and a smile on my face.
I've been walking a lot because it's pretty much my only means of transportation. If you know me at all, you will know that I would rather take a 45 minute walk than to try and figure out the city bus schedule. Taking the bus to Arklow wasn't too bad on my own until I got off and started walking back to Maria's. Ireland has a lot of mini roundabouts, and the bus let me off at one such roundabout down the hill from Maria's. I had two roads to choose from. I was never good with probabilty and statistics, but really, what are the odds that I would choose the wrong one? If you know me at all... After climbing the giant hill and being 100% sure I was on the wrong road, I really didn't feel like turning around only to have to climb another ridiculously big hill, so I just continued on, hoping that eventually it would lead me back to a place I recognized. A walk that should have taken me 15 minutes took me about 35--no big deal. I crashed pretty hard that night in preparation for the fun to follow on Tuesday. Yes, onto the good stuff.

I got a cheap bus ticket to Cork from Dublin for Tuesday because I was so tired of walking around Dublin. Plus, being in Dublin all day meant I would be up at 5:30 every morning, and I was getting tired. I wasn't convinced I wanted to find a job in Dublin, so I asked Maria about it, and she said, "Yeah, I can see you living in Cork." A simple statement that had me convinced to hop on a bus and venture south.

Best. Idea. Ever.

I didn't book a room at the hostel or a hotel before I went because I figured I would get to Cork and get acquainted with it a bit before settling on a place to stay. Note to fellow adventurers/future Meagan: Next time you go to an unknown city with no place to stay, swap your Godforsaken 20 pound bag for an umbrella and a city map! I didn't think my bag was too heavy until it was attached to me for 3 hours as I wandered through one of the coolest cities I've ever seen. It rained pretty profusely in random intervals, so I was a little haggard when I finally settled into a hotel. I stopped at a place called Newport Bar & Bistro and had what I would consider Chef Boyardee's gourmet sauce inspiration. The food was super tasty (as was the bartender), but it tasted a bit like Chef Boyardee. I found a hotel on the internet via my mobile device, and it was near the hostels I'd been looking at, so I figured if they didn't have room, I would suck it up and share one. This probably would have been my best bet anyway but I was exhausted and wanted to treat myself to a long shower in my own bathroom. The hotel was super neat, having been built in 1810. The two pictures here are from the entrance. There's a big rock waterfall at the end where the restaurant is. I chilled out in my room for a while (with no internet and limited telly), and though I was fully prepared to just have a shower and pass out, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It took a bit of effort, but I pulled myself together long enough to venture back out of the hotel--which (again) if you know me at all--is a pretty big accomplishment in itself. I walked back across the river to the big shopping area to find a pharmacy and came back to a pub near the hotel. I wasn't really hungry, but I figured I would have a pint and go back to my room to prepare for the next day. One turned into three. The bartender started chatting with me, which led to me talking to his friends, which were sitting next to me at the bar. They were super friendly and told me to come back on the weekend because there would be about 40 of them there. Depending on how tomorrow goes, I may just come back. I need a day or so to recoup though. I definitely won't be bringing that ridiculous backpack if I come back.

Either way, I had pretty much the most fantastic shower ever, which I wasn't expecting because there was this weird quarter-door thing on the bathtub that I guess was supposed to act as the shower door? It was completely open on the top and a full half of the bathtub. Very strange. I slept like a rock, minnus the three times the radiator banged loudly when it started up--at least I hope it was the radiator...

Maria told me to check out a town called Clonakilty in West Cork, so I got a ticket there this morning after breakfast and wandered around until it left. I managed to find another SPAR with a Tim Hortons machine in it, and I'm pretty sure the guy thought I was crazy when I asked him if I could take a picture. The coffee in this one was much better than the first one and reminded me of real Tim Hortons from home. The trip to Clonakilty was about an hour, and the scenery on the way was great. The sun was out today, so I got pretty lucky when I hopped off the bus about a mile out of town. There was a footpath leading to the town, so it wasn't terrible walking along the highway. The weather was just too good for me to resist. I was told I had to try Clonakilty's famous "Black & White pudding", so I stopped in at a pub after about an hour of walking around to get a pint and some lunch. I had no idea what I was ordering, just that it was supposed to be super tasty. It was a little different, but was extremely tasty and filling. Apparently black pudding is a sausage made of pig parts (like the liver, spleen, etc) and they cook it with what I think was barley and spices and serve it with potatoes. Maybe a good thing I went in not knowing what it was? At least I wasn't surprised when I got it.

The bus back to Cork left at 3:30 and I was done lunch by 2, so I walked around for half an hour, grabbed an ice cream cone, and sat in the sun for another half an hour. I walked to the bus stop (the one going back to Cork was in town, so it wasn't a far walk) and waited patiently with my burden on my back. My one objective when I got back to the city was to find a room at a hostel. I still had my accommodation vouchers, so I was able to stay for free. Unfortunately, the hostel is at the top of a steep hill. Sigh. Nothing's ever easy, is it? I got a 4 bed dorm, which is better than the 16 bed I was expecting with my voucher. Remember when you were younger and it was so much fun to take the top bunk? It still is, and this is how sad the state of me is right now: I took the bottom bunk. Don't judge me. I'm really sore. I'm heading back to Dublin tomorrow, but I'm going to hang out in Cork in the morning for a bit. Hopefully the sun is still shining because I really don't want to be applying for jobs looking like a wet dog.

I'll try to get some pictures of St. Patrick's Street because it's incredible down there. However, given my complete lack of desire to do anything for at least a day after I get back to Arklow, you won't be updated for another few days. This should sustain you. Take care, friends. And never take your Tims for granted. Ever.