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!