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...