Hitchhiking in Ireland
I was given today off. I was determined to get somewhere without asking Antoinette or Andrew for a ride anywhere...not even into the town of Athy where the bus and train stations are. So I left on foot before anyone was up. I started walking with my iPod in my ear and a determination to walk the 7km (5 miles) into town to get the 10:00 a.m. bus to Kilkenny. About halfway there, it started to rain and I got soaked. So I decided to try my hand at hitchhiking. I mean I would pick someone up who looked like I did...soaking wet with backpack. And so I was. By a nice Irishman named Paul who worked in Athy. Well, that was easy. I was very early for the 10:00 bus so had a coffee and then just started to walk on Rt. 417 to Kilkenny. I figured someone would pick me up and another guy did. Michael. Nice guy. But was only going a short ways and would drop me off way before Kilkenny. That was great! I could continue walking and hitching. Then I got picked up by Steven (73) who was just out getting milk and a newspaper. He lived a short ways on the road to Kilkenny. His wife's name was Monica. He decided to take me past his house, further on into the town of Castlecomer where there was a bus stop going into Kilkenny about 13 km away and costing only 3 Euro. I asked him when getting home if Monica would ask him why he took so long. He said "no". I said she must be a nice wife. He said "well, no, not really". So we laughed and he let me off in Castlecomer. I walked right past the bus stop on the road to Kilkenny and continued hitching. I was then picked up by a woman (59), Marian, who was delivering flowers from her flower shop in Castlecomer to a wedding near Kilkenny. She had no problem taking me right into Kilkenny. very nice lady.
I think I'll take the bus back to Athy and hitch back to Dollardstown. My hitching experience was great but I'm not liking the looks of the sky right now. I think I'll get the 5:00 bus back to Athy.
Kilkenny was one of the loveliest town so far. I really like this town. And I just drank a pint of cider. And I and Marisa and Julia are leaving tomorrow to go up North to Canamara peninsula and Galway and the Cliffs of Moher for 3 days. We all got tip money!!!!
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Sightseeing in Ireland
Renting a car
When I learned I had 3 days off coming up and that a previous workawayer had rented a car for under 100Euro/week, I knew this was what I had to do to be able to see Ireland. Taking a bus or train can end up being too costly and you're limited to small town or city destinations. I wanted to see the picturesque peninsulas: Beara, Iveragh and Dingle.
I found that Enterprise would rent me an economy car for 47Euro for 3 days. And they would come to pick me up and drop me off upon returning.
What I got was an OPAL Diesel, 5 speed with the shifter on the left. steering on the right. I felt I had to learn how to drive all over again. And the roundabouts! Between keeping left, reading signs, shifting on the left and going through roundabouts clockwise, I knew this was going to be another personal challenge. Forget about reading maps or taking your eyes off the road a an instant. But I did it with only once forgetting and driving on the right. No incident. Just a quick reminder to stay focused on the road.
So I left from Naas, the town that rented the car and drove on the expressway to Cork and on to the beginning of the Beara Peninsula to stay the night in Kenmare. I'd met a woman who owned and operated a gluten free bakery out of her home who lived in Kenmare. She was Manuela from the market at Milltown where I went with Lorna from the Phoenix Restaurant. I called Manuela and planned to meet downtown Kenmare that night.
Kenmare is a tourist town. The main street is short and full of people going in and out of the shops and sitting on the sidewalks drinking and eating outside the cafe's. I had made a reservation for a room that night above O'Donnabhain's bar and restaurant which turned out to be a perfect location. Kenmare was a lovely town with nice restaurants and whole food grocery stores. But I was looking forward to seting out the next morning to see more of the "country" which was to be "The Beara Peninsula".
I was up and out at 7 a.m. which proved to be very wise as people in Ireland don't even begin to move around until 10 or 11 a.m. There was nearly NO ONE on the road.
The one and only main road going around the Beara from north to south was for the most part a one-lane wide road with trees and brush growing into the road on both sides. This road was not traveled by buses---ever. If I was to meet a car coming in the opposite direction, I would have to stop, pull way over and wait for them to go by. The road out to the tip of the Beara was entirely like this. Apparently buses with tourists must go the southern route as the roads there were much wider as I would experience later that day.
Because I left the hotel so early (way before breakfast was served), I wanted to find a place to get a cup of coffee. Nothing. Anywhere. Which brings me to Josie's Cafe'.
I came upon a sign saying "Josie's Cafe" coffee served. Open. 7km. 7km on this road? But it did say it was open and it was getting to be 10 a.m.. All I wanted was a coffee. So the road to the left I took. Then I came upon some cows in the road just staring at me and I at them. I waited and waited. Then the farmer came up...very friendly.... and gestured me to pass as he kind of waved his cows to move over. I asked if he knew if Josie's Cafe' was open. He just proceeded to tell me how to get there. So I continued until I came upon PADDY. Quite a chatty and friendly Irishman who chuckled and said that Josie was his 'ex' and he would call over there to ask if she would serve me a cup of coffee. After about 15 minutes of conversation back and forth, I headed towards Josie's. Outside the sign said 'open'. At the door of the cafe', the sign said 'open'. But the door was locked and no one was to be found. Before getting to Josie's, I met Mary, Josie and Paddy's daughter jogging and she said to come over and she would give me a coffee. I got there before Mary so walked behind the house and found Josie hanging out laundry. She gave me coffee while I sat outside overlooking a most beautiful lake. Calla lilies, 5 feet tall, were in full bloom everywhere. It was a lovely, serene, almost deadly quiet place but apparently alive at night with dinner guests. The menu looked amazing with steaks and seafood and homemade desserts. Definitely a place I would come back to. And they had 1 B&B room to rent. I met one of Mary's granddaughters, Rachel, 6, who was too shy to speak but told Catherine, her mom to make me a pancake like she had. It was actually 2 small pancakes with strawberry jam in between. And they sent me off with a coffee to go, a scone with butter and jam, a jar of homemade strawberry jam and the filled pancake. I was happy to have met a very nice Irish family with the friendliness that makes me want to go back.
So off I went back to the main road only to meet Paddy, waiting for me at the end of his driveway. He waved me down to ask all about myself and how I ended up in Ireland and what I was doing there. After a few minutes of this chatting, he invited me up to his house so he could show me his house and garden. What he wanted was me to come work for him as a workawayer. I said I was all booked up. Then he told me to wait 15 minutes as he wanted to talk more and take me in my car all around the Beara. I didn't know quite what to say or do. He went in to take a shower!! And shave!! I yelled in to him saying I had to leave. He said "give me 2 more minutes". So he kind of wormed his way in to my car, with his border collie, Gin, and with all the charm he could muster, and proceeded to direct me to the different out-of-the-way places on his homeland. He was very nice. Didn't ask for anything (money) and said I could drop him off at the end of the mountain road and he would call his daughter to pick him up.
When I learned I had 3 days off coming up and that a previous workawayer had rented a car for under 100Euro/week, I knew this was what I had to do to be able to see Ireland. Taking a bus or train can end up being too costly and you're limited to small town or city destinations. I wanted to see the picturesque peninsulas: Beara, Iveragh and Dingle.
I found that Enterprise would rent me an economy car for 47Euro for 3 days. And they would come to pick me up and drop me off upon returning.
What I got was an OPAL Diesel, 5 speed with the shifter on the left. steering on the right. I felt I had to learn how to drive all over again. And the roundabouts! Between keeping left, reading signs, shifting on the left and going through roundabouts clockwise, I knew this was going to be another personal challenge. Forget about reading maps or taking your eyes off the road a an instant. But I did it with only once forgetting and driving on the right. No incident. Just a quick reminder to stay focused on the road.
So I left from Naas, the town that rented the car and drove on the expressway to Cork and on to the beginning of the Beara Peninsula to stay the night in Kenmare. I'd met a woman who owned and operated a gluten free bakery out of her home who lived in Kenmare. She was Manuela from the market at Milltown where I went with Lorna from the Phoenix Restaurant. I called Manuela and planned to meet downtown Kenmare that night.
Kenmare is a tourist town. The main street is short and full of people going in and out of the shops and sitting on the sidewalks drinking and eating outside the cafe's. I had made a reservation for a room that night above O'Donnabhain's bar and restaurant which turned out to be a perfect location. Kenmare was a lovely town with nice restaurants and whole food grocery stores. But I was looking forward to seting out the next morning to see more of the "country" which was to be "The Beara Peninsula".
I was up and out at 7 a.m. which proved to be very wise as people in Ireland don't even begin to move around until 10 or 11 a.m. There was nearly NO ONE on the road.
The one and only main road going around the Beara from north to south was for the most part a one-lane wide road with trees and brush growing into the road on both sides. This road was not traveled by buses---ever. If I was to meet a car coming in the opposite direction, I would have to stop, pull way over and wait for them to go by. The road out to the tip of the Beara was entirely like this. Apparently buses with tourists must go the southern route as the roads there were much wider as I would experience later that day.
Because I left the hotel so early (way before breakfast was served), I wanted to find a place to get a cup of coffee. Nothing. Anywhere. Which brings me to Josie's Cafe'.
I came upon a sign saying "Josie's Cafe" coffee served. Open. 7km. 7km on this road? But it did say it was open and it was getting to be 10 a.m.. All I wanted was a coffee. So the road to the left I took. Then I came upon some cows in the road just staring at me and I at them. I waited and waited. Then the farmer came up...very friendly.... and gestured me to pass as he kind of waved his cows to move over. I asked if he knew if Josie's Cafe' was open. He just proceeded to tell me how to get there. So I continued until I came upon PADDY. Quite a chatty and friendly Irishman who chuckled and said that Josie was his 'ex' and he would call over there to ask if she would serve me a cup of coffee. After about 15 minutes of conversation back and forth, I headed towards Josie's. Outside the sign said 'open'. At the door of the cafe', the sign said 'open'. But the door was locked and no one was to be found. Before getting to Josie's, I met Mary, Josie and Paddy's daughter jogging and she said to come over and she would give me a coffee. I got there before Mary so walked behind the house and found Josie hanging out laundry. She gave me coffee while I sat outside overlooking a most beautiful lake. Calla lilies, 5 feet tall, were in full bloom everywhere. It was a lovely, serene, almost deadly quiet place but apparently alive at night with dinner guests. The menu looked amazing with steaks and seafood and homemade desserts. Definitely a place I would come back to. And they had 1 B&B room to rent. I met one of Mary's granddaughters, Rachel, 6, who was too shy to speak but told Catherine, her mom to make me a pancake like she had. It was actually 2 small pancakes with strawberry jam in between. And they sent me off with a coffee to go, a scone with butter and jam, a jar of homemade strawberry jam and the filled pancake. I was happy to have met a very nice Irish family with the friendliness that makes me want to go back.
So off I went back to the main road only to meet Paddy, waiting for me at the end of his driveway. He waved me down to ask all about myself and how I ended up in Ireland and what I was doing there. After a few minutes of this chatting, he invited me up to his house so he could show me his house and garden. What he wanted was me to come work for him as a workawayer. I said I was all booked up. Then he told me to wait 15 minutes as he wanted to talk more and take me in my car all around the Beara. I didn't know quite what to say or do. He went in to take a shower!! And shave!! I yelled in to him saying I had to leave. He said "give me 2 more minutes". So he kind of wormed his way in to my car, with his border collie, Gin, and with all the charm he could muster, and proceeded to direct me to the different out-of-the-way places on his homeland. He was very nice. Didn't ask for anything (money) and said I could drop him off at the end of the mountain road and he would call his daughter to pick him up.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Life at Dollardstown B&B
I live on the third floor in my own room. It's a very large room so space is not an issue. But there's no bathroom up there. On the second floor there are 3 lovely B&B rooms each with their own bathroom. Also there are 2 additional rooms with a shared bath. When we don't have a full house, I can use the shared bath (toilet and sink only). We are not allowed to use the tub/shower. It's only for guests. So on the first floor is a bathroom with a shower and it is used by 6 of us. It also has the washer and dryer in it. They are almost in constant use. The dryer is only used for the guest towels. Everything else is line dried.
We all seem to have jobs that we agreed we like to do. Gianni because he's the only guy workawayer helps Andrew with the lawn and splitting wood. Kerry cleans. She is better at cleaning the rooms/bathrooms probably better than anyone I will ever meet. But she will not do any gardening (weeding) or lawn mowing. Basically nothing outside. She doesn't cook either. And she won't eat anything green. No vegetables except carrots. Maureen is gone now but when she was here didn't like to do the rooms. She would cook (rarely), clean the kitchen and do gardening including splitting wood with Gianni.
I do everything. During the past 2 days I've been mowing and mowing and mowing. After I mowed myself to exhaustion, I take a shower, change clothes and bake scones for the new arrivals that day. Then I start cooking dinner for all of us. If I'm the one cooking dinner I get to say what time we eat. It is usually around 7. If Antoinette cooks, it'll be much later even though we all agree that we like eating early a lot better. The past few nights because the weather has been perfect, we take our plates outside to eat. Andrew even barbecued meat on the grill.
Tonight a new 21 yr. old is coming. Her name is Marissa. She's flying in from the Czech Republic but she's from the U.S. and has been going to school in Sweden. More on her later.
Occasionally, Andrew will work away from home, like today. He is self employed as a landscaper. Right now he's doing a job in Dublin so will be picking up Marissa at the Dublin airport. Kerry is away for 2 days taking a test in Cork for her upcoming Masters' degree program in Belgium which she'll start in Sept.
We all seem to have jobs that we agreed we like to do. Gianni because he's the only guy workawayer helps Andrew with the lawn and splitting wood. Kerry cleans. She is better at cleaning the rooms/bathrooms probably better than anyone I will ever meet. But she will not do any gardening (weeding) or lawn mowing. Basically nothing outside. She doesn't cook either. And she won't eat anything green. No vegetables except carrots. Maureen is gone now but when she was here didn't like to do the rooms. She would cook (rarely), clean the kitchen and do gardening including splitting wood with Gianni.
I do everything. During the past 2 days I've been mowing and mowing and mowing. After I mowed myself to exhaustion, I take a shower, change clothes and bake scones for the new arrivals that day. Then I start cooking dinner for all of us. If I'm the one cooking dinner I get to say what time we eat. It is usually around 7. If Antoinette cooks, it'll be much later even though we all agree that we like eating early a lot better. The past few nights because the weather has been perfect, we take our plates outside to eat. Andrew even barbecued meat on the grill.
Tonight a new 21 yr. old is coming. Her name is Marissa. She's flying in from the Czech Republic but she's from the U.S. and has been going to school in Sweden. More on her later.
Occasionally, Andrew will work away from home, like today. He is self employed as a landscaper. Right now he's doing a job in Dublin so will be picking up Marissa at the Dublin airport. Kerry is away for 2 days taking a test in Cork for her upcoming Masters' degree program in Belgium which she'll start in Sept.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Back to Dollardstown----Athy Ireland
Returning to Ireland
Before going to France, I had spent 3 days at Dollardstown B&B in Athy Ireland with my hosts Antoinette and Andrew. So when it was time to leave France and return to my next assignment, I at least knew there would be no surprises.
Monday night before leaving France I received an email from the train company SNCF stating that all trains would NOT be operating for the entire day on Wednesday, the day I had tickets to travel. I knew I had to somehow get to LaRochelle for my flight on Ryan Air by 3:00p.m. on Wed. Without a computer these changes would have been impossible. Todd agreed to take me to Limoges that day (Tuesday) so I could get a train to LaRochelle and have to spend the night in LaRochelle so I could make my flight to Dublin the following day. It is very strange that 4 out of 4 times I used the train system in France, I had 4 delays or in this case a full blown cancellation due to a train strike which according to locals happens frequently and only for 1 day.
So I said my goodbyes to Susie and Todd and Pongo at the train station in Limoges and headed to LaRochelle the coastal town that I took a real liking to on my way through when arriving in France 3 1/2 weeks earlier.
Since my plane didn't leave until 4 the next day, I had all day in LaRochelle. It happened to be market day and even though I could not get any of the wonderful produce I saw for sale, it was a pleasure just walking through the market with all the fresh seafood, cheeses, breads, veggies, fruit and clothing.The flight left as scheduled at 4 p.m. with a full flight of mostly high schoolers returning to Dublin after a weeks long holiday in France.
Andrew met me at Dublin airport and after picking up Antoinette from work at 6, we all arrived back home in Dollardstown. It was especially good to come back to a familiar home complete with 4 lovable dogs and 2 affectionate cats. I would also be meeting for the first time, Maureen from St. Louis and Gianni from Italy who were also workawayers. Kerry from Italy who was there during my last visit still remained. So for the next week we had 4 workawayers to take care of a full house that weekend with a 50th birthday party/dinner. Then the night before everyone checked in...I got sick. I spent all day Saturday in bed with a head cold like I haven't had in a very long time. Needless to say I felt very bad as to not be able to help with the party or the following cleanup. But Antoinette being the gracious person she is, made me feel not so bad.
Maureen would be leaving the following Thursday for Iceland. Gianni would be leaving on Wed. to go back home in Italy but would be returning to Dollardstown in Sept. to work.
Before going to France, I had spent 3 days at Dollardstown B&B in Athy Ireland with my hosts Antoinette and Andrew. So when it was time to leave France and return to my next assignment, I at least knew there would be no surprises.
Monday night before leaving France I received an email from the train company SNCF stating that all trains would NOT be operating for the entire day on Wednesday, the day I had tickets to travel. I knew I had to somehow get to LaRochelle for my flight on Ryan Air by 3:00p.m. on Wed. Without a computer these changes would have been impossible. Todd agreed to take me to Limoges that day (Tuesday) so I could get a train to LaRochelle and have to spend the night in LaRochelle so I could make my flight to Dublin the following day. It is very strange that 4 out of 4 times I used the train system in France, I had 4 delays or in this case a full blown cancellation due to a train strike which according to locals happens frequently and only for 1 day.
So I said my goodbyes to Susie and Todd and Pongo at the train station in Limoges and headed to LaRochelle the coastal town that I took a real liking to on my way through when arriving in France 3 1/2 weeks earlier.
Since my plane didn't leave until 4 the next day, I had all day in LaRochelle. It happened to be market day and even though I could not get any of the wonderful produce I saw for sale, it was a pleasure just walking through the market with all the fresh seafood, cheeses, breads, veggies, fruit and clothing.The flight left as scheduled at 4 p.m. with a full flight of mostly high schoolers returning to Dublin after a weeks long holiday in France.
Andrew met me at Dublin airport and after picking up Antoinette from work at 6, we all arrived back home in Dollardstown. It was especially good to come back to a familiar home complete with 4 lovable dogs and 2 affectionate cats. I would also be meeting for the first time, Maureen from St. Louis and Gianni from Italy who were also workawayers. Kerry from Italy who was there during my last visit still remained. So for the next week we had 4 workawayers to take care of a full house that weekend with a 50th birthday party/dinner. Then the night before everyone checked in...I got sick. I spent all day Saturday in bed with a head cold like I haven't had in a very long time. Needless to say I felt very bad as to not be able to help with the party or the following cleanup. But Antoinette being the gracious person she is, made me feel not so bad.
Maureen would be leaving the following Thursday for Iceland. Gianni would be leaving on Wed. to go back home in Italy but would be returning to Dollardstown in Sept. to work.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
ON MY OWN IN THE FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE
My host, Susie, was generous enough to let me take her 5 speed Fiat anywhere I wanted to go for the day on Saturday. So out came the map and she pointed out an area that she said she thought I would enjoy traveling to.
More later
More later
Monday, June 9, 2014
PARIS!
PARIS IN 2 DAYS
After realizing that going to Paris was actually in the realm of my travels and a short 3 hour train ride away, I decided to bite the bullet and go.
I haven't had the best of luck using SNCF, the train system here in France. All 3 trips I've made ended up in some kind of delay but by popular opinion the SNCF usually runs smoothly with no tie-ups. So I booked my train trip for June 2nd to Paris. People around here of course talk about going to Paris like going to a big supermarket an hours' ride from home. I knew this would probably my only chance to visit the city while on this European trip.
Being a Monday morning and the train originating much to the south of La Souterraine (my nearest train station) it ended up being very full by the time it made 3 more stops. One young girl next to me spent at least a full hour with her makeup cases laid out in front of her, putting on makeup. It was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever had to sit through.
The train left La Souterraine at 6:30 a.m. and reached Paris just before 9:30.
As soon as I got out of the very large train station at Gare D'AUSTERLITZ I was immediately on the River Seine.(SEN) All along the river are walkways and bikeways catering to the pedestrian life here. There were several bikers, walkers and runners utilizing the pathways along the river with easy access up to the main roadways where the traffic as you can imagine was very busy and fast moving. But the roads being still narrow from many years ago seemingly worked very well considering the traffic in a densely populated city. I learned that the metro system is widely used by occupants of Paris leaving no need for a car to get around and live here.
The busses are well marked and maps at every bus stop are again very well marked with the routes color-coded. The metro system also has stations throughout the city with each stop named at the entrance to the underground subway. The subways are very clean with trains arriving every few minutes. Once down into the metro system, you can get on and off as many trains needed to get to your destination. Once out of the subway station and up into the city, you must enter another ticket to re-enter the system.
A short walk along the River Seine I could see St. Michel Notre Dame. The architecture of course as with all the architecture in Paris is wonderfully amazing. The line of people emanating from the entrance, around the corner and down the street to get into the Notre Dame was too much for me to consider as I wanted to see as much of Paris in this short time as possible. Being not yet into the tourist season, there was still quite many tourists (many Asian) waiting to see this fabulous cathedral.
So onward I walked with map in hand determined to get to the Eifel Tower where I thought I wanted to spend some time just sitting and taking in all I could about just being in Paris.
Next major stop along the river was the LOUVRE. Before getting there I saw the few bridges with "pad locks" locked into the chain-linked fences lining the bridges. Thousands of people "lock" a pad lock to the bridge with the intent of locking in their love for the person they're with. I don't know when it started but it has led to many, many bridges now with the start of the pad lock fury that is well known in this city.
So... THE LOURVE... Huge, beautiful building with the famed glass pyramid in the square outside the entrance. Again I know I would need a whole day once entering the LOURVE to see all there was to see. And from talking to people I learned that certain pieces like the MONA LISA would also have many tourists in queue and the wait time could be more than I could afford to spend.
But the parks and fountains and statues and gardens around the LOURVE are well worth strolling through and just taking in all the Paris around me.
Upon exiting the area of the park around the LOURVE, in the distance I could see the peak of the Eifel Tower. So I continued my walk gazing with awe along the way all the beautiful architecture and still not able to fathom the work and hours spent in the manufacture of these 4-5 story buildings. I could imagine the luxurious apartments that these buildings held with trees and park-like settings on the penthouses of each.
Upon walking up to the Eifel Tower, the souvenir stands and tourist stands got thicker and more congested. In seeing pictures of the Eifel Tower somehow I had been picturing a much different image in my mind of what this was going to look like.
Suffice it to say, I saw the Eifel Tower, walked under it and left, not spending any time "taking it all in". I had thought there would be a park-like setting. Instead a major roadway ran under it! And tourist busses lined the pathways around it and under it also. Although I thought I wanted to go to the top of the tower so see all of the city from up high, I didn't. Now I just wanted to find my way to my hotel up near the Champ-Elysees section of the city. Being around all these tourists just made me anxious to go elsewhere. The Champ-Elyees in Paris is very much like 5th Avenue in N.Y.C. with all the major designers and stores and shopping. My hotel room was made in haste as I had not much time to get a reservation for the 1 night. So I got on to the subway and figured out that I had to change trains once to get to the nearest station to my hotel, The Hotel Paris Saint Honore', 21 Rue de Penthievre. I had it clearly marked on my map and felt sure I could find it. I got off at the right train station but went down the wrong alleyway to get out. So I was walking through this underground maze with many more trains going and coming. By the time I figured out how to get out, I had walked actually up to the next station and came out being sort of lost. I was in what looked like a whole other city but that's what Paris is like. It's all these tiny cities within the big city. I got to my hotel after walking about an hour which was just fine. The person at the desk checked me in, gave me a key to a room on the top floor, the 5th. There was a lift(elevator) that was only big enough for 1 person and maybe a small carry-on-sized suitcase. It was a very old elevator with 2 doors that closed before moving. It only went to the 4th floor. I had to walk up to the 5th. The top step of the spiral staircase was the step that went into my room. So stepping out of my room was actually stepping down on to the stairway. It was an odd shaped room with only room for a twin bed and a sink. The toilet room was down the hall a bit as well as the shower room next to the toilet room. I immediately opened the very tall windows that looked out on to the street below. It was an ok room good for 1 night. I felt lucky to have gotten any room in such short notice.
That evening I walked and walked until I just couldn't walk any more. The areas where I walked consisted of shops and Brassieres where it looked like young people met for drinks after work. Many had outside seating and everyone was dressed in beautiful professional-styled clothes.
After looking over a few menus posted on the sidewalks, I opted for a mesclun salad and 2 glasses of white wine for dinner. They serve a bowl of green olives with drinks. Tomorrow I would wake up in Paris with a whole new day of exploration ahead of me. I went back to my room, exhausted. It stayed light until 10:30 p.m.
The next morning I walked back down to the river and again all around and through the park and gardens of the LOUVRE which was closed that day because it was Tuesday. I walked on the opposite side of the river and ended up at one of two islands in the river. There were lovely apartment buildings on the island with one roadway accessing it. Within a few minutes, being the island is very small, I was again in the middle of another little city and area called the BASTILLE.
That afternoon I decided to go to the Montmartre section of Paris. I'd heard it was the highest point in Paris and I'd be able to look out over the whole city from up there. Two trains later, I was looking over Paris at a cafe' set on a hillside. This seemed like so much better than being in a crowded staircase or elevator going to the top of the Eifel Tower. I walked to the very top of Montmartre which is the name of the town in that area.(Still all part of Paris) At the very top was a huge cathedral overlooking the whole city. I was very happy I chose to come here.
Being that my train back to La Souterraine was leaving at 4:30, I thought it best to find my way to the Metro to figure which trains to take to get back the GARE (train station).
All in all it was a whirlwind 2 days but I saw a lot of Paris and if I ever come back will take more time to see a few things in more depth. I am very glad to have come to Paris!
That evening I walked and walked until I just couldn't walk any more. The areas where I walked consisted of shops and Brassieres where it looked like young people met for drinks after work. Many had outside seating and everyone was dressed in beautiful professional-styled clothes.
After looking over a few menus posted on the sidewalks, I opted for a mesclun salad and 2 glasses of white wine for dinner. They serve a bowl of green olives with drinks. Tomorrow I would wake up in Paris with a whole new day of exploration ahead of me. I went back to my room, exhausted. It stayed light until 10:30 p.m.
The next morning I walked back down to the river and again all around and through the park and gardens of the LOUVRE which was closed that day because it was Tuesday. I walked on the opposite side of the river and ended up at one of two islands in the river. There were lovely apartment buildings on the island with one roadway accessing it. Within a few minutes, being the island is very small, I was again in the middle of another little city and area called the BASTILLE.
That afternoon I decided to go to the Montmartre section of Paris. I'd heard it was the highest point in Paris and I'd be able to look out over the whole city from up there. Two trains later, I was looking over Paris at a cafe' set on a hillside. This seemed like so much better than being in a crowded staircase or elevator going to the top of the Eifel Tower. I walked to the very top of Montmartre which is the name of the town in that area.(Still all part of Paris) At the very top was a huge cathedral overlooking the whole city. I was very happy I chose to come here.
Being that my train back to La Souterraine was leaving at 4:30, I thought it best to find my way to the Metro to figure which trains to take to get back the GARE (train station).
All in all it was a whirlwind 2 days but I saw a lot of Paris and if I ever come back will take more time to see a few things in more depth. I am very glad to have come to Paris!
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
THIS AND THATS
The carpenter couldn't get here until after 10 a.m. to start work because he had to go to the post office.
Although this tiny little town of Le Grand Bourg has one restaurant (pizza), one church, one tiny grocery store and nothing else, it has 2!! hair dressers.
A friend, Clare, in the next town of Benevent has a B&B and one day last week 2 people showed up at the door with 2 donkeys for the night.
The one day that I was scheduled to travel back to Ireland, there was a one day rail strike.
That makes 4 out of 4 times I had train trouble. One trip there was an hour and a half delay because of a fallen tree on the tracks.
The trunk of a car is called "the car boot". They have car boot sales. Like tag sales to us.
To sleep late is to have a "lie in".
more later
Although this tiny little town of Le Grand Bourg has one restaurant (pizza), one church, one tiny grocery store and nothing else, it has 2!! hair dressers.
A friend, Clare, in the next town of Benevent has a B&B and one day last week 2 people showed up at the door with 2 donkeys for the night.
The one day that I was scheduled to travel back to Ireland, there was a one day rail strike.
That makes 4 out of 4 times I had train trouble. One trip there was an hour and a half delay because of a fallen tree on the tracks.
The trunk of a car is called "the car boot". They have car boot sales. Like tag sales to us.
To sleep late is to have a "lie in".
more later
Saturday, May 24, 2014
SUSIE THE MILLINER
Famous little lady
A couple of days after arriving, I noticed these wooden, round, bowl-like things in the stairway. I asked Susie what they were. That question opened up a huge repertoire of her past as a famous Milliner just outside London. She started making hats at her home which came about from taking apart a hat of her own that needed fixing. Throughout her years of designing and making hats, she owned the label SUSY KRAKOWSKY where she sold hats in London, Paris, Madrid, Milan and New York. At one time she employed over 20 people working for her and opened a shop showcasing her hats and purses. This all came about without any desire to become a famous person in the fashion industry. After working too many hours and being inundated with too many orders, she decided to sell her business and move on to reclaim her life as she knew it a few short years previous.
Her maiden name was Krakowsky from her Jewish, Polish Father who was a Physician in London after escaping Poland during WWII. Her mum was from Manchester, England where Susie was born and resided, married and had 2 children. Her decision to move to France came after living in Morocco for 6 years, 4 with Todd and wanted again to leave him and start over. Todd, after loosing his business and lots of money in England, lost all desire to do anything in his life and as Susie puts it "follows her wherever she goes" because she supports him. This July he will turn 65 and will just now be eligible for a small pension payment. Susie lived at her new home in Le Grand Bourg for 2 years before Todd came where they remain for the past 2 years together (sort of). She refers to herself as "Susie" rather than "Susy" now after her Milliner shop sold.
A couple of days after arriving, I noticed these wooden, round, bowl-like things in the stairway. I asked Susie what they were. That question opened up a huge repertoire of her past as a famous Milliner just outside London. She started making hats at her home which came about from taking apart a hat of her own that needed fixing. Throughout her years of designing and making hats, she owned the label SUSY KRAKOWSKY where she sold hats in London, Paris, Madrid, Milan and New York. At one time she employed over 20 people working for her and opened a shop showcasing her hats and purses. This all came about without any desire to become a famous person in the fashion industry. After working too many hours and being inundated with too many orders, she decided to sell her business and move on to reclaim her life as she knew it a few short years previous.
Her maiden name was Krakowsky from her Jewish, Polish Father who was a Physician in London after escaping Poland during WWII. Her mum was from Manchester, England where Susie was born and resided, married and had 2 children. Her decision to move to France came after living in Morocco for 6 years, 4 with Todd and wanted again to leave him and start over. Todd, after loosing his business and lots of money in England, lost all desire to do anything in his life and as Susie puts it "follows her wherever she goes" because she supports him. This July he will turn 65 and will just now be eligible for a small pension payment. Susie lived at her new home in Le Grand Bourg for 2 years before Todd came where they remain for the past 2 years together (sort of). She refers to herself as "Susie" rather than "Susy" now after her Milliner shop sold.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Meeting Susie and Le Grand Bourg
ARRIVING IN LAMOGES
I arrived in Limoges station at 11:00p.m., an hour late because of train problems. Todd, Susie's husband met me and we went outside where Susie was in the car waiting. Susie is going to be 64 this Sunday 05-25. She is petite with long naturally graying hair that fits her face and personality perfectly. She was easy to talk to which we did a lot of during the whole hour ride to Le Grand Bourg where she lived.
Her house in right on the main street in town where many of the houses are attached, looking like they all are one. There is an iron gate where you enter before going up the semi-circle spiral stairs to the front door. Her house is on 3 floors with 2 living rooms, a kitchen and a dining room that Todd uses as an office because that's where the printer is. But Todd doesn't work. And hasn't for about 12 years. The second floor is 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; one with a shower and sink and the other with a bathtub and a toilet. The one with the bathtub is quite large as it was a bedroom at one time. The third floor is my apartment. It's very big and has a kitchen and a bathroom. I really, really like it here.
I arrived late Saturday night on the 17th of May. The following day Susie said to take it easy, no work, just do whatever I wanted. So I walked the whole town. Took me all but 15 minutes. There was no one around. Everything was closed and very quiet. So I went to the river where there's a park and walking trails.
PONGO
Susie has a dog. She is a rescue dog from when Susie lived in Morocco for six years. Susie found poor Pongo as a pup of 5 weeks having no hair at all due to a skin disease called scabies. Susie rescued Pongo, brought her to a vet and 2 shots later, Pongo was on her way to good health and being doted on by her new mum. Susie's English so she is "MUM". Pongo's breed is unsure, looking somewhat like a Corgy/Pomeranian mix with golden, red hair. She carries around a rock most of the time in her mouth, begging you to throw another. When you do throw a new stone, no matter where it lands or whether she sees where it lands, she will scour the whole area where she thinks it landed and always come up with the stone you threw. Her smell is unbelievable. She is absolutely obsessed with rocks. And she will never give one up to you. You always have to throw a new one. She even carries one in her mouth on walks.
Being a lover of animals (unfortunate, homeless mostly), at one time Susie had 12 dogs and 40 cats, all vetted and well taken care of. Most of them lived outside on the roof tops of one of the neighbors. When Susie went outside to feed them, the cats would all come jumping down on top of and all around their savior. She was covered in cats.
When one wants to travel to another country, you must obtain a passport for each animal. That gets expensive when they must have appropriate shots and get a clean bill of health by a vet and passport stamped stating so. Susie did this for all these animals when she made the decision to move to France. After getting all her pets a passport, the woman who was buying her house in Morocco said she'd very much like to keep all these pets and possibly find good homes when she could. This woman had just sold a home in Greece with a similar house full of rescued animals and having to leave all of them to its' new owner, was duplicating her lifestyle now in Morocco. Knowing they would all be taken care of, Susie decided to go to France with her dear Pongo and wrapped up in blankets like a human baby was her very sick cat, Ted. He had an infection that the vet in Morocco could not help but Susie could not leave him and thought she could help him best by her side in France. Ted was so sick, he didn't move a bit at the airport security and was not discovered. Together they arrived at their new home in Le Grand Bourg, a three story, 100 or so year old stone house in the center of town. Unfortunately poor, sick Ted died and is buried under a rose bush in the front of their new home. Before agreeing to buy this house, she had made a ridiculous offer that was previously rejected. But 10 months after making the offer, received a letter accepting her low-balled offer. So the decision to move to France was made and off she went. After moving in, Susie went to an animal shelter "just to look", came home with 2 abandoned kittens which were bottle fed and ready for a new home. The male was named "Colen" after Collen Ferril because he was a ferule cat. His sister, Hilda was hit and killed in the road and is buried in the back of the house under a rose bush. Susie then acquired "Tripod" a three-legged cat who leg got bitten off by some family dog while in a frisky game of play. The family vetted Tripod and Susie took her so as not to cause the family dog any distress as the dog was noticeably upset at what he did to poor Tripod. So now we have a family of 4 in a newly decorated 3 story home in the heart of a once bustling but now sleepy town of Le Grand Bourg.
When Susie first noticed this house for sale, she did a quick look-see but did not inspect all there was being offered. After her offer was accepted and she arrived at the house to sign the papers, she discovered behind one closed door 2 rooms that had previously been the business of a town butcher. So there remained a walk-in cooler and 2 rooms. When asked about this little area attached to her just purchased house, she was told it was included in the sale. This was the birth of "Time for Tea" her little English tea shop. The walk-in cooler was transformed into a lavatory. Previous to this, Susie had never baked a single cake, scone or bakery product.
I arrived in Limoges station at 11:00p.m., an hour late because of train problems. Todd, Susie's husband met me and we went outside where Susie was in the car waiting. Susie is going to be 64 this Sunday 05-25. She is petite with long naturally graying hair that fits her face and personality perfectly. She was easy to talk to which we did a lot of during the whole hour ride to Le Grand Bourg where she lived.
Her house in right on the main street in town where many of the houses are attached, looking like they all are one. There is an iron gate where you enter before going up the semi-circle spiral stairs to the front door. Her house is on 3 floors with 2 living rooms, a kitchen and a dining room that Todd uses as an office because that's where the printer is. But Todd doesn't work. And hasn't for about 12 years. The second floor is 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; one with a shower and sink and the other with a bathtub and a toilet. The one with the bathtub is quite large as it was a bedroom at one time. The third floor is my apartment. It's very big and has a kitchen and a bathroom. I really, really like it here.
I arrived late Saturday night on the 17th of May. The following day Susie said to take it easy, no work, just do whatever I wanted. So I walked the whole town. Took me all but 15 minutes. There was no one around. Everything was closed and very quiet. So I went to the river where there's a park and walking trails.
PONGO
Susie has a dog. She is a rescue dog from when Susie lived in Morocco for six years. Susie found poor Pongo as a pup of 5 weeks having no hair at all due to a skin disease called scabies. Susie rescued Pongo, brought her to a vet and 2 shots later, Pongo was on her way to good health and being doted on by her new mum. Susie's English so she is "MUM". Pongo's breed is unsure, looking somewhat like a Corgy/Pomeranian mix with golden, red hair. She carries around a rock most of the time in her mouth, begging you to throw another. When you do throw a new stone, no matter where it lands or whether she sees where it lands, she will scour the whole area where she thinks it landed and always come up with the stone you threw. Her smell is unbelievable. She is absolutely obsessed with rocks. And she will never give one up to you. You always have to throw a new one. She even carries one in her mouth on walks.
Being a lover of animals (unfortunate, homeless mostly), at one time Susie had 12 dogs and 40 cats, all vetted and well taken care of. Most of them lived outside on the roof tops of one of the neighbors. When Susie went outside to feed them, the cats would all come jumping down on top of and all around their savior. She was covered in cats.
When one wants to travel to another country, you must obtain a passport for each animal. That gets expensive when they must have appropriate shots and get a clean bill of health by a vet and passport stamped stating so. Susie did this for all these animals when she made the decision to move to France. After getting all her pets a passport, the woman who was buying her house in Morocco said she'd very much like to keep all these pets and possibly find good homes when she could. This woman had just sold a home in Greece with a similar house full of rescued animals and having to leave all of them to its' new owner, was duplicating her lifestyle now in Morocco. Knowing they would all be taken care of, Susie decided to go to France with her dear Pongo and wrapped up in blankets like a human baby was her very sick cat, Ted. He had an infection that the vet in Morocco could not help but Susie could not leave him and thought she could help him best by her side in France. Ted was so sick, he didn't move a bit at the airport security and was not discovered. Together they arrived at their new home in Le Grand Bourg, a three story, 100 or so year old stone house in the center of town. Unfortunately poor, sick Ted died and is buried under a rose bush in the front of their new home. Before agreeing to buy this house, she had made a ridiculous offer that was previously rejected. But 10 months after making the offer, received a letter accepting her low-balled offer. So the decision to move to France was made and off she went. After moving in, Susie went to an animal shelter "just to look", came home with 2 abandoned kittens which were bottle fed and ready for a new home. The male was named "Colen" after Collen Ferril because he was a ferule cat. His sister, Hilda was hit and killed in the road and is buried in the back of the house under a rose bush. Susie then acquired "Tripod" a three-legged cat who leg got bitten off by some family dog while in a frisky game of play. The family vetted Tripod and Susie took her so as not to cause the family dog any distress as the dog was noticeably upset at what he did to poor Tripod. So now we have a family of 4 in a newly decorated 3 story home in the heart of a once bustling but now sleepy town of Le Grand Bourg.
When Susie first noticed this house for sale, she did a quick look-see but did not inspect all there was being offered. After her offer was accepted and she arrived at the house to sign the papers, she discovered behind one closed door 2 rooms that had previously been the business of a town butcher. So there remained a walk-in cooler and 2 rooms. When asked about this little area attached to her just purchased house, she was told it was included in the sale. This was the birth of "Time for Tea" her little English tea shop. The walk-in cooler was transformed into a lavatory. Previous to this, Susie had never baked a single cake, scone or bakery product.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Destination FRANCE
Going to La Rochelle, FRANCE
After getting confirmation from my new host Susie, that I could indeed come and stay with her in Le Grand Bourg, France until my new host will take me as scheduled in Athy, Ireland, I spent many hours online trying to find transportation from Athy to Le Grand Bourg. It all had to line up timing wise using planes, trains and busses hence the lengthy time on the computer. I found that flying from Dublin into La Rochelle, France and then taking a train to Limoges was the best way to go. Susie would then pick me up from the Limoges train station at around 10 p.m. and drive the hour trip to Le Grand Bourg.
Flying into La Rochelle afforded me with the ariel view of this beautiful coastal city on the Atlantic. I got to see miles and miles of beautiful, unpopulated beaches and left me with the idea that I might want to come back this way on my way back to Athy, Ireland and spend a day or two here instead of rushing back to Athy and the B&B.
Stepping off the plane at the tiny airport in La Rochelle was like stepping into a little piece of heaven. The sky was crystal clear blue and it was WARM. So different from the dark, gray and cold of Ireland that I had just left 2 hours ago.
At the bus stop to go to the bus station to take me to the train station in downtown La Rochelle, I met a lone traveler like myself, Caroline from Ireland who was traveling to France on a much needed week-long vacation. We exchanged travel stories and a light lunch at a cafe' across from the train station. She was my age and needed to take a break from her life of caring non-stop for her elderly parents; one with dementia. I know we will remain email pals with lots of traveling stories to exchange.
Waiting for the bus in town at the bus station gave me a glimpse at what I could do if I was able to return here for a day or two. There were lovely city bikes to rent of which I saw many on the streets going along as casually as the cars were. Definitely a bike-friendly city. In the middle of the square was a carrousel. Besides a few horses as is on most carrousels, were more unusual sitting apparatuses such as carriages and carts, all very colorfully decorated. This is a town I could be happy to just sit and watch the people go by. It reminded me a lot of Italy with its' open squares of people walking and shops under archways and apartments above. But my visit to La Rochelle was short as I was leaving soon on my way to LIMOGES!
After getting confirmation from my new host Susie, that I could indeed come and stay with her in Le Grand Bourg, France until my new host will take me as scheduled in Athy, Ireland, I spent many hours online trying to find transportation from Athy to Le Grand Bourg. It all had to line up timing wise using planes, trains and busses hence the lengthy time on the computer. I found that flying from Dublin into La Rochelle, France and then taking a train to Limoges was the best way to go. Susie would then pick me up from the Limoges train station at around 10 p.m. and drive the hour trip to Le Grand Bourg.
Flying into La Rochelle afforded me with the ariel view of this beautiful coastal city on the Atlantic. I got to see miles and miles of beautiful, unpopulated beaches and left me with the idea that I might want to come back this way on my way back to Athy, Ireland and spend a day or two here instead of rushing back to Athy and the B&B.
Stepping off the plane at the tiny airport in La Rochelle was like stepping into a little piece of heaven. The sky was crystal clear blue and it was WARM. So different from the dark, gray and cold of Ireland that I had just left 2 hours ago.
At the bus stop to go to the bus station to take me to the train station in downtown La Rochelle, I met a lone traveler like myself, Caroline from Ireland who was traveling to France on a much needed week-long vacation. We exchanged travel stories and a light lunch at a cafe' across from the train station. She was my age and needed to take a break from her life of caring non-stop for her elderly parents; one with dementia. I know we will remain email pals with lots of traveling stories to exchange.
Waiting for the bus in town at the bus station gave me a glimpse at what I could do if I was able to return here for a day or two. There were lovely city bikes to rent of which I saw many on the streets going along as casually as the cars were. Definitely a bike-friendly city. In the middle of the square was a carrousel. Besides a few horses as is on most carrousels, were more unusual sitting apparatuses such as carriages and carts, all very colorfully decorated. This is a town I could be happy to just sit and watch the people go by. It reminded me a lot of Italy with its' open squares of people walking and shops under archways and apartments above. But my visit to La Rochelle was short as I was leaving soon on my way to LIMOGES!
Sunday, May 18, 2014
KINSALE
The Desperate escape from Dunmanway
Without the internet at Sally's place, I needed to go to town and find WIFI somewhere. Sally knew I was thinking about leaving so took me into Bantry on market day (Friday) where there was a cafe' called Organico that had WIFI. I went online just long enough to see if there was a bus out of Dunmanway the following day. There was one at 9:45 and one at 11:45. I told Sally I needed a ride into town the next day to get on either busses. Much to my dismay, because I could not bear another day at her house, she decided on the latter time. All I wanted was to get out of Dunmanway. I didn't care where the bus went. It was going to Cork, a quite large city where I would just get a hotel for a night next door to the bus station and rethink this whole "work for room and board" thing.
I was sad to leave poor, ailing Sally with all her animals but I knew I had no choice. So I spent a night in Cork which was a lovely city on a river, set up much like Dublin. In fact it reminded me a lot of Dublin. I checked in to one of the last rooms available in a hotel nearest to the bus station. After I got online to start corresponding with job prospects, I started running a bath. In a very short time on the computer I was about to go and check the water in the bathroom when I looked over to see that I had flooded half the hotel room with an overflowing bath. And it was all very, very hot water. I didn't call anyone for fear they may not have another room I could move to so I just used any and all towels to mop it up and wring them out. I couldn't even wear my sneakers because the water would have seeped into them and given me wet feet. So I went barefoot on a very soggy rug.
I decided to got to Kinsale. It was a tourist town on the Southern coast and not too far from Cork. I had heard from several people how lovely it was. B&B's there were so much less costly than hotel rooms. I couldn't find any availability in the town of Kinsale itself but found one room for 3 nights a short walking distance from town. I checked in on Sunday and did some rechecking on email responses to my need to get to a new Workaway host or WWOOFer host a.s.a.p.
While waiting for responses I walked the town of Kinsale. It was a small enough town and an easy walk to check out all the little shops and cafe's. The weather wasn't the greatest so was glad to don my warm raincoat each morning. There was a small harbor with a few boats out a ways; not too near the town road because when the tide was out, the harbor itself was left quite bare with some seaweed and a few seagulls picking through whatever they could find. So it was a very shallow harbor until you went out a ways where boats could comfortably be set.
There was a place famous for fish and chips at the harbor called Dino's where at a certain time of day had a line out the door with people waiting to get fish to go. I opted to find a place with something with goat's cheese in it since I saw a few more 'healthy' places to eat offering it.
It was very relaxing to walk through the town, in and about all the shops with very few visitors. People's individual gardens were starting to come into bloom which would take off as soon as the weather changed and more sun would make the flowers bloom very soon.
I was anxious to get back to the computer which I brought with me to town. Most cafe's have free WIFI. I got a couple a new responses but nothing that felt too promising.
Lorna from the Phoenix immediately said I could come back to and stay as long as I wanted. But I knew she was getting 2 new Workaway girls the same day I had left. I didn't want to take advantage of her kindness so kept looking for B&B's and organic farms in the Kinsale area. Most wanted a babysitter in exchange for room and board. That would have been ok but no one needed someone immediately. I needed to start somewhere that week. I emailed Susie from the French bakery/tea room who had said she wanted me to come for the month of June. But I was already booked to work for Antoinette in Athy in June. I told Susie my dilemma. She immediately responded and said although she doesn't get busy until June I was welcome to come to France right away. She said she wanted to learn something about baking. She would give me my own studio apartment and could eat vegetarian meals with her each day. So I was thrilled to get on the computer to plan my next journey............TO FRANCE!!!
Without the internet at Sally's place, I needed to go to town and find WIFI somewhere. Sally knew I was thinking about leaving so took me into Bantry on market day (Friday) where there was a cafe' called Organico that had WIFI. I went online just long enough to see if there was a bus out of Dunmanway the following day. There was one at 9:45 and one at 11:45. I told Sally I needed a ride into town the next day to get on either busses. Much to my dismay, because I could not bear another day at her house, she decided on the latter time. All I wanted was to get out of Dunmanway. I didn't care where the bus went. It was going to Cork, a quite large city where I would just get a hotel for a night next door to the bus station and rethink this whole "work for room and board" thing.
I was sad to leave poor, ailing Sally with all her animals but I knew I had no choice. So I spent a night in Cork which was a lovely city on a river, set up much like Dublin. In fact it reminded me a lot of Dublin. I checked in to one of the last rooms available in a hotel nearest to the bus station. After I got online to start corresponding with job prospects, I started running a bath. In a very short time on the computer I was about to go and check the water in the bathroom when I looked over to see that I had flooded half the hotel room with an overflowing bath. And it was all very, very hot water. I didn't call anyone for fear they may not have another room I could move to so I just used any and all towels to mop it up and wring them out. I couldn't even wear my sneakers because the water would have seeped into them and given me wet feet. So I went barefoot on a very soggy rug.
I decided to got to Kinsale. It was a tourist town on the Southern coast and not too far from Cork. I had heard from several people how lovely it was. B&B's there were so much less costly than hotel rooms. I couldn't find any availability in the town of Kinsale itself but found one room for 3 nights a short walking distance from town. I checked in on Sunday and did some rechecking on email responses to my need to get to a new Workaway host or WWOOFer host a.s.a.p.
While waiting for responses I walked the town of Kinsale. It was a small enough town and an easy walk to check out all the little shops and cafe's. The weather wasn't the greatest so was glad to don my warm raincoat each morning. There was a small harbor with a few boats out a ways; not too near the town road because when the tide was out, the harbor itself was left quite bare with some seaweed and a few seagulls picking through whatever they could find. So it was a very shallow harbor until you went out a ways where boats could comfortably be set.
There was a place famous for fish and chips at the harbor called Dino's where at a certain time of day had a line out the door with people waiting to get fish to go. I opted to find a place with something with goat's cheese in it since I saw a few more 'healthy' places to eat offering it.
It was very relaxing to walk through the town, in and about all the shops with very few visitors. People's individual gardens were starting to come into bloom which would take off as soon as the weather changed and more sun would make the flowers bloom very soon.
I was anxious to get back to the computer which I brought with me to town. Most cafe's have free WIFI. I got a couple a new responses but nothing that felt too promising.
Lorna from the Phoenix immediately said I could come back to and stay as long as I wanted. But I knew she was getting 2 new Workaway girls the same day I had left. I didn't want to take advantage of her kindness so kept looking for B&B's and organic farms in the Kinsale area. Most wanted a babysitter in exchange for room and board. That would have been ok but no one needed someone immediately. I needed to start somewhere that week. I emailed Susie from the French bakery/tea room who had said she wanted me to come for the month of June. But I was already booked to work for Antoinette in Athy in June. I told Susie my dilemma. She immediately responded and said although she doesn't get busy until June I was welcome to come to France right away. She said she wanted to learn something about baking. She would give me my own studio apartment and could eat vegetarian meals with her each day. So I was thrilled to get on the computer to plan my next journey............TO FRANCE!!!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
DUNMANWAY
Sally's Place
My next assignment was to be at Sally's Place in Dunmanway. Her place is way out on a one-lane country road where grass still grows in the middle of the tire tracks. It is not a place you can easily walk out of and go to town. The town that they call a village is very nice. And the bus runs through it going somewhere every day. It seems that everyone knows everyone. And the Main St.'s buildings are colorfully painted every color on the pastel palette.
When I rode from Dunmanway out to Sally's place, I saw some very nice, beautiful homes surrounded by pastures and cows and sheep. Then we came upon Sally's place. I wanted to run. But I thought all positive thoughts about the possibility of it being pleasant inside. Then I went in. OMG! It was completely (by my standards which are not especially prejudicially high) unlivable. It was really by Sally's choice that she live this way. It was full of clutter and junk and empty containers that she 'might' need someday to put something in. There was not one square inch of space on any of the counters to prepare food. The small table was of course full of stuff. It smelled very strong of wet dog and barn.
The floor was large 2'x2' slate or rock filled in with concrete. But then there were the dogs! They all were amazing and I felt it a little difficult leaving them. They all lived in the kitchen amongst the clutter and filth. they were not allowed in any other room. Sally was extremely strict with all of them but very, very kind and gentle.
Sally showed me to my room upstairs. It was very difficult getting my 2 bags up those narrow, steep and of course full of clutter stairs. But I did only to find another room of clutter before getting to my tiny but livable room at the end of the house. And it was COLD. So I was very relieved when Sally said I had an electric blanket on my twin bed and if I wanted could keep it on all night. It was specifically made with 'all night' settings. When I went through the living room and saw the wood stove, I asked if I could start a fire. She said 'no' because she only had enough wood for 2 more nights.
DOGS
Sweet Pea Mastive weighing about 250 lbs. A true 'gentle giant'
Tuti Looks like a pit bull. Lots of personality and is ALWAYS on the lookout for something to
eat.
Pippa Wippet Sweet as could be. Loved watching her run
Corky Mix of many. Looked like a Scotty/Westie. Orange colored. If I could have taken any dog
home in my suitcase, it would have been him. He was the only male by the way.
Lassie Border Collie mix. Need I say more? Loved to run. Always on the lookout for some
sheep to herd.
Upon arriving I was assigned 2 baby lambs just 1 week old to bottle feed. One was all black and the other was black and white. I had to split a bottle a sheep milk (powdered) between them every 3 hours. The last feeding was about 10 at night so by 7 in the morning they were really hungry. They got to know my voice and acted quite tame after a few days. Then Sally told me that the male will end up in her freezer in a few weeks and she didn't know who she'd give the female to. Sally already had 2 chest freezers FULL of meat she had as pets once and killed for food. I did not eat any meat while there. Sally made it very clear that she felt people who ate meat but would oppose killing an animal prior to eating it as hypocrites. I guess she considered me one because I said I could not kill an animal and then eat it. She is a true farmer at heart. We had many heart to heart discussions on this matter.
Sally rescued many animals in her 38 years in Dunmanway. All of her dogs are rescued from an unfortunate previous life which she has seemingly been successful at turning around. I give her a lot of credit to live this lifestyle at the age of 62. And she does it alone. She has one daughter and two sons. Her daughter lives quite close with her husband and 2 and 4 yr. old boys. They are all beautiful people. They (all 4 of them) live in an old "2up, 2 down" concrete cottage with no clutter and the wood stove is going constantly. The 2 boys are adorable. They have a boxer who I also fell in love with. Olivia is her daughter's name and Carl is her husband who is a full time chef in a nearby town.
One of Sally's sons (Sam) lives about 20 minutes away on the side of a mountain in a rented wooden house (rare). There is no town name associated with that area. It is just referred to as "Cold Mountain". Anything posted to the people who live in that area is simply put "Cold Mountain" as its' address.
Her other son Aron lives with his partner and their 2 yr. old son Cullen in the Mayo district very north of Sally. So they don't see each other very often. They have a second child on the way. Most people as I see it don't get married because the government will give more money to a single mom than a married mom. Similar to Italy, many people live on government money. Sally collects money each month called "The Widows Pension" because her husband has been gone now for 10 years. She also collects money because she has had cancer. And she collects money for her injured shoulder. She also earns money for the dogs she grooms and boards. She boards cats too at 7Euro/night.
I don't know how many ducks and geese Sally has. From memory I'm guessing 5 female ducks and 1 drake (male duck), 5 or 6 baby ducks, 4 geese; One which would always hiss at me when I came near.
And chickens. She had chickens many which did not give too many eggs and would end up in the soup pot shortly. While in Bantry on market day, Sally bought 4 new chickens, for fun she says. They were not prolific egg layers but the farmer did not have the hens she wanted and she did not want to go home empty handed. They cost 15 Euro each. For fun. We had to clean out a very old and unused coop which was falling apart for the new hens to go in when we got home.
And she just last week got a pet ferret. (rescued)
And she said she had rats....outside..
And she has an indoor cat and 2 ferule cats that she feeds inside the bathroom where she leaves the window open all the time for them. Freezing cold bathroom.
I could easily feel sorry for Sally and in leaving her before my time was up but I know she puts a lot of strain on herself by having too much stuff and too many animals to take care of. I do miss the dogs and lambs. How I wish I could have helped her clean the place up and make it better. But she did not want that.
My next assignment was to be at Sally's Place in Dunmanway. Her place is way out on a one-lane country road where grass still grows in the middle of the tire tracks. It is not a place you can easily walk out of and go to town. The town that they call a village is very nice. And the bus runs through it going somewhere every day. It seems that everyone knows everyone. And the Main St.'s buildings are colorfully painted every color on the pastel palette.
When I rode from Dunmanway out to Sally's place, I saw some very nice, beautiful homes surrounded by pastures and cows and sheep. Then we came upon Sally's place. I wanted to run. But I thought all positive thoughts about the possibility of it being pleasant inside. Then I went in. OMG! It was completely (by my standards which are not especially prejudicially high) unlivable. It was really by Sally's choice that she live this way. It was full of clutter and junk and empty containers that she 'might' need someday to put something in. There was not one square inch of space on any of the counters to prepare food. The small table was of course full of stuff. It smelled very strong of wet dog and barn.
The floor was large 2'x2' slate or rock filled in with concrete. But then there were the dogs! They all were amazing and I felt it a little difficult leaving them. They all lived in the kitchen amongst the clutter and filth. they were not allowed in any other room. Sally was extremely strict with all of them but very, very kind and gentle.
Sally showed me to my room upstairs. It was very difficult getting my 2 bags up those narrow, steep and of course full of clutter stairs. But I did only to find another room of clutter before getting to my tiny but livable room at the end of the house. And it was COLD. So I was very relieved when Sally said I had an electric blanket on my twin bed and if I wanted could keep it on all night. It was specifically made with 'all night' settings. When I went through the living room and saw the wood stove, I asked if I could start a fire. She said 'no' because she only had enough wood for 2 more nights.
DOGS
Sweet Pea Mastive weighing about 250 lbs. A true 'gentle giant'
Tuti Looks like a pit bull. Lots of personality and is ALWAYS on the lookout for something to
eat.
Pippa Wippet Sweet as could be. Loved watching her run
Corky Mix of many. Looked like a Scotty/Westie. Orange colored. If I could have taken any dog
home in my suitcase, it would have been him. He was the only male by the way.
Lassie Border Collie mix. Need I say more? Loved to run. Always on the lookout for some
sheep to herd.
Upon arriving I was assigned 2 baby lambs just 1 week old to bottle feed. One was all black and the other was black and white. I had to split a bottle a sheep milk (powdered) between them every 3 hours. The last feeding was about 10 at night so by 7 in the morning they were really hungry. They got to know my voice and acted quite tame after a few days. Then Sally told me that the male will end up in her freezer in a few weeks and she didn't know who she'd give the female to. Sally already had 2 chest freezers FULL of meat she had as pets once and killed for food. I did not eat any meat while there. Sally made it very clear that she felt people who ate meat but would oppose killing an animal prior to eating it as hypocrites. I guess she considered me one because I said I could not kill an animal and then eat it. She is a true farmer at heart. We had many heart to heart discussions on this matter.
Sally rescued many animals in her 38 years in Dunmanway. All of her dogs are rescued from an unfortunate previous life which she has seemingly been successful at turning around. I give her a lot of credit to live this lifestyle at the age of 62. And she does it alone. She has one daughter and two sons. Her daughter lives quite close with her husband and 2 and 4 yr. old boys. They are all beautiful people. They (all 4 of them) live in an old "2up, 2 down" concrete cottage with no clutter and the wood stove is going constantly. The 2 boys are adorable. They have a boxer who I also fell in love with. Olivia is her daughter's name and Carl is her husband who is a full time chef in a nearby town.
One of Sally's sons (Sam) lives about 20 minutes away on the side of a mountain in a rented wooden house (rare). There is no town name associated with that area. It is just referred to as "Cold Mountain". Anything posted to the people who live in that area is simply put "Cold Mountain" as its' address.
Her other son Aron lives with his partner and their 2 yr. old son Cullen in the Mayo district very north of Sally. So they don't see each other very often. They have a second child on the way. Most people as I see it don't get married because the government will give more money to a single mom than a married mom. Similar to Italy, many people live on government money. Sally collects money each month called "The Widows Pension" because her husband has been gone now for 10 years. She also collects money because she has had cancer. And she collects money for her injured shoulder. She also earns money for the dogs she grooms and boards. She boards cats too at 7Euro/night.
I don't know how many ducks and geese Sally has. From memory I'm guessing 5 female ducks and 1 drake (male duck), 5 or 6 baby ducks, 4 geese; One which would always hiss at me when I came near.
And chickens. She had chickens many which did not give too many eggs and would end up in the soup pot shortly. While in Bantry on market day, Sally bought 4 new chickens, for fun she says. They were not prolific egg layers but the farmer did not have the hens she wanted and she did not want to go home empty handed. They cost 15 Euro each. For fun. We had to clean out a very old and unused coop which was falling apart for the new hens to go in when we got home.
And she just last week got a pet ferret. (rescued)
And she said she had rats....outside..
And she has an indoor cat and 2 ferule cats that she feeds inside the bathroom where she leaves the window open all the time for them. Freezing cold bathroom.
I could easily feel sorry for Sally and in leaving her before my time was up but I know she puts a lot of strain on herself by having too much stuff and too many animals to take care of. I do miss the dogs and lambs. How I wish I could have helped her clean the place up and make it better. But she did not want that.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
A LITTLE DRIVE ON THE BEACH
FOUR OF US WITH THE NIGHT OFF
Since Lorna decided to go to Switzerland to visit some of her children and her 2 grandchildren, I have sort of been put in charge of the cafe'. Being a Monday night and work getting done early, by 8 p.m., the 4 of us decided to go to the beach.
So off we went to Inch Beach, definitely the widest beach I've ever been to or even seen in pictures. This would be my second visit there. My first was on my bike from Rosemont. Down on Inch Beach you are allowed to drive your car on the beach. When we arrived around 9 p.m. and still quite light out we parked the car on the beach and just walked. We brought Ellie the dog whose only desire in life is to either carry around or chase her favorite ball. This is a ball she sleeps with and when any one arrives at the cafe' runs up with ball in mouth and begs for them to kick or throw it so she can chase it and come back for more.
It was a beautiful evening with no wind (apparently very rare) and with the tide out only added to the enormous width of the hard-packed sandy beach.
I don't know how long the beach is but after walking quite a ways, Colleen offered to walk back to her car and drive us down further to maybe see how long the beach really was.
So we're driving and driving (with Ellie and ball) wondering how far this beach really goes before you couldn't drive any further. It actually is a peninsula that curves around so you can't see to the end. Then the sand got soft. And softer. Then we got stuck! Really stuck. With front drive wheel buried in the sand after a few attempts to push it out to NO avail, we all started walking back. Only Kim from Barcelona had a phone. It seemingly only worked to call numbers in Spain. We couldn't call anyone. Just a few days ago, Colleen dropped her phone in the toilet deeming it inoperable. So we were disconnected from the world with a very long walk ahead of us. And it was getting dark. And possibly with the threat of the tide coming in and reaching the car, our once casual walk turned into a frenzy walk, if that is such a thing. We walked very briskly for about 45 minutes. So I'm thinking I can fast walk a mile in 15 minutes. This was probably 3 miles before we came upon a car with someone with a phone who was able to call the Phoenix to hopefully get Billy and plead for help.
Now Billy doesn't usually answer the phone. On this night he picked up after one ring.
A few coincidences follow that will remain unanswered as to HOW this all played out.
Billy has a van. Not 4-wheel drive. But 'coincidentally' his son Sam, who traveled with his mom, Lorna to Switzerland his home, left his 4 wheel drive vehicle at the Phoenix. So Billy was able to use it to pull us out. And 'coincidentally' just the day before, Billy came upon a heavy chain in his yard that he did not know where it came from. He left it there in the yard thinking to move it later. This night it was what we needed to get pulled out.
Where did the chain come from? We'll never know.
We all returned home about 10:45, opened some beer and all had a few shots of Kirsch that Billy brought out to try. Didn't get to bed till after midnight. All in all....A great day!
During the ride back home, Billy shared some amusing stories of the summer months where many, many people (tourists) get stuck on the beach with their cars. Even more amusing is the story of the farmer with a tractor who waits for people to get stuck so he can pull them out. All for 50 Euro. And then there was the man one summer who had a Range Rover who also waited to help people get unstuck. He charged 100 Euro.
Another story we all laughed about was when Billy's brother was here for a visit with a rented car. They both went down to Inch Beach, parked the rental and walked and walked and walked forgetting about the time. Well the tide came in and destroyed the rental can parked on the beach. Hence the mention of not having insurance on Colleen's car.
Since Lorna decided to go to Switzerland to visit some of her children and her 2 grandchildren, I have sort of been put in charge of the cafe'. Being a Monday night and work getting done early, by 8 p.m., the 4 of us decided to go to the beach.
So off we went to Inch Beach, definitely the widest beach I've ever been to or even seen in pictures. This would be my second visit there. My first was on my bike from Rosemont. Down on Inch Beach you are allowed to drive your car on the beach. When we arrived around 9 p.m. and still quite light out we parked the car on the beach and just walked. We brought Ellie the dog whose only desire in life is to either carry around or chase her favorite ball. This is a ball she sleeps with and when any one arrives at the cafe' runs up with ball in mouth and begs for them to kick or throw it so she can chase it and come back for more.
It was a beautiful evening with no wind (apparently very rare) and with the tide out only added to the enormous width of the hard-packed sandy beach.
I don't know how long the beach is but after walking quite a ways, Colleen offered to walk back to her car and drive us down further to maybe see how long the beach really was.
So we're driving and driving (with Ellie and ball) wondering how far this beach really goes before you couldn't drive any further. It actually is a peninsula that curves around so you can't see to the end. Then the sand got soft. And softer. Then we got stuck! Really stuck. With front drive wheel buried in the sand after a few attempts to push it out to NO avail, we all started walking back. Only Kim from Barcelona had a phone. It seemingly only worked to call numbers in Spain. We couldn't call anyone. Just a few days ago, Colleen dropped her phone in the toilet deeming it inoperable. So we were disconnected from the world with a very long walk ahead of us. And it was getting dark. And possibly with the threat of the tide coming in and reaching the car, our once casual walk turned into a frenzy walk, if that is such a thing. We walked very briskly for about 45 minutes. So I'm thinking I can fast walk a mile in 15 minutes. This was probably 3 miles before we came upon a car with someone with a phone who was able to call the Phoenix to hopefully get Billy and plead for help.
Now Billy doesn't usually answer the phone. On this night he picked up after one ring.
A few coincidences follow that will remain unanswered as to HOW this all played out.
Billy has a van. Not 4-wheel drive. But 'coincidentally' his son Sam, who traveled with his mom, Lorna to Switzerland his home, left his 4 wheel drive vehicle at the Phoenix. So Billy was able to use it to pull us out. And 'coincidentally' just the day before, Billy came upon a heavy chain in his yard that he did not know where it came from. He left it there in the yard thinking to move it later. This night it was what we needed to get pulled out.
Where did the chain come from? We'll never know.
We all returned home about 10:45, opened some beer and all had a few shots of Kirsch that Billy brought out to try. Didn't get to bed till after midnight. All in all....A great day!
During the ride back home, Billy shared some amusing stories of the summer months where many, many people (tourists) get stuck on the beach with their cars. Even more amusing is the story of the farmer with a tractor who waits for people to get stuck so he can pull them out. All for 50 Euro. And then there was the man one summer who had a Range Rover who also waited to help people get unstuck. He charged 100 Euro.
Another story we all laughed about was when Billy's brother was here for a visit with a rented car. They both went down to Inch Beach, parked the rental and walked and walked and walked forgetting about the time. Well the tide came in and destroyed the rental can parked on the beach. Hence the mention of not having insurance on Colleen's car.
The people I live with
WWOOFERS
WWOOF is the organization along with Workaway where I go online to find people and places all over the world who want help in exchange for room and board. No money ever changes hands.
Right now there are 4 WWOOFers here including myself.
LARS (19) is from Germany and has been here, his first assignment, now for 6 weeks and does not know when he will leave and has not decided to look for his next farm to work at.
KIM (25) is from Barcelona. He is always working on his English. I think he speaks very well. He does not think so. He too does not know how long he will stay or if he will go on from here to another assignment.
COLLEEN (45) is originally from Zimbabwe where she lived for 20 years. She then moved to London and lived there for 20+ years. Because the housing market went absolutely crazy after she bought a modest flat in London, she was able to sell it at a much higher cost than what she bought it for. She has now decided to buy a place here in the Ring of Kerry, the next peninsula down from here in Dingle, close to her long-time friend Dan whom she has been best friends with for about 20 years. They met in London. While she is waiting for her purchase of her house to carry on, she's decided to come here and work for a week or so. Colleen bought a car just last week, a Renault Clio (?) so we have wheels. While in London she didn't drive at all and now she's driving, on the left, a 5 speed stick shift on some roads that are just wide enough for 1 car to pass. She's still waiting for the papers to come through so she can get insurance on it. There's a reason I'm saying this (about the insurance). You'll see in the next blog.
BILLY....Lorna's 2nd husband. Together they have 2 sons. Kyle(25) and Kim(19). Now Billy is by far probably the most laid back person in the world. I've never seen him get flustered or upset and even have a harsh word to say about anything. He loves his dog, Rufus who he picked out of a litter of puppies at the market one day. Totally unplanned. Rufus got hit by a car about 2 1/2 years ago and only suffered a broken leg. But with this broken leg there was apparently nerve damage which after the bone healed the leg remains useless. Now every morning I see Billy tenderly caring for Rufus' leg and Rufus just lies there not bothered at all that someone is wrapping his still open-wounded leg. Somehow the wound never healed and it remains open and kind of nasty to look at. Rufus licks it a lot. So does Ellie, Rufus' best friend in the dog world. Now Billy is trying to wrap it in a Himalayan salt soaked cloth to facilitate some healing if possible. Billy has made a sort of cast out of duct tape that can be removed and put on quite easily to help poor Rufus to run and get around in a normal way. There is a large basket full of these casts from previous wraps. So Billy is very much a kind-hearted animal lover and never refuses any of his 3 cats to lay on his lap for some lovin'. Billy, when speaking has a very similar sounding voice of John Lennon. In fact with his full head of hair kind of randomly chopped and with round spectacles would even look like him. That is when John was in his 50's.
LORNA....Lorna of course is my host. After learning of my disappointment in Rosemont, my previous assignment, she graciously asked me to come here and help out for as long as I wish. Lorna is a world traveler, leaving home in England at the age of 18 to find work and experience all she could with an adventurous spirit. She learned belly dancing and gave lessons to make some money along the way. According to her she was very well known in the belly dancing world. She continues her belly dancing now at the age of 58. In fact we discovered she is 11 days older than myself. She was born on Sept. 26th 1955. She worked on many organic farms in exchange for food and lodging where she met Pierre her first husband. Then started having babies at the young age of 19.
Lorna and Billy bought the property here in Castlemaine approx. 20 years ago and have been working on it with its' additions and its' gardens ever since. They lived for 1 year in a travel trailer with their children while working on this then abandoned property of 20 years until it was within living condition. The cafe' opened 18 years ago and has always offered vegetarian menu items and also caters to vegan and gluten-free clients. She wrote a cookbook and proudly displays it throughout the cafe' and sells signed copies for 20 Euro. She has now sold over 2,000 copies.
Having lived in Switzerland for many years, 3 of Lorna's children remain there and Lorna travels to see them all as often as possible. She is there right now (last minute decision) and feels confident in leaving her cafe' in the trusting hands of the WWOOFers.
Lorna has asked me to give up my next assignment with Sally Baker near Dunmanway and stay here. Quite a compliment considering I've only been here one week today. She has a lot of confidence in me to be able to work independently in the cafe as well as contribute to the never ending job with the gardening. Overnight it seems the plants and flowers and trees grow a couple of inches. That includes the weeds though. We have 2 poly tunnels where we grow all types of vegetables and herbs. That work is saved for rainy days of which there have been a few.
I will not be changing my plans to leave here on May 6th. I will be traveling again on the bus to Macroom which is a close bus stop from Sally's place. Sally has a lot of sheep and other animals of which I look forward to help take care of.
WWOOF is the organization along with Workaway where I go online to find people and places all over the world who want help in exchange for room and board. No money ever changes hands.
Right now there are 4 WWOOFers here including myself.
LARS (19) is from Germany and has been here, his first assignment, now for 6 weeks and does not know when he will leave and has not decided to look for his next farm to work at.
KIM (25) is from Barcelona. He is always working on his English. I think he speaks very well. He does not think so. He too does not know how long he will stay or if he will go on from here to another assignment.
COLLEEN (45) is originally from Zimbabwe where she lived for 20 years. She then moved to London and lived there for 20+ years. Because the housing market went absolutely crazy after she bought a modest flat in London, she was able to sell it at a much higher cost than what she bought it for. She has now decided to buy a place here in the Ring of Kerry, the next peninsula down from here in Dingle, close to her long-time friend Dan whom she has been best friends with for about 20 years. They met in London. While she is waiting for her purchase of her house to carry on, she's decided to come here and work for a week or so. Colleen bought a car just last week, a Renault Clio (?) so we have wheels. While in London she didn't drive at all and now she's driving, on the left, a 5 speed stick shift on some roads that are just wide enough for 1 car to pass. She's still waiting for the papers to come through so she can get insurance on it. There's a reason I'm saying this (about the insurance). You'll see in the next blog.
BILLY....Lorna's 2nd husband. Together they have 2 sons. Kyle(25) and Kim(19). Now Billy is by far probably the most laid back person in the world. I've never seen him get flustered or upset and even have a harsh word to say about anything. He loves his dog, Rufus who he picked out of a litter of puppies at the market one day. Totally unplanned. Rufus got hit by a car about 2 1/2 years ago and only suffered a broken leg. But with this broken leg there was apparently nerve damage which after the bone healed the leg remains useless. Now every morning I see Billy tenderly caring for Rufus' leg and Rufus just lies there not bothered at all that someone is wrapping his still open-wounded leg. Somehow the wound never healed and it remains open and kind of nasty to look at. Rufus licks it a lot. So does Ellie, Rufus' best friend in the dog world. Now Billy is trying to wrap it in a Himalayan salt soaked cloth to facilitate some healing if possible. Billy has made a sort of cast out of duct tape that can be removed and put on quite easily to help poor Rufus to run and get around in a normal way. There is a large basket full of these casts from previous wraps. So Billy is very much a kind-hearted animal lover and never refuses any of his 3 cats to lay on his lap for some lovin'. Billy, when speaking has a very similar sounding voice of John Lennon. In fact with his full head of hair kind of randomly chopped and with round spectacles would even look like him. That is when John was in his 50's.
LORNA....Lorna of course is my host. After learning of my disappointment in Rosemont, my previous assignment, she graciously asked me to come here and help out for as long as I wish. Lorna is a world traveler, leaving home in England at the age of 18 to find work and experience all she could with an adventurous spirit. She learned belly dancing and gave lessons to make some money along the way. According to her she was very well known in the belly dancing world. She continues her belly dancing now at the age of 58. In fact we discovered she is 11 days older than myself. She was born on Sept. 26th 1955. She worked on many organic farms in exchange for food and lodging where she met Pierre her first husband. Then started having babies at the young age of 19.
Lorna and Billy bought the property here in Castlemaine approx. 20 years ago and have been working on it with its' additions and its' gardens ever since. They lived for 1 year in a travel trailer with their children while working on this then abandoned property of 20 years until it was within living condition. The cafe' opened 18 years ago and has always offered vegetarian menu items and also caters to vegan and gluten-free clients. She wrote a cookbook and proudly displays it throughout the cafe' and sells signed copies for 20 Euro. She has now sold over 2,000 copies.
Having lived in Switzerland for many years, 3 of Lorna's children remain there and Lorna travels to see them all as often as possible. She is there right now (last minute decision) and feels confident in leaving her cafe' in the trusting hands of the WWOOFers.
Lorna has asked me to give up my next assignment with Sally Baker near Dunmanway and stay here. Quite a compliment considering I've only been here one week today. She has a lot of confidence in me to be able to work independently in the cafe as well as contribute to the never ending job with the gardening. Overnight it seems the plants and flowers and trees grow a couple of inches. That includes the weeds though. We have 2 poly tunnels where we grow all types of vegetables and herbs. That work is saved for rainy days of which there have been a few.
I will not be changing my plans to leave here on May 6th. I will be traveling again on the bus to Macroom which is a close bus stop from Sally's place. Sally has a lot of sheep and other animals of which I look forward to help take care of.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
MY NEW HOME AT THE PHOENIX
Leaving Rosemont
When I first came to the Phoenix cafe, Lorna and I talked about food and what I was doing at Rosemont and Rose. She said she had enough people committed to coming and working for her and that it was too bad I was so unhappy at Rosemont. By the time our visit was over and I had to return to Tralee with the bike, Lorna said I should just leave there and not take Rose's bad treatment. When I got back to Rosemont and joined the party there with about 30 of Rose's family and was completely ignored by everyone except Rose's son, I knew I had to leave...and soon. I knew I would be telling Rose the next morning that I would be leaving. That night Lorna sent me an email saying I should come there and stay and work starting on Tuesday.
So I made the decision to leave Rosemont and go to the Phoenix cafe' as soon as I could speak to Rose. Monday morning came and Rose would not tell me what I needed to clean until 11:30 a.m. Then she told me that 5 rooms needed to be done completely. Then she went over to her side of the house and I didn't see or hear from her all day. Cleaning rooms 'completely' takes a lot of time. Sometimes when guests stay a few nights like the workers and students do, all you have to do is make the bed and change the towels. It's not a 'complete' cleaning. Doing the windows, mirrors and glass shower doors is quite tedious. There must not be a single streak or smudge or hair or piece of lint anywhere. Rose will inspect. So I worked the rest of the day and got everything as clean as I could. Rose finally came out of her apartment, still in her pj's from the morning and told me how 'pissed off' she was at me from the day before. At that point it was very easy to tell her I would be leaving the next day. She said "that's fine" and nothing more. I went upstairs to my room in tears.
I emailed Lorna and said I would be on the 8:30 a.m. bus to Castlemaine and would be arriving there at 9 a.m.. She said that's great and she'd pick me up at the bus stop.
The next morning with 2 suitcases in tow I walked the 2 miles to the bus and felt a huge relief.
When I first came to the Phoenix cafe, Lorna and I talked about food and what I was doing at Rosemont and Rose. She said she had enough people committed to coming and working for her and that it was too bad I was so unhappy at Rosemont. By the time our visit was over and I had to return to Tralee with the bike, Lorna said I should just leave there and not take Rose's bad treatment. When I got back to Rosemont and joined the party there with about 30 of Rose's family and was completely ignored by everyone except Rose's son, I knew I had to leave...and soon. I knew I would be telling Rose the next morning that I would be leaving. That night Lorna sent me an email saying I should come there and stay and work starting on Tuesday.
So I made the decision to leave Rosemont and go to the Phoenix cafe' as soon as I could speak to Rose. Monday morning came and Rose would not tell me what I needed to clean until 11:30 a.m. Then she told me that 5 rooms needed to be done completely. Then she went over to her side of the house and I didn't see or hear from her all day. Cleaning rooms 'completely' takes a lot of time. Sometimes when guests stay a few nights like the workers and students do, all you have to do is make the bed and change the towels. It's not a 'complete' cleaning. Doing the windows, mirrors and glass shower doors is quite tedious. There must not be a single streak or smudge or hair or piece of lint anywhere. Rose will inspect. So I worked the rest of the day and got everything as clean as I could. Rose finally came out of her apartment, still in her pj's from the morning and told me how 'pissed off' she was at me from the day before. At that point it was very easy to tell her I would be leaving the next day. She said "that's fine" and nothing more. I went upstairs to my room in tears.
I emailed Lorna and said I would be on the 8:30 a.m. bus to Castlemaine and would be arriving there at 9 a.m.. She said that's great and she'd pick me up at the bus stop.
The next morning with 2 suitcases in tow I walked the 2 miles to the bus and felt a huge relief.
Monday, April 21, 2014
I got a bike!
April 21, 2014
Scotty finally pulled the bicycle out of the garage and adjusted the seat for my height. I had to wait for him to get it out because I'm not allowed to walk in the back yard because of Gizzy. Although I can take her on walks with the leash, Rose fears that she has the potential to bite me, still a stranger. She bit Scotty once when he got too close to Rose. Gizzy I guess has a protective spirit that can be unpredictable.
It's a fairly new mountain bike with wide tires and has 24 speeds of which I have not changed because I know these bikes can be temperamental and can skip gears deeming them broken and stuck. So it is on the highest (hardest) gear where it shall remain.
The seat is very skinny and hard and I'm dreaming about my gel bike seat at home on my bike. Boy does my butt hurt!
stay left...stay left....stay left
There is a lot of traffic here in front of the house and downtown Tralee, 2 miles away. I am allowed to ride in the street, on the LEFT. My simple brain, without thinking, wants to go right. I wear my bright yellow jacket so drivers can see me but crossing over to the next street or worse yet...the roundabout!
Of which there are many. These can be confusing to the best of drivers.
Tralee doesn't impress me as a place I would ever want to live. It's a place where people go to get things but so far the people are unfriendly (to me) and just want to go about their business. We have to put EVERYTHING away, out of site for fear it will be stollen. Rose told me about a few instances where she went out back for a few minutes and someone came in to her front yard and took some gardening material she was using. So of course the bike is locked away, in the garage out of site and can only be gotten out by Scotty.
But I will be leaving here ahead of schedule. I will tell Rose today that I have found a place better suited for what I came to Ireland for. I think she is going to be hurt and angry. We shall see.
Scotty finally pulled the bicycle out of the garage and adjusted the seat for my height. I had to wait for him to get it out because I'm not allowed to walk in the back yard because of Gizzy. Although I can take her on walks with the leash, Rose fears that she has the potential to bite me, still a stranger. She bit Scotty once when he got too close to Rose. Gizzy I guess has a protective spirit that can be unpredictable.
It's a fairly new mountain bike with wide tires and has 24 speeds of which I have not changed because I know these bikes can be temperamental and can skip gears deeming them broken and stuck. So it is on the highest (hardest) gear where it shall remain.
The seat is very skinny and hard and I'm dreaming about my gel bike seat at home on my bike. Boy does my butt hurt!
stay left...stay left....stay left
There is a lot of traffic here in front of the house and downtown Tralee, 2 miles away. I am allowed to ride in the street, on the LEFT. My simple brain, without thinking, wants to go right. I wear my bright yellow jacket so drivers can see me but crossing over to the next street or worse yet...the roundabout!
Of which there are many. These can be confusing to the best of drivers.
Tralee doesn't impress me as a place I would ever want to live. It's a place where people go to get things but so far the people are unfriendly (to me) and just want to go about their business. We have to put EVERYTHING away, out of site for fear it will be stollen. Rose told me about a few instances where she went out back for a few minutes and someone came in to her front yard and took some gardening material she was using. So of course the bike is locked away, in the garage out of site and can only be gotten out by Scotty.
But I will be leaving here ahead of schedule. I will tell Rose today that I have found a place better suited for what I came to Ireland for. I think she is going to be hurt and angry. We shall see.
Monday, April 14, 2014
MY DAY IN CASTLEMAINE
MY FIRST DAY OFF
Before I came to Ireland, I bought a cookbook titled "The Phoenix Restaurant". It was written and published by Lorna Tyther, a woman with numerous awards for her vegetarian and vegan cooking. I had written to her asking if I could come and work for her in exchange for room and board like I am doing here at Rosemont. I had gotten her write-up from the same organization as Rosemont. She responded "yes" to my request but only after I had committed to coming to Rosemont. But her pictures of her place, which also houses a small B&B (3 rooms) and pictures of her food and recipes for that food looked like just the place I'd like to visit someday. When I saw how close it was located to Rosemont, I knew I'd make the trip as soon as I could manage. That was yesterday.
I asked around if it would be better to ride a bicycle to Castlemaine or walk. Both methods were vehemently discouraged. The road was not only very steep in some areas but also very narrow with no place to step off from on- coming traffic. So I went to the bus station and got their schedule which included a stop at Castlemaine from Tralee. It was a 25 minute bus ride. I was really glad I decided NOT to ride a bike. There were no guard rails or any room on either side to get out of the road.
So I took the 10:35 a.m. bus arriving at the Castlemaine post office at 11:00. I had already done a little homework to see which road would take me to Lorna's place. It was about a 4 mile walk. So with my iPod on playing Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springstein, I walked. It was a cool day with overcast---just 50deg. If the sun was out, at least I would have felt its' warmth but instead I put my hood up from my sweatshirt and walked briskly to keep warm. The countryside on Route 571 was all farms with mostly sheep, their babies and cows. I saw big black birds what looked like crows standing atop some cows pulling the fluffy hair from them and flying off with it. The cows just stood there not caring. I saw a lot of sheep many with twin babies; like tiny babies very recently born. Beautiful.
When I reached Boolteens Village I knew I had just 1 mile to go. I knew when I was coming up on the restaurant that it was Lorna's because of the huge phoenix bird painted on one side of the building. I had emailed her the day before asking if I could come and if she'd be there. As I approached the door, she opened it and I knew immediately it was her by the strikingly red hair I'd seen her sporting in her book. She opened the door and I said "I walked all the way from the U.S. just to see you."
Her restaurant was lovely. It was just one room with seating for about 30. All the wicker chairs and wall decor were decorated with beautiful embroidered and mirrored cloths from India. She made me a pot of herbal tea and brought me a just baked spelt scone with pumpkin seeds. Very tasty. Then we shared bowls of her watercress, potato and black lentil soup. Wonderful. I met her husband, Billy and the most recent and only workawayer, Lars from Germany. He was 19 and had just come in from planting celeriac seeds one by one with tweezers. All 4 of us shared bowls of rhubarb crumble topped with yogurt. All the food we had was organic The rhubarb was just picked from her garden.
I got to meet Rufus and Ellie their 2 dogs. All they wanted was for me to keep throwing the ball for them to chase and fight over. Cute.
Lorna cooks food and packages it up to sell every Saturday at a farmers market in the next town called Milltown. So I got to take containers of pesto, curried squash, hummus and a bean dish to take back for my next few meals at Rosemont. Her gardens are really beautiful. The need for workawayers to tend to the gardens is crucial both to keep them looking beautiful with all the flowers coming up everywhere and also for the success of the restaurant serving the garden's bounty of vegetables. There are numerous fruit trees also I was told but didn't get to see.
Billy gave me a ride back to Castlemaine post office just 2 minutes before the bus arrived. 25 minutes later after another enjoyable ride back I arrived at the Tralee bus station. I walked the 2 miles back to Rosemont and reflected back on my glorious day.
Next trip: INCH BEACH......Easter weekend
Before I came to Ireland, I bought a cookbook titled "The Phoenix Restaurant". It was written and published by Lorna Tyther, a woman with numerous awards for her vegetarian and vegan cooking. I had written to her asking if I could come and work for her in exchange for room and board like I am doing here at Rosemont. I had gotten her write-up from the same organization as Rosemont. She responded "yes" to my request but only after I had committed to coming to Rosemont. But her pictures of her place, which also houses a small B&B (3 rooms) and pictures of her food and recipes for that food looked like just the place I'd like to visit someday. When I saw how close it was located to Rosemont, I knew I'd make the trip as soon as I could manage. That was yesterday.
I asked around if it would be better to ride a bicycle to Castlemaine or walk. Both methods were vehemently discouraged. The road was not only very steep in some areas but also very narrow with no place to step off from on- coming traffic. So I went to the bus station and got their schedule which included a stop at Castlemaine from Tralee. It was a 25 minute bus ride. I was really glad I decided NOT to ride a bike. There were no guard rails or any room on either side to get out of the road.
So I took the 10:35 a.m. bus arriving at the Castlemaine post office at 11:00. I had already done a little homework to see which road would take me to Lorna's place. It was about a 4 mile walk. So with my iPod on playing Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springstein, I walked. It was a cool day with overcast---just 50deg. If the sun was out, at least I would have felt its' warmth but instead I put my hood up from my sweatshirt and walked briskly to keep warm. The countryside on Route 571 was all farms with mostly sheep, their babies and cows. I saw big black birds what looked like crows standing atop some cows pulling the fluffy hair from them and flying off with it. The cows just stood there not caring. I saw a lot of sheep many with twin babies; like tiny babies very recently born. Beautiful.
When I reached Boolteens Village I knew I had just 1 mile to go. I knew when I was coming up on the restaurant that it was Lorna's because of the huge phoenix bird painted on one side of the building. I had emailed her the day before asking if I could come and if she'd be there. As I approached the door, she opened it and I knew immediately it was her by the strikingly red hair I'd seen her sporting in her book. She opened the door and I said "I walked all the way from the U.S. just to see you."
Her restaurant was lovely. It was just one room with seating for about 30. All the wicker chairs and wall decor were decorated with beautiful embroidered and mirrored cloths from India. She made me a pot of herbal tea and brought me a just baked spelt scone with pumpkin seeds. Very tasty. Then we shared bowls of her watercress, potato and black lentil soup. Wonderful. I met her husband, Billy and the most recent and only workawayer, Lars from Germany. He was 19 and had just come in from planting celeriac seeds one by one with tweezers. All 4 of us shared bowls of rhubarb crumble topped with yogurt. All the food we had was organic The rhubarb was just picked from her garden.
I got to meet Rufus and Ellie their 2 dogs. All they wanted was for me to keep throwing the ball for them to chase and fight over. Cute.
Lorna cooks food and packages it up to sell every Saturday at a farmers market in the next town called Milltown. So I got to take containers of pesto, curried squash, hummus and a bean dish to take back for my next few meals at Rosemont. Her gardens are really beautiful. The need for workawayers to tend to the gardens is crucial both to keep them looking beautiful with all the flowers coming up everywhere and also for the success of the restaurant serving the garden's bounty of vegetables. There are numerous fruit trees also I was told but didn't get to see.
Billy gave me a ride back to Castlemaine post office just 2 minutes before the bus arrived. 25 minutes later after another enjoyable ride back I arrived at the Tralee bus station. I walked the 2 miles back to Rosemont and reflected back on my glorious day.
Next trip: INCH BEACH......Easter weekend
Saturday, April 12, 2014
The food here....Oh dear
Saturday April 12th 2014
Almost everything food-wise here comes from a package. I found a box mix for cheesecake and one for scones (Leslie). There are probably a hundred packets for making everything. Beef stroganoff, meat sauce, curry, meatloaf etc. etc. Rose doesn't seem to do well with someone offering to do things different. I would love to make her some fresh bread, even homemade cheese. She has individually packaged yellow cheese product. I offered to make Scotty some homemade pancakes when I saw a package containing 3 already-made pancakes. But she said he doesn't like homemade pancakes. He prefers the ones in a bag.
Last night I wanted to tell Rose to not include me in for dinner in case she was making it. I couldn't find her and the next thing I knew she was dishing out instant mashed potatoes, packaged, cubed and cooked turnip/carrot mix and deep fried breakfast sausages. It was too late to renege on dinner or to be rude and say I didn't want it. So I ate it. Two nights ago she peeled a bunch of red potatoes, cut them up like fries and deep fried them. We had those with canned corn and breaded chicken breast. Sort of ok but definitely still not the best choice. So this is going to be quite challenging. I thought the work was going to be physically challenging. And it truly is. But the food is another challenge indeed. I can't see myself going to the store (on foot) every day, buying food and preparing it alongside Rose while she is making her own dinner her way. First of all, food is part of the deal for my work. And if I have to buy all my food.... well that just isn't right. I didn't bring enough money with me for that. She does have rice and free range eggs and real Irish butter. The butter was soooo yellow I was sure it had to be margarine or even butter flavored crisco. But I saw the package. It truly is real butter. I think in the U.S. stores it's sold as Kerry Gold. I found a box of what reads to be healthy fruit and nut fiber cereal. And we always have lo fat milk.
While walking yesterday, I saw a sign for farmers' market in town on Saturdays. I asked Rose but she didn't know anything about it and wasn't interested.
I really wish Rose would let me cook something.
Tomorrow I'm going to Castlemaine on the bus. It's not too far just extremely discouraged to ride the bike there. The road is said to be quite treacherous. I'm going to visit Lorna at another B&B that wants me to come and cook with her. I had to say 'no' because I had already committed to Rosemont. Lorna cooks all healthy, homegrown, organic and vegetarian for her little restaurant. We'll
see. Tomorrow will just be a day visit. For now.......
Almost everything food-wise here comes from a package. I found a box mix for cheesecake and one for scones (Leslie). There are probably a hundred packets for making everything. Beef stroganoff, meat sauce, curry, meatloaf etc. etc. Rose doesn't seem to do well with someone offering to do things different. I would love to make her some fresh bread, even homemade cheese. She has individually packaged yellow cheese product. I offered to make Scotty some homemade pancakes when I saw a package containing 3 already-made pancakes. But she said he doesn't like homemade pancakes. He prefers the ones in a bag.
Last night I wanted to tell Rose to not include me in for dinner in case she was making it. I couldn't find her and the next thing I knew she was dishing out instant mashed potatoes, packaged, cubed and cooked turnip/carrot mix and deep fried breakfast sausages. It was too late to renege on dinner or to be rude and say I didn't want it. So I ate it. Two nights ago she peeled a bunch of red potatoes, cut them up like fries and deep fried them. We had those with canned corn and breaded chicken breast. Sort of ok but definitely still not the best choice. So this is going to be quite challenging. I thought the work was going to be physically challenging. And it truly is. But the food is another challenge indeed. I can't see myself going to the store (on foot) every day, buying food and preparing it alongside Rose while she is making her own dinner her way. First of all, food is part of the deal for my work. And if I have to buy all my food.... well that just isn't right. I didn't bring enough money with me for that. She does have rice and free range eggs and real Irish butter. The butter was soooo yellow I was sure it had to be margarine or even butter flavored crisco. But I saw the package. It truly is real butter. I think in the U.S. stores it's sold as Kerry Gold. I found a box of what reads to be healthy fruit and nut fiber cereal. And we always have lo fat milk.
While walking yesterday, I saw a sign for farmers' market in town on Saturdays. I asked Rose but she didn't know anything about it and wasn't interested.
I really wish Rose would let me cook something.
Tomorrow I'm going to Castlemaine on the bus. It's not too far just extremely discouraged to ride the bike there. The road is said to be quite treacherous. I'm going to visit Lorna at another B&B that wants me to come and cook with her. I had to say 'no' because I had already committed to Rosemont. Lorna cooks all healthy, homegrown, organic and vegetarian for her little restaurant. We'll
see. Tomorrow will just be a day visit. For now.......
Thursday, April 10, 2014
FIRST DAY OF WORK AT ROSEMONT B&B
Thursday April 10th
The Hoover. It's referred to any kind of vacuuming. That was the start of my day. I Hoovered the first front entry way, the second entry way, the first and second dining rooms and the kitchen. Then I mopped them all. Then I watched Rose clean a guest room so I would do it her way. Everyone has their own way of cleaning. So I went up to the 3rd floor to clean the 2 rooms there. Did I hear "chambermaid" from anyone? Do chambermaids do ironing? I ironed and ironed and ironed after the rooms were cleaned and the floors were done. I think I ironed a weeks worth of Rose and Scotty's laundry. Now I know why Rose complains of a back ache at the end of the day. She's been doing all this ironing. And she irons everything. She just finished ironing some expensive duvet covers for the special B&B guests coming tomorrow night. Workmen and students don't fall into that category.
But they don't get the 'breakfast included' in their fare of 30 Euro/night. They do get to help themselves to cold cereal and coffee and a lunch lovingly prepared the night before by Rose. In exchange for not getting the full breakfast, Rose makes it up to them by making sandwiches that they can grab on their way out to work.
Typical Irish Breakfast (for Victor, our only real guest last night)
Black and White Pudding: This is kind of gross. It's not pudding at all. It's dried blood (black)
stuffed inside a sausage casing. The white is equally gross but I'm not
sure what parts of the animal it's made up of. Get back to you later on
this. There is 1 piece of each. Each 2" round x 2" long and each is
fried in the fry-o-later along with 2 breakfast sausages. The fry-o-later
sits on the counter all the time filled with oil and ready to go.
Fried eggs: These are basted in a fry pan in oil
Half broiled tomato
Whole wheat toast with butter
Porridge
2 pieces of ham or maybe uncured bacon
After witnessing this, I went for a long walk before starting work and got 2 apples to eat on the way back.
I've been told that tomorrow will be an extra busy day. We will need to clean each room inch by inch because the workmen and students will be leaving for the weekend and Rose wants the rooms impeccably clean.
I don't think I used the treadmill or stair master enough before coming. I already hurt. It's just my first day.
The Hoover. It's referred to any kind of vacuuming. That was the start of my day. I Hoovered the first front entry way, the second entry way, the first and second dining rooms and the kitchen. Then I mopped them all. Then I watched Rose clean a guest room so I would do it her way. Everyone has their own way of cleaning. So I went up to the 3rd floor to clean the 2 rooms there. Did I hear "chambermaid" from anyone? Do chambermaids do ironing? I ironed and ironed and ironed after the rooms were cleaned and the floors were done. I think I ironed a weeks worth of Rose and Scotty's laundry. Now I know why Rose complains of a back ache at the end of the day. She's been doing all this ironing. And she irons everything. She just finished ironing some expensive duvet covers for the special B&B guests coming tomorrow night. Workmen and students don't fall into that category.
But they don't get the 'breakfast included' in their fare of 30 Euro/night. They do get to help themselves to cold cereal and coffee and a lunch lovingly prepared the night before by Rose. In exchange for not getting the full breakfast, Rose makes it up to them by making sandwiches that they can grab on their way out to work.
Typical Irish Breakfast (for Victor, our only real guest last night)
Black and White Pudding: This is kind of gross. It's not pudding at all. It's dried blood (black)
stuffed inside a sausage casing. The white is equally gross but I'm not
sure what parts of the animal it's made up of. Get back to you later on
this. There is 1 piece of each. Each 2" round x 2" long and each is
fried in the fry-o-later along with 2 breakfast sausages. The fry-o-later
sits on the counter all the time filled with oil and ready to go.
Fried eggs: These are basted in a fry pan in oil
Half broiled tomato
Whole wheat toast with butter
Porridge
2 pieces of ham or maybe uncured bacon
After witnessing this, I went for a long walk before starting work and got 2 apples to eat on the way back.
I've been told that tomorrow will be an extra busy day. We will need to clean each room inch by inch because the workmen and students will be leaving for the weekend and Rose wants the rooms impeccably clean.
I don't think I used the treadmill or stair master enough before coming. I already hurt. It's just my first day.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
ROSE
Wed. April 9th 2014
Rose is my host. I thought she was about my age but she's actually 12 years younger. She lives here at Rosemont with Scotty. He's this little, happy-go-lucky guy who is very pleasant to be around and easy to talk to.
On my first night here, I was not allowed to do anything. Rose said she was making chicken curry for supper for 6 of us. Again, she would not let me do anything. She made it over rice and it was very delicious. We have a student staying here who attends the University down the road. His name is Shamus and he's from Killarney. We have 2 workers who stay during the week from Wexford. They have contracted work for a company dealing with the windmills in the area. Wexford is too far to commute so they sleep and eat here during the week. There are 7 rooms to rent here. I stay in one and am pleased to say I have my own bathroom! Awesome! The other 3 rooms are rented starting tomorrow. I know I will be quite busy when there are regular guests staying. Rose is proud to say she irons EVERYTHING! Not only does she iron the bedsheets on a press but again puts an iron to the sheets once they're on the bed. This should be interesting. This place is immaculately kept.
Rose has one daughter and one son. Her daughter Katherine, has a baby daughter who is coming here the weekend after next for her christening. Party and lots of food to follow---here. The baby daughter's name is Abbey. She was born with a heart problem and has already undergone 3 open-heart surgeries. She is termed by all the family as "The miracle baby". She's doing fabulous. They live on the Isle of Man. Rose calls her (Abbey) on the phone every night to say goodnight. I believe Abbey isn't quite one. It should be quite a party.
Right before Rose picked me up at the train station, she had a 2hr. session with a hypnotherapist to quit smoking. This is actually her first few hours being smoke-free. Scotty still smokes.
Rose has a bicycle! We are already talking about where I'm going first. It will be to Castlemane. But I have to go up and over some mountains to get there. It's probably only about 20 miles but 20 miles of extreme hills. We'll see. I'll have to see what the bus schedule looks like. I'm up for an all day bike ride but Scotty says the road to Castlemane in places is quite treacherous.
Rose has a dog. Her name is Gizzy. She was rescued by Rose after Rose learned she was being abused. Rose is an animal lover and has rescued numerous animals after which she will find appropriate homes for each. She kept Gizzy. I haven't actually been introduced to Gizzy yet. We have to go slow. Taking her for a walk with a leash will be the first step. She kind of looks like a large Scotty dog or Westie or Bichon-mix. I guess she has some Shitzu in her too. She's only 5.
It's dark already. I'm in my room with the window open...no screen. And it's very comfortable.
Tomorrow should be busy learning the ins and outs of what makes this home a lovely place to stay.
Word for today is.....ORANGE
It has come up several times today.
Rose is my host. I thought she was about my age but she's actually 12 years younger. She lives here at Rosemont with Scotty. He's this little, happy-go-lucky guy who is very pleasant to be around and easy to talk to.
On my first night here, I was not allowed to do anything. Rose said she was making chicken curry for supper for 6 of us. Again, she would not let me do anything. She made it over rice and it was very delicious. We have a student staying here who attends the University down the road. His name is Shamus and he's from Killarney. We have 2 workers who stay during the week from Wexford. They have contracted work for a company dealing with the windmills in the area. Wexford is too far to commute so they sleep and eat here during the week. There are 7 rooms to rent here. I stay in one and am pleased to say I have my own bathroom! Awesome! The other 3 rooms are rented starting tomorrow. I know I will be quite busy when there are regular guests staying. Rose is proud to say she irons EVERYTHING! Not only does she iron the bedsheets on a press but again puts an iron to the sheets once they're on the bed. This should be interesting. This place is immaculately kept.
Rose has one daughter and one son. Her daughter Katherine, has a baby daughter who is coming here the weekend after next for her christening. Party and lots of food to follow---here. The baby daughter's name is Abbey. She was born with a heart problem and has already undergone 3 open-heart surgeries. She is termed by all the family as "The miracle baby". She's doing fabulous. They live on the Isle of Man. Rose calls her (Abbey) on the phone every night to say goodnight. I believe Abbey isn't quite one. It should be quite a party.
Right before Rose picked me up at the train station, she had a 2hr. session with a hypnotherapist to quit smoking. This is actually her first few hours being smoke-free. Scotty still smokes.
Rose has a bicycle! We are already talking about where I'm going first. It will be to Castlemane. But I have to go up and over some mountains to get there. It's probably only about 20 miles but 20 miles of extreme hills. We'll see. I'll have to see what the bus schedule looks like. I'm up for an all day bike ride but Scotty says the road to Castlemane in places is quite treacherous.
Rose has a dog. Her name is Gizzy. She was rescued by Rose after Rose learned she was being abused. Rose is an animal lover and has rescued numerous animals after which she will find appropriate homes for each. She kept Gizzy. I haven't actually been introduced to Gizzy yet. We have to go slow. Taking her for a walk with a leash will be the first step. She kind of looks like a large Scotty dog or Westie or Bichon-mix. I guess she has some Shitzu in her too. She's only 5.
It's dark already. I'm in my room with the window open...no screen. And it's very comfortable.
Tomorrow should be busy learning the ins and outs of what makes this home a lovely place to stay.
Word for today is.....ORANGE
It has come up several times today.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
DUBLIN 1st day in Ireland
April 8th 2014
I arrived here in Dublin this morning at 8:30 a.m. local time after a good flight comprised mostly of sleeping. I do like overnight flights. One little glass of wine and it's lights out Irene. The airport is quite nice--small in comparison let's say to Atlanta where you have to take a train to get to baggage claim. I lucked out by following the signs to taxis and busses when a bus pulled up and said Heuston
Station on the front. I knew the hotel I was staying at was very near to Heuston Rail Station. But I didn't have to guess if it was the right bus because one young man asked with a smile if he could help and even offered to put my suitcase on the bus for me. So far everyone has been outstandingly helpful and always with a smile. I had heard that people in Ireland are one of the friendliest of countries in Europe. So far everyone is right. On the way to Temple Bar I saw a place you could rent a Segway to see the sights. That would be so much fun. If it was a little warmer and I could find that place again, I think I'd really like to do that. It would be like renting a moped only maybe a little safer because of the 3 wheels.
I chose to stay in a hotel for one night here in Dublin so I could get to see the city; knowing I may not be back in this area once I start work in the western part of the country. And I chose Temple Bar area here because it is where Trinity College is and it is right on the Liffey River and I read it is the place to be at night for live music. So far almost everyone I see on the streets are college-aged kids. Also there are quite a lot of bicycles ridden my many even in this 40 deg. weather. Yes, it is quite cool today. But with the sun out is quite pleasant. I am very glad I brought my lined rain parka. It is perfect for a day like today.
So I've been walking all day (only got lost once) and like many college towns has restaurants of every ethnicity. I ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Once I saw hummus and tabbouli and felafel, I looked no further. It was excellent. The Lebanese coffee made Italian espresso seem mild.
I met 2 girls from Croatia on vacation. They giggled and showed surprise when I said that in U.S., Croatia was getting to be a great place to vacation with its' beautiful beaches.
So tomorrow I will walk about a mile along the Liffey River to get to the train station by 1 when it leaves for the 4 hr. trip to Tralee. Rose will pick me up at 5 to take me to Rosemont B&B---my new home for 2 months! Looking forward to it.
visit: www.rosemontbnbtralee.com to see where I'll be.
I arrived here in Dublin this morning at 8:30 a.m. local time after a good flight comprised mostly of sleeping. I do like overnight flights. One little glass of wine and it's lights out Irene. The airport is quite nice--small in comparison let's say to Atlanta where you have to take a train to get to baggage claim. I lucked out by following the signs to taxis and busses when a bus pulled up and said Heuston
Station on the front. I knew the hotel I was staying at was very near to Heuston Rail Station. But I didn't have to guess if it was the right bus because one young man asked with a smile if he could help and even offered to put my suitcase on the bus for me. So far everyone has been outstandingly helpful and always with a smile. I had heard that people in Ireland are one of the friendliest of countries in Europe. So far everyone is right. On the way to Temple Bar I saw a place you could rent a Segway to see the sights. That would be so much fun. If it was a little warmer and I could find that place again, I think I'd really like to do that. It would be like renting a moped only maybe a little safer because of the 3 wheels.
I chose to stay in a hotel for one night here in Dublin so I could get to see the city; knowing I may not be back in this area once I start work in the western part of the country. And I chose Temple Bar area here because it is where Trinity College is and it is right on the Liffey River and I read it is the place to be at night for live music. So far almost everyone I see on the streets are college-aged kids. Also there are quite a lot of bicycles ridden my many even in this 40 deg. weather. Yes, it is quite cool today. But with the sun out is quite pleasant. I am very glad I brought my lined rain parka. It is perfect for a day like today.
So I've been walking all day (only got lost once) and like many college towns has restaurants of every ethnicity. I ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Once I saw hummus and tabbouli and felafel, I looked no further. It was excellent. The Lebanese coffee made Italian espresso seem mild.
I met 2 girls from Croatia on vacation. They giggled and showed surprise when I said that in U.S., Croatia was getting to be a great place to vacation with its' beautiful beaches.
So tomorrow I will walk about a mile along the Liffey River to get to the train station by 1 when it leaves for the 4 hr. trip to Tralee. Rose will pick me up at 5 to take me to Rosemont B&B---my new home for 2 months! Looking forward to it.
visit: www.rosemontbnbtralee.com to see where I'll be.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
FILLING MY SUITCASE
April 2, 2014
Today I will drag out my carry-on sized suitcase leaving it open and available to add things as I think of them. Packing last minute on Monday morning is not an option for this trip. Historically I have been able to pack in 5 minutes for most trips. But not this one. I will refer to Rick Steves packing list published online just as a reminder. I see the weather where I am going is almost exactly the same weather we are having here right now. It's cloudy, rainy and cool--in the 50's. So I'll have to dress in layers. One goal I have today is to go to Barnes and Noble book store and get maps of Ireland including a street map. I plan on biking a lot so a street map is a necessity. Getting lost I am sure will be part of my daily activity. Having a map will help me to know just how lost I am. Excited and anxious today.
Today I will drag out my carry-on sized suitcase leaving it open and available to add things as I think of them. Packing last minute on Monday morning is not an option for this trip. Historically I have been able to pack in 5 minutes for most trips. But not this one. I will refer to Rick Steves packing list published online just as a reminder. I see the weather where I am going is almost exactly the same weather we are having here right now. It's cloudy, rainy and cool--in the 50's. So I'll have to dress in layers. One goal I have today is to go to Barnes and Noble book store and get maps of Ireland including a street map. I plan on biking a lot so a street map is a necessity. Getting lost I am sure will be part of my daily activity. Having a map will help me to know just how lost I am. Excited and anxious today.
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