Monday, August 22, 2011

Put it in the wash, it'll be grand.

We are finally here/there. County Cork in the town called Schull. I am exhausted and without clean clothes. That's right folks not only were we delayed for a day in NYC which caused me to miss two, count them, two Farmer's markets, but the airline and its oh so awesomeness lost my luggage and they have no idea where it is. I'm without clean everything. We had to buy body wash and tomorrow clothes shopping. I wonder how much I can spend and bill us airways. They told me to keep all receipts. And to contact them when we move B&Bs if I don't get it by the time we leave Schull. Seriously, I am trying not to let the fact that I have no clothes bring me down. But its tough.


To catch you up, Friday night we ended up stranded in NYC. Luckily, our cousin and his wife were awesome enough to take us in. On Saturday morning, we enjoyed fabulous breakfast at Pastsi's then took a walk on the Highline. The highline is old rail way that they turned into a park. Great views of NYC from the third level point of view. We also walked through Chelsea Market which was awesome and I wish I had more time there. They had a place with all kinds of flavored vinegars, oils, and salts. The bacon salt and peach vinegar were my favs! Our flight out of NYC was at 4:00 to DC then 6:00 to Philly then 9:00 to Dublin.


Our first day seemed so long. We arrived in Dublin right at 9am. We had no idea what to do about the missing bag until about 10am and by the time we got our car, it was 11am. SO …(Kaitie was just now sleeping with her mouth open..lol). Anyways… We hired a Nissan Micra. Its tiny but not tiny enough I would find out. Driving on the left in the left side of the car is semi difficult. I forgot sometimes if there wasn’t someone in front of me. And I forgot on the highway when I was in the far right lane and everyone and their mother were passing me looking at me like go faster or move over. Kait got a catnap in and let me tell you before we hit Cork I was having issues staying awake. After Cork it was roundabout after roundabout then small village with even smaller roads. Small roads with cars parked on each side and having two cars try to pass eachother sometimes results in to mirrors meeting and the driver cursing. Not me mind you. : ) Anyways, then another roundabout. Sometimes I missed the correct exit and just drove around in the circle until I got it right. Don’t judge. Bandon, Skibbereen and finally Schull at about 430pm (Irish time five hours ahead).
Grove House is super cute but not overly so. Just the right amount of quaint. We have the room called Yeats. It has two twin beds and a very nice bathroom. The beds both have down comforters which help at night because it gets chilly. Our hostess, Katarina is absolutely the best. She is very helpful with our questions and makes us hot tea whenever and wherever we want it. We had tea as soon as we got to the house. Then we headed into the village to find me some clothes. Everything was very overwhelming and I was so tired I couldn’t even decide. (the owner told me I looked shell-shocked. ) onward, to the best fish and chip place in town according to Fingal, which by the way is called Fish Shop, right on the harbor. Fish & Chips that don’t taste fishy, yes please. We finished our night in the local Pub called Hacketts. Most everyone was outside because it was gorgeous and sunny which is rare. We stayed inside or rather got stuck insides by two gents who told us everything and anything we wanted and didn’t want to know. They also had us try both a Guiness and Murphy’s to decide which we preferred. Neither but if I had to choose Guiness is lighter and tastes less like burnt coffee. Later, while tucked in our B&B we had hot tea which I am started to love and played double solitaire. Kaitie won. And fell into bed.

Monday: Almost over slept today but made it downstairs just in time for freshly prepared breakfast. Eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, fresh bread, oj and hot tea. Tomorrow I think I am going to enquire what an irish breakfast contains. Maybe some blood pudding? Airport dude called and they found my luggage but don’t know when they can get it to me. : ( at least it is in the same country as me. We finished breakfast and took a much needed shower then I put on dirty clothes…shower seems pointless. : ). I went back to the shop in town and found a hoodie and a long sleeve shirt. And I’m billing USair. And they will pay. Or else.. dun dun dun… The people in the shop were very sweet and gave us directions to the mizen head signal house. It was about 30 mins he said. I think it took me a hour. I’m telling you driving up the hill was no fun. And the little towns turn my knuckles white. A few gray hairs, a stop off to an old tomb, and 6 euros each later, Kaitie and I spent the next two hours with are cameras attached to our eyes, our mouths open, and our heads shaking marveling at how beautiful the Mizen Head Signal house is. My thighs are going to hurt from all the 20degree ramps and the steep steps but I won’t ever forget this place. The weather was absolutely perfect according to the very cute Irishman manning the signal house. And he was right. Blue Skies as far as the eye could see. And we can see pretty far. The drive back wasn’t as terrible.



  I beginning to think it would be real easy to drive on the left all the time. Maybe I’ll stay.  Dinner, we ate at the Bunratty Inn. We had the most amazing cheese, Gubbeen cheese, locally made, that was fried and served over a salad with a port wine sauce. Overall, best day, tho it is only our second day and it will only get better. Big smiles…

Cheers- Jillian

1 comment:

  1. I am SOOOO glad that you are keeping a blog. I hope you two are settling and I can't wait to hear all about the juicy details when you arrive home. Bring me some sort of cheap trinket! I collect!

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