The past couple of days have been pretty surreal. I became a Grandpa. Holy shit. I definitely don't think of myself as a Grandpa, nor do I feel like a Grandpa. For hells sake, I am not old enough to be in this role. It is not a title that I gave to myself either. It was given to me, by my Daughter, Kalie. I suppose that technically, she is my Step-Daughter, but I have never really been a fan of the "step" term, and it was always important to me go not hyphenate our relationship. I didn't want to treat any of my kids any different. They were all my kids, the moment I married their Mother and took on that responsibility. You just don't divorce kids, and I will always love all of them. I became a Father to three beautiful girls overnight when I was 23. I never would have imagined that 8 years later I would be taking on the role of Grandpa as well.
Since my divorce, I was pretty much forcibly removed from my kids lives. It was made clear that I legally only had rights to retain a relationship with Preslie, and I had to fight for that. It tore my heart out. I know that Mandie loves her kids, but I just could not understand how she could sever that relationship between me and Kalie, Burklie, and Rylie. Just like that. It was like I never existed, and the past almost 7 years had never happened.
Mandie actually told me about Kalie being pregnant first, just a week after Kalie told her. It was nearly a whole month before Kalie and I finally talked about it, and she broke the news to me by saying, "Are you excited to be a Grandpa?" I felt that it was Kalie's decision to call me what she liked, and give me whatever "title" she felt comfortable with. That has always been my feelings on the topic, ever since I first got married. I did not want the kids to be forced to call me "Dad" or anything else for that matter unless they wanted to, and were comfortable doing so. It should be their decision.
Throughout Kalie's entire pregnancy, she has reminded me that I am going to be a "Grandpa". I pretty much just went along with it, as Kalie will always be my girl in my eyes, so I suppose it just seemed fitting. Kalie was texting me the whole week leading up to her delivery to tell me about the baby and keep me updated, and then invited me to come to the Hospital after Paisley was born. Mandie was there, her Grandma was there, her boyfriend Justin was there, and his Mother was there as well. I was the first person she told and invited to come visit, and she told me that, "I should feel special, because she didn't invite anyone else."
When I showed up, it was made MORE than clear how not happy Mandie was to see me there. I was called a number of very unpleasant things, and reminded that I was NOT family, and had no right or business to be there. I kept my mouth shut, and took it. I was not there to make a scene, or fight, or even for her. I was there for Kalie, by request, and it was her special day. I was overwhelmed with excitement and love for her and this sweet little miracle that was now a part of our lives. Eventually, Mandie chilled out a little bit, and became fairly cordial. We talked a little bit, and tried to just enjoy the moment. We both took pictures with baby Paisley, and I assumed that was the end of that.
This morning, I went to see Kalie and Paisley again. I felt bad that my presence contributed in any way to her special day being anything less than perfect. Kalie is such a sweetheart though. She reminded me several times that she loves me, and it reminded me what was really important.
Later this evening, I went to the gym after work, and got a call from Mandie, only it was Preslie. I could hear Mandie in the background telling Preslie what to say, and then Preslie says, "Can I go to Lake Powell with my parents this weekend?"
Her parents? When did I suddenly stop being a part of that equation? What really upset me about that, is that this was an issue that Mandie and I have discussed in depth. Not to mention that this is my weekend with Preslie, and Mandie had already asked me last week if I would just let Preslie go with her, and I said no. I am just not willing to give up my time with her. Especially with no notice, when other arrangements can be made so that I don't lose my time with Preslie. I want to be in her life. Mandie is just hell bent on trying to phase me out of Preslie's life. She started telling Preslie to call this new guy "Dad" while they were just dating. I had a huge problem with that. Now they are married, and she seems to think that my role as Preslie's father is irrelevant. This new guy is her "New Dad", and I'm just her "other Dad". Now her and this other guy Mark are her "Parents"? HELL NO. How is that possibly supposed to not bother me? Am I being too sensitive about it?
I have really made a lot of effort to improve the dynamic and communication between Mandie and I. If for no other reason, than for Preslie's sake. Secondly, I want to be happy and have some sanity.
Anyways, I just needed to vent. Even if it's just writing here on my blog. I don't really care if anyone reads this or not, as it helps me to vent my thoughts and feelings one way or another.
Now I'm just irritated for the time being, and am eating chocolate ice cream. Ha.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
My Stupid Mouth....
Any of my closest friends can tell you this about me. I have a tendency to say too much. I have a tendency to go too far. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I definitely suffer from "Foot in Mouth" disease. Even now, as I type this blog, I am doing it.
More than once, I have said too much and said it too quickly. I am not a good liar. While I would like to think that is an admirable quality, it seems to backfire more often than naught. I think too much, and end up rushing things and getting ahead of myself.
Music definitely has a profound affect on me as well. I have always been easily influenced by the tone and mood of the music I am listening too. The more sappy music I listen too, the more I tend to consume myself in the what-ifs and has been's. I was listening to too much music like this today, and almost found myself writing one of those again tonight. So in lieu of offending anyone, or making anyone uncomfortable, or possible painting myself any further into this corner I find myself in recently, I am going to show some self-control and refrain.
If you are actually reading this, then consider yourself lucky. But don't get too used to it, because I don't always have this measure of self control. It's time to put the headphones back on, close my eyes, and imagine that tomorrow won't be exactly as I expect it to be. Perhaps I'll be surprised. Perhaps..
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Mosquitos.
Apparently the mosquito's are alcoholics, because they went to town on me over the weekend. Seriously. F those stupid little drunk bastards! I am tore up. My arms, shoulders, and legs are completely covered in mosquito bites. I have been scratching like there's no tomorrow for the past 2 days, and it kind of sucks. OK, that is a lie. It pretty much is hell.
I tried that whole "mind over matter" crap, and tried to restrain from scratching, but the more I thought about not scratching the terrible horrendous itch that is my body, the worse it got. And taking a shower? Forget about it. Eventually, you have to get out of the shower and dry off. That means touching and rubbing with a towel. RUBBING. This morning, as I was getting out of the shower, I looked in the mirror and said, "Damn. That is a whole lotta sexy right there." Ha. No, but seriously.
I tried that whole "mind over matter" crap, and tried to restrain from scratching, but the more I thought about not scratching the terrible horrendous itch that is my body, the worse it got. And taking a shower? Forget about it. Eventually, you have to get out of the shower and dry off. That means touching and rubbing with a towel. RUBBING. This morning, as I was getting out of the shower, I looked in the mirror and said, "Damn. That is a whole lotta sexy right there." Ha. No, but seriously.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Days 10-11 in Ireland
It has been a great start to the week so far. On Monday, I went in to work as usual, and met the two new members of our Mozy L2 team. They both seemed like good guys. I had the opportunity to participate in a phone interview with one of them a few months back, so I was glad to see that he made it on board. After work on Monday, Nate and I were both pretty tired and worn out, so we decided to make it a chill out night back at the hotel. After picking up some cheap spare shoes from the Penny's on our way home, we just went our separate ways for the night. I started to watch the EUFA 2012 game that was on at the bar in our hotel downstairs, but decided to go out and find some snacks and go for a walk instead. It had been raining, but cleared up, and I wanted to seize the opportunity to see a little more of the downtown area of our new hotel at The Clarion. After walking around and checking things out for about 1 1/2 hours, I headed back to the hotel, snacks in hand, and then ordered some pizza for delivery. I was finally able to get a hold of Mandie and set up another FaceTime with Preslie, which made my whole night. It was so good to see her smiling face! She seemed pretty excited to see me on Friday, which of course made me feel good as well.
After talking to Preslie for awhile, I decided to take a bath in the nice big tub in my room. I killed all the lights, and then watched a movie on my laptop and just relaxed in the bath for awhile. I never usually take baths, so it was a nice change. After that I finally went to bed and got a couple hours of sleep before starting all over today.
Today was a big day at work, as we had a bunch of the Executives in town for an All-Hands Meeting, and then the big Sales Kick-Off Event at the Oysterhaven Resort. The day actually went fairly quickly, and then we headed out to Oysterhaven. It was ssssooooo much better than I was expecting! All day long, it had pretty much been raining, and the weather forecast didn't give too much hope. The temperature had basically stayed in the high 50's to low 60's all week so far too, so I expected it would just be a cold, wet, rainy, muddy experience. As we got off work, the clouds started to break, and the sun actually came out a bit. The whole event was basically a big "team-building" event, but was actually a lot more fun than I had expected as well. We had competing teams, and started off with an obstacle course through the forest and the mud. My team ended up having a few of the older Executives on it, so I figured we were going to lose, but alas, we triumphed! We ended up winning nearly every competition and race. By the end we were all completely covered in mud, and moved on to the water sports. After starting off with the "Atlantic Challenge", which was basically us walking out into the Atlantic Ocean in the harbor there, and dunking ourselves, we headed back to get suited up in our wetsuits. It has been a really, really, really long time since I've worn a wetsuit, and forgot about how difficult it is to get into one. Seriously.
Finally, after we had all suited up, we went out to do some water sports in the harbor. We played polo on kayaks, and then we paddled out in these rafts to a dock that was a little ways out, and did the "Moonwalk". This was basically just a 20 foot or so inflatable tube that was tied to the floating dock which you were supposed to run across to the end without falling off. The goal was actually to make it all the way to the other side, and then do a front flip off into the water. After making a couple attempts, we paddled back to get showered and cleaned up, and then enjoyed a nice BBQ and drinks back at the lodge. We finished up and started to head back around 10pm or so, and it was still completely light outside. The sun was just starting to set, and it was still sunny and pretty decent outside. Everyone had a great time, and we all left with a smile on our faces. Unfortunately, as we were in the mud and water the entire time, I wasn't able to take any pictures. We did have some people taking pics throughout the evening, so hopefully I can get my hands on a few of those.
I really do love my job. I have some amazing co-workers too. I have really loved spending the last 2 weeks out here with my extended Mozy family, getting to know each of them, and explore Ireland a little bit. I have never felt so welcome and such amazing and genuine kindness from a new group of people. It seems that the vast majority of the people here are just genuinely kind and happy. I would gladly return any time, and feel like I've made some real friends here as well. Ireland is a beautiful country, full of beautiful people. :)
Now off to bed...
After talking to Preslie for awhile, I decided to take a bath in the nice big tub in my room. I killed all the lights, and then watched a movie on my laptop and just relaxed in the bath for awhile. I never usually take baths, so it was a nice change. After that I finally went to bed and got a couple hours of sleep before starting all over today.
Today was a big day at work, as we had a bunch of the Executives in town for an All-Hands Meeting, and then the big Sales Kick-Off Event at the Oysterhaven Resort. The day actually went fairly quickly, and then we headed out to Oysterhaven. It was ssssooooo much better than I was expecting! All day long, it had pretty much been raining, and the weather forecast didn't give too much hope. The temperature had basically stayed in the high 50's to low 60's all week so far too, so I expected it would just be a cold, wet, rainy, muddy experience. As we got off work, the clouds started to break, and the sun actually came out a bit. The whole event was basically a big "team-building" event, but was actually a lot more fun than I had expected as well. We had competing teams, and started off with an obstacle course through the forest and the mud. My team ended up having a few of the older Executives on it, so I figured we were going to lose, but alas, we triumphed! We ended up winning nearly every competition and race. By the end we were all completely covered in mud, and moved on to the water sports. After starting off with the "Atlantic Challenge", which was basically us walking out into the Atlantic Ocean in the harbor there, and dunking ourselves, we headed back to get suited up in our wetsuits. It has been a really, really, really long time since I've worn a wetsuit, and forgot about how difficult it is to get into one. Seriously.
Finally, after we had all suited up, we went out to do some water sports in the harbor. We played polo on kayaks, and then we paddled out in these rafts to a dock that was a little ways out, and did the "Moonwalk". This was basically just a 20 foot or so inflatable tube that was tied to the floating dock which you were supposed to run across to the end without falling off. The goal was actually to make it all the way to the other side, and then do a front flip off into the water. After making a couple attempts, we paddled back to get showered and cleaned up, and then enjoyed a nice BBQ and drinks back at the lodge. We finished up and started to head back around 10pm or so, and it was still completely light outside. The sun was just starting to set, and it was still sunny and pretty decent outside. Everyone had a great time, and we all left with a smile on our faces. Unfortunately, as we were in the mud and water the entire time, I wasn't able to take any pictures. We did have some people taking pics throughout the evening, so hopefully I can get my hands on a few of those.
I really do love my job. I have some amazing co-workers too. I have really loved spending the last 2 weeks out here with my extended Mozy family, getting to know each of them, and explore Ireland a little bit. I have never felt so welcome and such amazing and genuine kindness from a new group of people. It seems that the vast majority of the people here are just genuinely kind and happy. I would gladly return any time, and feel like I've made some real friends here as well. Ireland is a beautiful country, full of beautiful people. :)
Now off to bed...
Lost in Translation....
In Ireland, lots of things are different. At the same time, quite a few things are the same as well. Human nature is still the same. You still get cliques and social classes at work. You still have college students that want to party and have a good time.
Besides the obvious difference in the language and the accents, the very first difference I discovered was driving on the left side of the road, and having the steering wheel on the right side of the car. I cannot tell you how absolutely weird that was at first. Traffic rules are quite different too. I thought it was pretty funny that they would just give a foreigner a car like that and send them on their way without any kind of driving test or such.
As if it wasn't hard enough to understand people with their thick Irish accents, throw in the fact that a lot of things are called something entirely different here, and you have a recipe for confusion and embarrassment. Here is a small list of words and their English equivalents as I've understood them so far:
IRISH English (U.S.)
Articulated Lori's = Semi-Truck
Plasters = Band aid
Skips = Garbage bins
Zapper = Remote Control
Boot = Trunk
Chips = French Fries
Crisps = Chips
Yoke = This thing
Bird = Girl, Girlfriend
Lads = Fellas , Guys
Gauls = Girls
Fag = Cigarette
Arse = Backside , Butt
Artist = Person getting social security
Black = Crowded
Bog = Restroom
Bold = Naughty
Bolloxed = Very drunk
Boyo = Young Person
Brasser = Prostitute
Chiseler = Young Child
Covers = Blankets
Da = Father
Mum = Mother
Fair Play = Well Done!
Feck = The other "F" word
Grand = Fine, Lovely
Murder = Difficult
Pissed = VERY drunk
Rashers = Bacon Slices
Shorts = Shots of Liquor
Wrecked = Tired
Up the Pole = Pregnant
Solicitor = Lawyer
This is somewhat sloppy and thrown together, so please forgive the terrible lack of formatting.
Besides the obvious difference in the language and the accents, the very first difference I discovered was driving on the left side of the road, and having the steering wheel on the right side of the car. I cannot tell you how absolutely weird that was at first. Traffic rules are quite different too. I thought it was pretty funny that they would just give a foreigner a car like that and send them on their way without any kind of driving test or such.
As if it wasn't hard enough to understand people with their thick Irish accents, throw in the fact that a lot of things are called something entirely different here, and you have a recipe for confusion and embarrassment. Here is a small list of words and their English equivalents as I've understood them so far:
IRISH English (U.S.)
Articulated Lori's = Semi-Truck
Plasters = Band aid
Skips = Garbage bins
Zapper = Remote Control
Boot = Trunk
Chips = French Fries
Crisps = Chips
Yoke = This thing
Bird = Girl, Girlfriend
Lads = Fellas , Guys
Gauls = Girls
Fag = Cigarette
Arse = Backside , Butt
Artist = Person getting social security
Black = Crowded
Bog = Restroom
Bold = Naughty
Bolloxed = Very drunk
Boyo = Young Person
Brasser = Prostitute
Chiseler = Young Child
Covers = Blankets
Da = Father
Mum = Mother
Fair Play = Well Done!
Feck = The other "F" word
Grand = Fine, Lovely
Murder = Difficult
Pissed = VERY drunk
Rashers = Bacon Slices
Shorts = Shots of Liquor
Wrecked = Tired
Up the Pole = Pregnant
Solicitor = Lawyer
This is somewhat sloppy and thrown together, so please forgive the terrible lack of formatting.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Day 9 in Ireland
I suppose the title of this post is a little bit off, as it includes the events that occurred on Saturday night, as well as what happened on Sunday. On Saturday night, I was relaxing at the hotel, but was getting quite irritated that I had not been able to get a hold of Preslie. I had talked to Mandie about doing some FaceTime so that I could see and talk to Preslie while I was away, and so far, I have only been able to do it once. Since then, I have tried unsuccessfully every night to get a hold of her. Finally, on Saturday night, I suddenly came across an old message on Facebook from Mandie, which had a strange name attached...and really the only reason that I noticed it was that I didn't recognize the name: Mandie Allred. To explain further, Mandie and I are not friends on Facebook, and since our divorce, has thus far kept my last name to my knowledge. When I looked at the profile picture closer, I noticed that it was of her and her boyfriend, while he was wearing his Air Force uniform, and she was wearing a wedding dress. I did a little searching, and discovered that apparently she got married this last week. Totally didn't even tell me about it. The part that really bothers me, is that apparently the wedding was in Las Vegas, but under our Divorce agreement, neither one of us are allowed to take Preslie out of State without notifying the other parent in writing at least 30 days prior. Preslie is also not allowed to ever be left alone with a non-family member, and if she is being babysat for more than 2 hours, the other parent has to be notified. Obviously with me being in Ireland, this makes some of this a little more complicated. Point is though, either way, she broke the terms of our divorce one way or another.
This did not make me very happy, not to mention all of the other obvious reasons why it would bother me. The more I sat and thought about it, the more pissed off I was getting. I decided that I needed to go out and walk it off. I sent an email to one of the lads here named David Daly to see if he wanted to get together for a pint or 4, and then headed out downtown.
After grabbing a quick bite at McDonald's, I met up with David at a local bar, and jumped right into the drinks. We decided to make a night of it, and David gave me the official Cork, Ireland bar hopping experience. We bounced from one pub to another, grabbing a pint or a shot at each, and then moved on to the next. I don't remember how many we were at, I just remember that all of them had absolutely gorgeous women, loud music, and most of them also had DJ's spinning music as well. At one point, we were at this place where we were packed in so tightly, you couldn't put your arms down. Suddenly, "Killing In The Name Of" by Rage Against the Machine came on, and the place erupted. Everyone was jumping up and down, and you had to as well, mostly because you were trying not to spill your drink.
Eventually, we made last call, which I believe was at 2am, and then headed over to a local chicken fast food place called "Hillbillies" to grab a quick bite. Along the way, I was realizing how completely smashed I was, and could barely walk. Suddenly, David asks me, "Do you want to get your picture with the Garda?" The Garda is the local Police. I said sure. We crossed the street and approached a group of 4 Garda standing on the corner. David started asking the reluctant female Garda members if they'd like to take a picture. They were not exactly game about it...ha ha. David was persistent, explaining how I was from the U.S. and such. Finally, one of them said, "You can take a picture with Michael here I guess.." I walked up to him so David could take the pic, and at the last second threw my drunk arm around his shoulder. Next, we saw a "Paddy Wagon" with some other Garda who were stopped on the side of the road, and David decided we should get a picture of that too. They were even less enthusiastic about it than the other ones. In fact, these ones told us to "Bugger off"and a few other things I didn't quite understand. Took the pic anyways :) ha ha ha
By then, I was so far gone, I had no idea where I was, couldn't quite see clearly, and definitely couldn't walk straight either. David was nice enough to walk me back to my hotel at The River Lee, and I managed to get into my room, just in time to pass out on my bed sometime after 3am. The next morning, I woke up with the sudden awesome urge to puke, and dashed into the bathroom just in time. I thought to myself, "That was a nice rental of all that delicious booze.." I took a shower, in an effort to wash off my hangover, which didn't work, then realized I had an hour before checkout at noon, and I had not packed up my room yet. I managed to do it with 5 minutes left, and then checked out of The River Lee.
A few minutes later, I met up with Nate and we headed downtown to check in at our next hotel, The Clarion. I was lucky enough to get upgraded to a nice "Executive Suite" free of charge, and Nate was upgraded to a "Superior Suite", which apparently is one up. I saw his room, and it has an amazing private balcony as it is a corner room, which wraps all of the way around the corner of the room. It also has an amazing view of Cork and the river as well. My room has an equally amazing view, only it has a rounded wall view that is jaw dropping.
Next, we met up with David Daly again, and another lad from work named Brian Honohan, and headed out to go mountain biking. Previously, I was all sorts of excited about this. Now, with a hangover, not so much. I was soon about to learn an important life lesson. Do not go mountain biking with a stomach full of booze and a terrible hangover. We arrived at the spot, which is basically a forest set up in some mountains. Ireland's version of a mountain that is.. I made it about 20-25 minutes into the trail before the learning 2 things:
1. My back is not quite ready for mountain biking.
2. Puking sucks when your back hurts.
I was trailing behind the other guys, but had to jump off the bike and walk it until I found them waiting a little bit ahead. As I was letting them know I would have to head back and just meet them where we rented the bikes, I realized I was going to be sick, but hoped I could walk away out of sight and hide my shame. Alas, it was not in the cards for me this day. After fully expunging all of the booze and other contents from my guts, I finished walking my bike back down to the start of the trail. It was a giant disappointment.
The guys finished the trail about an hour later, and we headed over to this cool Estate that was somewhat nearby. The Mansion itself is set on a very beautifully landscaped property, that is just massive. Unfortunately, I can't remember what it was called though. While we were walking around the grounds there, we came across some deer, which came right up to us, and probably would have ate out of our hands if we had any food on us. Took a few cool photos and some video of that and posted them to Facebook.
Finally, we headed back to the Hotel, and I was finally able to actually get into my room, as it wasn't ready when we first checked in. Amazing views and actually pretty nice! Nate and I wanted to check out the Euro 2012 game, as it was Ireland vs. Croatia, so we headed back out to a local restaurant/pub to catch the game. We heard from the locals that Ireland was pretty terrible, and it was basically just a good excuse to get "pissed". Pissed = Drunk. Sure enough, Ireland played a terrible game, and lost 4-1. The game ended, and we called it a night.
This did not make me very happy, not to mention all of the other obvious reasons why it would bother me. The more I sat and thought about it, the more pissed off I was getting. I decided that I needed to go out and walk it off. I sent an email to one of the lads here named David Daly to see if he wanted to get together for a pint or 4, and then headed out downtown.
After grabbing a quick bite at McDonald's, I met up with David at a local bar, and jumped right into the drinks. We decided to make a night of it, and David gave me the official Cork, Ireland bar hopping experience. We bounced from one pub to another, grabbing a pint or a shot at each, and then moved on to the next. I don't remember how many we were at, I just remember that all of them had absolutely gorgeous women, loud music, and most of them also had DJ's spinning music as well. At one point, we were at this place where we were packed in so tightly, you couldn't put your arms down. Suddenly, "Killing In The Name Of" by Rage Against the Machine came on, and the place erupted. Everyone was jumping up and down, and you had to as well, mostly because you were trying not to spill your drink.
Eventually, we made last call, which I believe was at 2am, and then headed over to a local chicken fast food place called "Hillbillies" to grab a quick bite. Along the way, I was realizing how completely smashed I was, and could barely walk. Suddenly, David asks me, "Do you want to get your picture with the Garda?" The Garda is the local Police. I said sure. We crossed the street and approached a group of 4 Garda standing on the corner. David started asking the reluctant female Garda members if they'd like to take a picture. They were not exactly game about it...ha ha. David was persistent, explaining how I was from the U.S. and such. Finally, one of them said, "You can take a picture with Michael here I guess.." I walked up to him so David could take the pic, and at the last second threw my drunk arm around his shoulder. Next, we saw a "Paddy Wagon" with some other Garda who were stopped on the side of the road, and David decided we should get a picture of that too. They were even less enthusiastic about it than the other ones. In fact, these ones told us to "Bugger off"and a few other things I didn't quite understand. Took the pic anyways :) ha ha ha
By then, I was so far gone, I had no idea where I was, couldn't quite see clearly, and definitely couldn't walk straight either. David was nice enough to walk me back to my hotel at The River Lee, and I managed to get into my room, just in time to pass out on my bed sometime after 3am. The next morning, I woke up with the sudden awesome urge to puke, and dashed into the bathroom just in time. I thought to myself, "That was a nice rental of all that delicious booze.." I took a shower, in an effort to wash off my hangover, which didn't work, then realized I had an hour before checkout at noon, and I had not packed up my room yet. I managed to do it with 5 minutes left, and then checked out of The River Lee.
A few minutes later, I met up with Nate and we headed downtown to check in at our next hotel, The Clarion. I was lucky enough to get upgraded to a nice "Executive Suite" free of charge, and Nate was upgraded to a "Superior Suite", which apparently is one up. I saw his room, and it has an amazing private balcony as it is a corner room, which wraps all of the way around the corner of the room. It also has an amazing view of Cork and the river as well. My room has an equally amazing view, only it has a rounded wall view that is jaw dropping.
Next, we met up with David Daly again, and another lad from work named Brian Honohan, and headed out to go mountain biking. Previously, I was all sorts of excited about this. Now, with a hangover, not so much. I was soon about to learn an important life lesson. Do not go mountain biking with a stomach full of booze and a terrible hangover. We arrived at the spot, which is basically a forest set up in some mountains. Ireland's version of a mountain that is.. I made it about 20-25 minutes into the trail before the learning 2 things:
1. My back is not quite ready for mountain biking.
2. Puking sucks when your back hurts.
I was trailing behind the other guys, but had to jump off the bike and walk it until I found them waiting a little bit ahead. As I was letting them know I would have to head back and just meet them where we rented the bikes, I realized I was going to be sick, but hoped I could walk away out of sight and hide my shame. Alas, it was not in the cards for me this day. After fully expunging all of the booze and other contents from my guts, I finished walking my bike back down to the start of the trail. It was a giant disappointment.
The guys finished the trail about an hour later, and we headed over to this cool Estate that was somewhat nearby. The Mansion itself is set on a very beautifully landscaped property, that is just massive. Unfortunately, I can't remember what it was called though. While we were walking around the grounds there, we came across some deer, which came right up to us, and probably would have ate out of our hands if we had any food on us. Took a few cool photos and some video of that and posted them to Facebook.
Finally, we headed back to the Hotel, and I was finally able to actually get into my room, as it wasn't ready when we first checked in. Amazing views and actually pretty nice! Nate and I wanted to check out the Euro 2012 game, as it was Ireland vs. Croatia, so we headed back out to a local restaurant/pub to catch the game. We heard from the locals that Ireland was pretty terrible, and it was basically just a good excuse to get "pissed". Pissed = Drunk. Sure enough, Ireland played a terrible game, and lost 4-1. The game ended, and we called it a night.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Days 5-8 in Ireland...
I've fallen a little behind with my posts, as it's been a pretty busy week. Lots of pics have been uploaded to Facebook, but that's about as far as I've made it. On Wednesday of this week, I went to work, and then had the opportunity to go to a Hurling game. I had heard of Hurling before, but knew nothing more about it. Apparently it is the National sport of Ireland, and was founded here. It is also considered one of the fastest sports in the world. Very cool stuff. A lot more intense and involved than I thought it would be. Really enjoyed the event, and all of the cursing too! ha ha ha! People here are so passionate about their sports, it is pretty amazing. And they all say the "F" word quite a bit. It's quite entertaining actually. My favorite quote of the day by an older gentleman somewhere in his late 60's to 70's, "F$%K ball!........F*$K!!!!" A big thank you to Niall Fahy for dragging us out to the game!
On Thursday, after another exhilarating day at work, we had the pleasure of going "Karting", otherwise known as "Go-Carting" in the States. This event was sponsored by VMware, and we had about 40+ people show up to compete. It was the real deal. We all got dressed up in full head to toe rain gear, including helmets and hair nets. The course was the biggest Karting course I've ever seen, and the Karts were VERY fast. Upwards of 60 KPH, or about 30-40 MPH. This is fast when you're sitting in a little Kart flying through the course with only partial visibility due to the rain and wind. It was wet. It was cold. It was a ton of fun! We made it back to our hotel just after 11pm, but were still able to order some Pizza and get it delivered.
Friday made for an especially long day at work. I was pretty tired from the lack of sleep the night before, and had to fight to keep my eyes open. One major difference between the office here, and my office back home, is the break rooms. The break room back at home is filled with cereal, candy bars, chips, soda, juice, and other random snacks. The break room here in Ireland is filled with a variety of delicious breads and jams, healthy cereals, juice, coffee, and tea. No sode or junk food really. It's kind of nice actually. After work, Nate and I met up with one of the lads from work named Regis, and his girlfriend Juliette. They are both French, and are quite nice. We headed out to Kinsale, a local town right on the coast, and had dinner and a pint. All of us but Nate did, that is. After dinner, we headed out for a short drive to the "Old Head Golf Course", which apparently is a world famous golf location. It is set right next to the cliffs, with amazing 360 degree views of the ocean. We took a few photos and got some cool video as well, although it was very windy. Next, we headed back to Cork, and dropped off our car at the hotel, and headed back for a walk downtown for more drinks. We ended up at a local cocktail bar called "The Long Island" and had a few more drinks. Again, it was quite nice, and the scenery was even better :) Regis, Juliette, and I enjoyed a few more drinks, while Nate enjoyed a nice lemonade. We finished up around midnight again, and called it a night. To be honest, I was pretty tired and needed some good solid sleep.
Saturday has been a pretty relaxing day so far. I was able to sleep in and then just relaxed in my hotel room until about 3pm. I slept solid until about 11am too, which was by far the latest I've slept in for quite some time. After ordering some room service for breakfast / lunch, I met up with Nate and we headed downtown to catch a movie. I had noticed a smaller Cinema in the downtown area earlier this week while I was out and about, and could not wait any longer to see Prometheus. I have definitely been nerding out about this movie since I saw the first preview. It was not a disappointment either. Very cool movie! After the movie, we headed to a different part of the downtown area, which is more of a shopping district I would compare to The Gateway mall up in SLC. It was very nice, and full of all sorts of surprises around every corner. We found a cool little souvenir shop, and picked up a few things, then headed back to the hotel again. It is currently about 9pm, and Nate is done for the night, but I think I may be heading back out and flying solo again this evening. Another one of the lads here named David Daly may catch up with me later for a pint or three, and then we'll see what kind of trouble I can get into.
The plan tomorrow is to relax for the first part of the morning again, and then we are going "Mountain Biking", although it is more in the forrest from what I understand. It should still be super fun, and a number of the lads here will be joining us as well. I believe Damien O'Halloran, David Daly, Niall Fahy, and Brian Honohan will all be there. Good times :) After biking, we are going to try to head to a local pub somewhere and catch the Ireland vs. Croatia game for the Euro 2012. I hear things get pretty crazy over here for the games...
On Thursday, after another exhilarating day at work, we had the pleasure of going "Karting", otherwise known as "Go-Carting" in the States. This event was sponsored by VMware, and we had about 40+ people show up to compete. It was the real deal. We all got dressed up in full head to toe rain gear, including helmets and hair nets. The course was the biggest Karting course I've ever seen, and the Karts were VERY fast. Upwards of 60 KPH, or about 30-40 MPH. This is fast when you're sitting in a little Kart flying through the course with only partial visibility due to the rain and wind. It was wet. It was cold. It was a ton of fun! We made it back to our hotel just after 11pm, but were still able to order some Pizza and get it delivered.
Friday made for an especially long day at work. I was pretty tired from the lack of sleep the night before, and had to fight to keep my eyes open. One major difference between the office here, and my office back home, is the break rooms. The break room back at home is filled with cereal, candy bars, chips, soda, juice, and other random snacks. The break room here in Ireland is filled with a variety of delicious breads and jams, healthy cereals, juice, coffee, and tea. No sode or junk food really. It's kind of nice actually. After work, Nate and I met up with one of the lads from work named Regis, and his girlfriend Juliette. They are both French, and are quite nice. We headed out to Kinsale, a local town right on the coast, and had dinner and a pint. All of us but Nate did, that is. After dinner, we headed out for a short drive to the "Old Head Golf Course", which apparently is a world famous golf location. It is set right next to the cliffs, with amazing 360 degree views of the ocean. We took a few photos and got some cool video as well, although it was very windy. Next, we headed back to Cork, and dropped off our car at the hotel, and headed back for a walk downtown for more drinks. We ended up at a local cocktail bar called "The Long Island" and had a few more drinks. Again, it was quite nice, and the scenery was even better :) Regis, Juliette, and I enjoyed a few more drinks, while Nate enjoyed a nice lemonade. We finished up around midnight again, and called it a night. To be honest, I was pretty tired and needed some good solid sleep.
Saturday has been a pretty relaxing day so far. I was able to sleep in and then just relaxed in my hotel room until about 3pm. I slept solid until about 11am too, which was by far the latest I've slept in for quite some time. After ordering some room service for breakfast / lunch, I met up with Nate and we headed downtown to catch a movie. I had noticed a smaller Cinema in the downtown area earlier this week while I was out and about, and could not wait any longer to see Prometheus. I have definitely been nerding out about this movie since I saw the first preview. It was not a disappointment either. Very cool movie! After the movie, we headed to a different part of the downtown area, which is more of a shopping district I would compare to The Gateway mall up in SLC. It was very nice, and full of all sorts of surprises around every corner. We found a cool little souvenir shop, and picked up a few things, then headed back to the hotel again. It is currently about 9pm, and Nate is done for the night, but I think I may be heading back out and flying solo again this evening. Another one of the lads here named David Daly may catch up with me later for a pint or three, and then we'll see what kind of trouble I can get into.
The plan tomorrow is to relax for the first part of the morning again, and then we are going "Mountain Biking", although it is more in the forrest from what I understand. It should still be super fun, and a number of the lads here will be joining us as well. I believe Damien O'Halloran, David Daly, Niall Fahy, and Brian Honohan will all be there. Good times :) After biking, we are going to try to head to a local pub somewhere and catch the Ireland vs. Croatia game for the Euro 2012. I hear things get pretty crazy over here for the games...
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Day 4 in Ireland...
Today started off a bit rough. I fell asleep last night close to 9pm and then woke up around 1am. Completely wide awake too. After trying unsuccessfully for awhile to fall back asleep, I just uploaded the new pics from my phone, and then added a new blog post about the days activities. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fall back asleep until sometime after 5am, then was up again at 7am. Great way to start my first day in the Cork office. Completely exhausted!
Surprisingly enough, the day actually went fairly quickly. It was great to meet some more members of the Mozy team, and finally put some faces to names. Everyone was very nice of course, and after getting settled in, I went to work. it was definitely a slower day, and was raining for the better part of the day as well. But that isn't too unusual here, since apparently it rains more often than not. It's a little strange hearing so many different languages being spoken around you all the time here! I've heard Gaelic (Irish), French, German, Indian, Italian, Russian, etc.
As it was time to leave work for the day, the sun started to break through the clouds, and it ended up being mostly sunny. Very nice surprise! Nate and I were both pretty tired, but decided to hit the gym when we got back to the hotel. Afterwards, we went for a walk through downtown Cork again and found a nice little authentic Italian restaurant to eat dinner at. And here is where I have to explain something about food.
If you come to Cork for no other reason, come here for the amazing food. It truly is a unique experience. Coming from a guy who doesn't even like or appreciate food, that is saying something. Downtown Cork is quite honestly just a very compact maze of small roads and alleyways, all of which hide countless amazing and authentic restaurants of every kind. Most are very small, and I assume are also family run. The food is usually made from scratch, or caught, or grown locally too. Very unique Mediterranean dishes from multiple cultures, all of which are delicious. This place is seriously a food lovers heaven! The best part is that it is all in walking distance from our hotel here at The River Lee.
Currently, it is 10:48pm, and the sun has not completely set yet. It is the strangest thing, but with a view like this, you can't complain. Best part about today was that I was finally able to FaceTime with Preslie. I think it's time for another relaxing bath and then bed. :)
Surprisingly enough, the day actually went fairly quickly. It was great to meet some more members of the Mozy team, and finally put some faces to names. Everyone was very nice of course, and after getting settled in, I went to work. it was definitely a slower day, and was raining for the better part of the day as well. But that isn't too unusual here, since apparently it rains more often than not. It's a little strange hearing so many different languages being spoken around you all the time here! I've heard Gaelic (Irish), French, German, Indian, Italian, Russian, etc.
As it was time to leave work for the day, the sun started to break through the clouds, and it ended up being mostly sunny. Very nice surprise! Nate and I were both pretty tired, but decided to hit the gym when we got back to the hotel. Afterwards, we went for a walk through downtown Cork again and found a nice little authentic Italian restaurant to eat dinner at. And here is where I have to explain something about food.
If you come to Cork for no other reason, come here for the amazing food. It truly is a unique experience. Coming from a guy who doesn't even like or appreciate food, that is saying something. Downtown Cork is quite honestly just a very compact maze of small roads and alleyways, all of which hide countless amazing and authentic restaurants of every kind. Most are very small, and I assume are also family run. The food is usually made from scratch, or caught, or grown locally too. Very unique Mediterranean dishes from multiple cultures, all of which are delicious. This place is seriously a food lovers heaven! The best part is that it is all in walking distance from our hotel here at The River Lee.
Currently, it is 10:48pm, and the sun has not completely set yet. It is the strangest thing, but with a view like this, you can't complain. Best part about today was that I was finally able to FaceTime with Preslie. I think it's time for another relaxing bath and then bed. :)
Monday, June 4, 2012
Day 3 in Ireland
So let me start off by explaining what I did last night. After dinner, I decided to go out alone and do a little bar hopping. It was the weekend, and the night before a "Bank Holiday". It was nuts! There are literally bars and pubs everywhere. Lots of tiny little alleyways and streets with countless bars and restaurants on them. Most of which are also clubs as well, and there is a college just down the road as well. Total party town. Reminded me of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, just without the crazies and nudity.
One of the things I noticed, was how generally polite everyone here is. Everywhere I go, I hear "Cheers" and "Hello Lads.....Take care Lads..." Even with all the drunk college students, they are all generally trying to just have a good time. No one is out trying to cause trouble, or start fights, or vandalize property or anything like that. I didn't have any reservations about walking around by myself and bar hopping. To be honest, I didn't end up doing that much drinking. I'm not really much of a beer drinker, and every time I tried to order a specific drink, the bartenders didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I had to keep things very basic. "Vodka and Cranberry".
The next thing I noticed was how many absolutely HOT women there are. It seems that nearly all of them wear little mini skirts with tights too. Everywhere you go, attractive women in tights. It's quite distracting actually! That's all I have to say about that for now. :)
After walking around all day earlier, and then walking around for about 3 more hours that night with my bar hopping, my feet were pretty sore. I also went to the gym at the hotel and worked out for 2 hours before we went out to dinner that day as well. Waking up today, I discovered that my shins were pretty sore. It didn't take long to discover that walking was more than a little unpleasant, and there were quite a few hikes involved in checking out The Cliffs of Moher today.
Nate and I decided to take a road trip and drive to the infamous Cliffs of Moher. I had learned that the cliffs were the same cliffs which were called "The Cliffs of Insanity" from the movie The Princess Bride. This was a childhood favorite of mine, and I was always really fascinated by them when I watched the movie, so this was particularly exciting to me. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive away too. Nate drove, thank heavens, as I was yawning nearly the entire drive. The roads here are much smaller than in the U.S. The roads here are all extremely narrow, and most of the time, you are just on a 2 lane road with opposing traffic coming right at you. You are lucky to have enough room to pass a car coming the opposite direction, as a lot of the roads suddenly turn into 1 lane roads and there is not enough room to pass. This makes for an interesting dilemma.
We eventually made it to The Cliffs of Moher, which was amazing! I cannot even describe how completely amazing it was. I took some pictures with my iPhone, and uploaded those to FB already, but they do not do it justice. I have a bit of a fear of heights, and this definitely made me nervous! After hiking the majority of The Cliffs, we headed back to the visitors center and had lunch, then headed back to Cork. On the way back, we stopped by the Bunratty Castle. This is a fully restored Castle tourist location, which was pretty cool, but unfortunately they were already closed by the time we got there, so we only saw the outside. I bot a bottle of Mead, which is the old school Honey Liquor, also referred to as "Honeymoon Liquor" here. I've seen too many movies about old times and drinking Mead to pass up the opportunity. We also stopped by the "Blarney Woolen Mills" which is a cool little shop where you can buy stuff pretty cheap.
We got back to the River Lee Hotel closer to 7pm, and decided to just order in for dinner. Turns out that they have a Papa Johns here, so we ordered pizza and "garlic cheese bread". After it was delivered, Nate and I went our separate ways to relax. My shins hurt! I ate my dinner, then decided to soak in the bath while watching a movie on my Macbook Pro. Seemed like a pretty sissy idea at first, but was definitely relaxing and nice! Our rooms are pretty nice, and have a nice big tub. Unfortunately, I fell asleep afterwards and then woke up around 1am, and have been wide awake ever since. SOAB.
Tomorrow we are back to work, and I am looking forward to meeting the rest of our team here!
One of the things I noticed, was how generally polite everyone here is. Everywhere I go, I hear "Cheers" and "Hello Lads.....Take care Lads..." Even with all the drunk college students, they are all generally trying to just have a good time. No one is out trying to cause trouble, or start fights, or vandalize property or anything like that. I didn't have any reservations about walking around by myself and bar hopping. To be honest, I didn't end up doing that much drinking. I'm not really much of a beer drinker, and every time I tried to order a specific drink, the bartenders didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I had to keep things very basic. "Vodka and Cranberry".
The next thing I noticed was how many absolutely HOT women there are. It seems that nearly all of them wear little mini skirts with tights too. Everywhere you go, attractive women in tights. It's quite distracting actually! That's all I have to say about that for now. :)
After walking around all day earlier, and then walking around for about 3 more hours that night with my bar hopping, my feet were pretty sore. I also went to the gym at the hotel and worked out for 2 hours before we went out to dinner that day as well. Waking up today, I discovered that my shins were pretty sore. It didn't take long to discover that walking was more than a little unpleasant, and there were quite a few hikes involved in checking out The Cliffs of Moher today.
Nate and I decided to take a road trip and drive to the infamous Cliffs of Moher. I had learned that the cliffs were the same cliffs which were called "The Cliffs of Insanity" from the movie The Princess Bride. This was a childhood favorite of mine, and I was always really fascinated by them when I watched the movie, so this was particularly exciting to me. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive away too. Nate drove, thank heavens, as I was yawning nearly the entire drive. The roads here are much smaller than in the U.S. The roads here are all extremely narrow, and most of the time, you are just on a 2 lane road with opposing traffic coming right at you. You are lucky to have enough room to pass a car coming the opposite direction, as a lot of the roads suddenly turn into 1 lane roads and there is not enough room to pass. This makes for an interesting dilemma.
We eventually made it to The Cliffs of Moher, which was amazing! I cannot even describe how completely amazing it was. I took some pictures with my iPhone, and uploaded those to FB already, but they do not do it justice. I have a bit of a fear of heights, and this definitely made me nervous! After hiking the majority of The Cliffs, we headed back to the visitors center and had lunch, then headed back to Cork. On the way back, we stopped by the Bunratty Castle. This is a fully restored Castle tourist location, which was pretty cool, but unfortunately they were already closed by the time we got there, so we only saw the outside. I bot a bottle of Mead, which is the old school Honey Liquor, also referred to as "Honeymoon Liquor" here. I've seen too many movies about old times and drinking Mead to pass up the opportunity. We also stopped by the "Blarney Woolen Mills" which is a cool little shop where you can buy stuff pretty cheap.
We got back to the River Lee Hotel closer to 7pm, and decided to just order in for dinner. Turns out that they have a Papa Johns here, so we ordered pizza and "garlic cheese bread". After it was delivered, Nate and I went our separate ways to relax. My shins hurt! I ate my dinner, then decided to soak in the bath while watching a movie on my Macbook Pro. Seemed like a pretty sissy idea at first, but was definitely relaxing and nice! Our rooms are pretty nice, and have a nice big tub. Unfortunately, I fell asleep afterwards and then woke up around 1am, and have been wide awake ever since. SOAB.
Tomorrow we are back to work, and I am looking forward to meeting the rest of our team here!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Day 1 & 2 of Ireland trip..
Just thought that I'd throw together a quick post about what I've been up to so far.
THE TRIP.
It was long. My butt hurt from all the sitting. I ate some extremely disgusting Mac N Cheese dinner at a restaurant in New York at the J.F.K. Airport. My boss (Nate) and I got re-routed twice while at J.F.K., which was pretty annoying. Apparently our plane was broken, so they sent us to a different Terminal, which was a good walk. Then, about an hour later of being delayed, they sent us back to the original Terminal again because apparently they fixed the first plane faster than they the mechanics thought they could, but had to re-issue all of us our boarding passes, as seating changed because we were now on a different plane. That was fun. Not a huge fan of J.F.K. Our flight from Utah left at 11:40am on Friday, in S.L.C., and we arrived in Shannon, Ireland @ 8:30am on Saturday.
SATURDAY
We were tired. Unfortunately, we still had a good 2 hour drive from Shannon to Cork, where our Hotel was. Nate took the honor of driving that day since I had not yet driven and was a little bit intimidated to say the least. Wrong side of the car, and wrong side of the road too. Everything is backwards, and it takes a little bit of getting used to. We got to the hotel and checked in, and went our separate ways around noon to get some much needed sleep. We agreed to meet up in the lobby at 7pm, and then go find something to eat. We ended up eating at this cool little restaurant that was just a short walk from our hotel called SoHo, which apparently is also a nightclub of sorts. Nate ordered steak that they cook on a volcanic rock that is heated to something like 350 degrees right in front of you, which was pretty cool. I had some delicious nachos, garlic bread, and a delicious Hurricane. Yum. Next, we walked around for a bit around Cork downtown, and then headed back to the hotel at River Lee, and called it a night.
SUNDAY
Met up with Nate in the lobby at 9am, after getting just a couple of hours of broken sleep. We were both still pretty tired. Nate decided that it was my turn to drive, and a trial by fire was the best way. By the time we got back to the Hotel, I think he may be opting to drive for the remainder of the trip though. Ha ha. The brake pedal was very touchy, for me at least, and more than once I almost put us in a ditch because I was too distracted by the scenery to drive in the tiny lanes.
First we went to check out the shops at Kinsale, but ended up just walking around and checking things out since most of them were closed on Sunday morning. We did find an old church, which was actually built by the Normans back in the 1600's. It is entirely possible that I may have been related to them, so I thought that was kind of cool.
Next, we went to check out the Historic Charles Fort site in Kinsale which is right on the coast. Took the tour, and got to explore and walk around the full 16 acres of the site. Very cool stuff. Lots of cool history here. Check out this link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fort_%28Ireland%29
Around lunch time, we drove over to another Historic site, The Blarney Castle, which is home to The Blarney Stone. We spent a number of hours here, as there is much to see. Again, lots of really cool history here, so check out the following link for more info: http://www.blarneycastle.ie/pages/history
I was lucky enough to kiss The Blarney Stone, and receive the gift of Eloquence, as the tradition goes. Check out this link for some brief history on The Blarney Stone: http://www.blarneycastle.ie/pages/kiss-the-blarney-stone
We went to a local deli prior, and got some "picnic" supplies and had lunch in front of The Blarney House, which was amazing. In Ireland, there is grass everywhere. It just grows. It is also very green as well. There is a big variety of trees, some of which I've never seen before. Next, we were on to the amazing gardens of Blarney. There is a whole section dedicated to poisonous plants, which is pretty fascinating. What really struck me as interesting, was all of the Druid history and "Witch" folklore that exists there. I uploaded a bunch of pics from my phone of some of the sights there. By then, it was almost 5pm, so we decided to call it a day, and head back to the hotel again. It's only 8pm now, and then night is still young, so we'll see what kind of trouble I can get into tonight :) For starters, I am hungry....
THE TRIP.
It was long. My butt hurt from all the sitting. I ate some extremely disgusting Mac N Cheese dinner at a restaurant in New York at the J.F.K. Airport. My boss (Nate) and I got re-routed twice while at J.F.K., which was pretty annoying. Apparently our plane was broken, so they sent us to a different Terminal, which was a good walk. Then, about an hour later of being delayed, they sent us back to the original Terminal again because apparently they fixed the first plane faster than they the mechanics thought they could, but had to re-issue all of us our boarding passes, as seating changed because we were now on a different plane. That was fun. Not a huge fan of J.F.K. Our flight from Utah left at 11:40am on Friday, in S.L.C., and we arrived in Shannon, Ireland @ 8:30am on Saturday.
SATURDAY
We were tired. Unfortunately, we still had a good 2 hour drive from Shannon to Cork, where our Hotel was. Nate took the honor of driving that day since I had not yet driven and was a little bit intimidated to say the least. Wrong side of the car, and wrong side of the road too. Everything is backwards, and it takes a little bit of getting used to. We got to the hotel and checked in, and went our separate ways around noon to get some much needed sleep. We agreed to meet up in the lobby at 7pm, and then go find something to eat. We ended up eating at this cool little restaurant that was just a short walk from our hotel called SoHo, which apparently is also a nightclub of sorts. Nate ordered steak that they cook on a volcanic rock that is heated to something like 350 degrees right in front of you, which was pretty cool. I had some delicious nachos, garlic bread, and a delicious Hurricane. Yum. Next, we walked around for a bit around Cork downtown, and then headed back to the hotel at River Lee, and called it a night.
SUNDAY
Met up with Nate in the lobby at 9am, after getting just a couple of hours of broken sleep. We were both still pretty tired. Nate decided that it was my turn to drive, and a trial by fire was the best way. By the time we got back to the Hotel, I think he may be opting to drive for the remainder of the trip though. Ha ha. The brake pedal was very touchy, for me at least, and more than once I almost put us in a ditch because I was too distracted by the scenery to drive in the tiny lanes.
First we went to check out the shops at Kinsale, but ended up just walking around and checking things out since most of them were closed on Sunday morning. We did find an old church, which was actually built by the Normans back in the 1600's. It is entirely possible that I may have been related to them, so I thought that was kind of cool.
Next, we went to check out the Historic Charles Fort site in Kinsale which is right on the coast. Took the tour, and got to explore and walk around the full 16 acres of the site. Very cool stuff. Lots of cool history here. Check out this link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fort_%28Ireland%29
Around lunch time, we drove over to another Historic site, The Blarney Castle, which is home to The Blarney Stone. We spent a number of hours here, as there is much to see. Again, lots of really cool history here, so check out the following link for more info: http://www.blarneycastle.ie/pages/history
I was lucky enough to kiss The Blarney Stone, and receive the gift of Eloquence, as the tradition goes. Check out this link for some brief history on The Blarney Stone: http://www.blarneycastle.ie/pages/kiss-the-blarney-stone
We went to a local deli prior, and got some "picnic" supplies and had lunch in front of The Blarney House, which was amazing. In Ireland, there is grass everywhere. It just grows. It is also very green as well. There is a big variety of trees, some of which I've never seen before. Next, we were on to the amazing gardens of Blarney. There is a whole section dedicated to poisonous plants, which is pretty fascinating. What really struck me as interesting, was all of the Druid history and "Witch" folklore that exists there. I uploaded a bunch of pics from my phone of some of the sights there. By then, it was almost 5pm, so we decided to call it a day, and head back to the hotel again. It's only 8pm now, and then night is still young, so we'll see what kind of trouble I can get into tonight :) For starters, I am hungry....
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