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...
No comments:
Post a Comment