WatersEdge Hotel Cobh

During a chance telephone conversation with my life long friend Donal McClement, he told me that the recession in Ireland was not doing much for his sales as a yacht broker and that he was going away next year for up to six months with Cork architect Stephen Hyde on his beautiful Oyster 56 yacht 'A Lady' to participate in part of the World ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers).

I knew Stephen quite well ...

... are what one would imagine when thinking of Ireland. Kissing the Blarney Stone was a strange experience. As most of you know, you bend over backwards and kiss this stone. What I didn't know is that you are practically doing a back bend and could possibly fall down backwards. Luckily, there was a spotter there who was listening to a soccer game and took away from the ancient castle like feeling.

The previous two nights held a lot ...

everyone went to blarney, well everyone except alex and i. so we got to explore cork and see the opera house, which we sketched from a cafe with a really weird waiter who insisted on seeing our sketches after we were done, because "he had a moleskine too, at home" okay. cool. then we ventured off around the city and found a church and sat ...

... our days normally go, this is actually quite late, and we were tired. We pulled up to our B & B, Knockeven House. It was a big Victorian House, with super-high ceilings, and wall paper and furnishings from 1840, when it was built. We were excited, because the reviews said it was supposed to be a nice place (and we got a great deal on it). I went to check in...and nobody was there. So, I ended up knocking on a neighbors door, and calling the proprietor. She was ...

... in the cities of Ireland. It's not a fun experience when you are driving a Mazda 6. These parking garages are more suited for the Smart or the Ford Ka. But I did prevail!! We only walked around for a little bit on the island and had some dinner before heading off to Cobh. On the way into Cobh, there is an 800 year old castle for sale! We looked it up later and found out that the asking price is only 190,000 euros. Forget ...

Champions League Final with the Parfreys (Man U. over Chelsea on penalties)
-Seamus not watching the match because he was too nervous (bet on Chelsea to hedge bets [United supporter])
-obviously match preceded by Ladbrokes, where we get screwed again
Au Brog afterewards
-Kev ...

... in the streets out of a wheel barrow. By night, she sold...herself. 2. When eating cockles, you should sling them back in your mouth right off the shell and drink a bit of Guiness with it at the same time. Afterwards, we went with our guide to the trainstation in Cobh...we had to transfer at some point (I didn't know what the heck was going on since I was so tired that I started to fall asleep on the ...

... brick. Besides, John seems to be of the opinion that I have more than my share of the gift of gab. Instead we browsed the stores of the Blarney Woolen Mills and picked up a few souvenirs. One could buy woolen goods, Waterford Crystal, Guinness items, and trinkets featuring shamrocks or sheep. The bus drove on to Kinsale where we stopped for lunch. We chose to eat at Dino's which is famous for their fish ...

... rock formation about 2hrs from Derry, it looked like thousands of perfect steps carved into rock) Finally on friday,we said goodbye to our great new housemates, and headed out down to Dublin. Dublin was a blast. It was a wild weekend to be there because U2 were performing 2 concerts (oh I wish we could have gotten tickets!) and it was Dubblin's Gay Pride. It was a packed town. We took the Guinness tour and drank a pint in the amazing 7th bar which had a ...

... the Stone at night, we patiently trek up the crumbling castle - over 100 stairs, some of them in tight spiral up the turrents - to wait in line for our turn. The two official 'holders' brace you as you hang upside-down, your own hands on a small iron ladder from beneath, as you literally bend over backwards to kiss the Blarney Stone. It was a strange ordeal but all fun just the same. We head back ...