My experience travelling with a friend
Trip Start
Unknown
1
Trip End
Ongoing
Cork,
Ireland
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I've learnt a lot on my travels so far and I'm geussing that people do tend to learn a lot more, a lot faster, then if just sitting at home. However, it's all good!
Lesson ??: What travelling with other people comes down to...
When I came to Cork, I was over-tired, thankfully with a friend, and had more luggage then I started with. One thing I never knew about Cork, had never read in any of the books (or maybe I just over looked it?) was how hilly the city is! Cork, I find, is a very easy place to get around though. It does seem small, yet everything is accessible by foot if you're willing to track that far. The bus station is placed in a great a spot in the middle of town, but for some reason has no information or maps of the town. Thankfully the people are friendly and helpful, allowing us to get some sort of direction to as where we were suppose to be going. Across the bridge and up a hill appearently! Sweet up a hill with mass amounts of luggage! Hahaha, that'll teach me! This is when it really dawned on me what BACKPACKING was really about - only having A backpack!
Two breaks later (I chalk it up to minimal sleep and smoking) and a few more steps, we were at the door to the hostel. Awesome! All I wanted to do was sleep.
But after getting ourselves organized and set in in our rooms, my friend and me went on the FREE internet (woohoo for anything thats free!). After I finished checkin' my e-mails, I was going to take a shower...however once getting to my bed just couldn't make it any further!
I then slept for a good 20hrs, no joke!
To the lesson of friends though....
Point 1: It's good to be travelling with a friend because when you're passed out, your friend, if feeling up to it, will wander around maybe coming across a cool store, park, or they may meet people. It was awesome because we had come to Cork to find a job and a place to live. So, while I had gone online for places (we both went online for jobs), there are still many options out there not posted online. That night, my friend had come across various real estate offices that help renters. She also found the grocery store, including other various stores with help wanted signs in the window. Meaning: tomorrow morning we could set out straight away without having to waste a bit of time trying to figure out where we were suppose to go.
Point 2: Everything was going good, we both handed out lots of cv's, I had an interview, and my friend was going to view a house later that night. However, she didn't seem to like the city very much, Dublin seemed to be calling her back.
Since only reading about Cork in books, the place is really quite different then it's portrayed. I love the city though, the people are great, its not too big, the night life is awesome, and unlike Dublin - there are Irish people everywhere! Cork is a great location to be established in because there are a lot fo day trips that people can take from here. Go to the Blarney Castle (well worth the 15 euros; which includes bus there and addmission price), enjoy the historical Cobh, or even take a walk to the University and Gaol. For night life, there are tons of bars/pubs that feature live music. If you are looking for a pub, bar, or club, you'll find it. The best places are hidden amongst the narrow streets in the city center, or in an area just over the river (if you're coming from city center).
Anyways, that night we went out to a bar with a few people we had met.
