Funky Hats and Hitching Failures -- Cork

I’m writing this post from Clodagh’s old bedroom in Roisin’s parents house in Cork City. The large, old building is well situated on top of a very steep hill (my shins are sore from walking up said hill so frequently), and I get a lovely view of the sun rising over the city every morning. Whenever the sun is visible through the clouds, that is.  This morning looks clear and crisp, and I’m very excited about the prospect of taking Bunny on a walk along one of Cork's beaches. Besides being an excellent way to keep in shape, the shin splinting hill also serves as adequate protection against flooding. Cork can be compared to New Orleans in that it is built under sea level right next to the ocean. I suppose they don't see much in the way of hurricanes here, but the wind can definitely kick up an admirable gale every now and again. There was severe flooding two years ago that left a sizable portion of residents and shops extremely waterlogged.

The weather in Galway was absolutely dreadful the last two days of my visit – but in an intense, thrilling sort of way. The wind on the west coast of Ireland is absolutely ferocious, and when you add a bit of intermittent hail into the equation, the wildness of the weather is a little awe-inspiring. I certainly enjoyed sitting in my warm bed with a cup of strong coffee and listening to the hail pound away at the window above my head. As the hail pounded away at the window, I clicked away with my knitting needles, and ended up making four fuzzy hats. I gave one to Matthew, one to Lorna, kept one for myself, and am saving one for Alex. Matthew and Lorna were quite impressed with my speedy hat making skills, and told me that I could sell hats in Ireland to help fund my travels. The idea of a vagabonding, interviewing hat maker appealed to me in so many ways, so I decided to take a leap of faith and invest in some incredibly expensive Irish wool. 

I've added a PayPal button to my askingonequestion blog, so if you'd like a hat, send me an order with your general head size and color choices. It's ten dollars for a regular hat, and fifteen dollars for a hat with earflaps. 

When the weather took a more affable turn in the early afternoon (and my fingers had grown weary and arthritic from excessive hat making), Matthew and I caught a bus into Galway City. He took me out for a cappuccino and showed me around the House Hotel -- the quirky, creative hotel in which he works. 

My favorite painting in the House

After running a few errands around Galway, we drove to the G (stands for Glamour or Galway, depending on who you ask) to meet up with Lorna as she was finishing up another long manager shift. Everything in the G Hotel is a bit bigger and more expensive looking than in the House, but I definitely preferred the extraordinarily unique and friendly atmosphere of the House. It's also significantly cheaper, so for all you future Ireland travelers, hit up the House! And make sure to say hello to Matthew. 

Galway weather is not easy on flags

At the G

After exploring the G, we all headed back to the Salthill apartment to get ready for an evening out with two of Lorna and Matt's friends. It was a real luxury to be taken out to dinner at a restaurant again -- I haven't been out to eat a sit down meal since Svetlana treated me to three days in Bologna last July. 

I had planned to hitch into Cork the next day, but the hail and rain persuaded me into taking a bus. I don't think I'll be able to hitch until I get to France -- the weather here is just too wet, and I carry several electronic items that are very susceptible to water damage. It was disappointing to clamor into a bus instead of the passenger seat of a friendly stranger's car, but I suppose they'll be plenty of time for that in the future. I do plan to hitchhike from Toulon to Paris during my stay in France. 

Back in Cork, I spent the first night watching the Royal Variety Show with Harvey while Roisin worked on one of her paintings for school. Specially ordered by the queen, this show has been staged over eighty times during the last hundred years (regardless of whether or not the queen is actually in the audience). It's a grand show, full of famous comedians, magicians, dancers, and musicians, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's got a couple of hours to wile away in front of the TV screen.