Cork, Ireland
all the weather, all the seasons...and lots of rain! Until today which was dry and sunny and lifted the spirits.
We're heading to Cork today, about 65 km away and we promised Heike and family we'd be in tonight. It was an Irish day of cycling: lots of steep hills and constant temperature shifts as the we climbed and descended...Buff up, hood up, jacket zipped...then everything reversed. Lost my gloves I fear back at the library in Bantry I presume. I have rain mitts (silicone hand covers) that keep the chill at bay while I'm cycling...and the do a pretty good job of it. Just putting them on warms me up. Little touches make a big difference in managing my thermostat:)
One thing I've noticed is that the old manor houses seem to dot the countryside in either peach or pink or yellow. Bright spots on a grey horizon. The other thing is the smell of Ireland that dominates: the smell of manure. This is farming country after all.
We were biking past a DIY home store and I wanted to stop and see what they're selling for appliances, etc. Everything seems to be smaller here. Front load washers were selling for 300 euros...that would be about $400, half the price of back home. They had small fridges and stoves. Just what I would need to outfit a cottage home when that day arrives that I really settle down. I'm being drawn to owning horses again as I pet them by the side of the road. They were such a part of my childhood and I miss the contact. Would love to test my hand at raising a foal someday perhaps.
We hit the "burbs" of Cork at about 3 pm and had to wind our way through the city. Our maps are pretty useless but strangers offer the best option of getting suggestions of routes. We're never able to follow the directions all the way, often missing a turn ...take a left at the "take out office"...and having to ask again. Makes for wonderful conversation!
What a multi-lingual house we've landed in! Heike speaks German and English. Philippe speaks French and English. And the children understand all the languages because Mom speaks to them mostly in German and Dad speaks to them in French...and they respond in English! I don't know how those little brains do it, but they do.
The kids are great...good parenting pays off. They loved Blaze and spent quite a bit of time riding her around and around the cul de sac where they live. The other hit was my iPhone and some of the games on it. Felix spent 30 minutes one evening working on Trace where he had to draw lines for the little guy to travel on and not bump into the obstacles. What tenacity! Lena would spend quite a bit of her time outdoors running around the neighborhood with her friends and come in with the rosiest cheeks and biggest grin. It was nice to see children outside playing and not sitting with their faces glued to a sceen (other than my iPhone...oops...bad influence I am!)
I'm pretty exhausted tonight after traveling by bus for most the day and having to take drugs so I didn't get sick.
I'm hoping I can stay awake enough to catch ya'll who's not on Facebook with the news.
I'm traveling alone now. Fuat decided to fly to Oregon and bike across the US. He wasn't having any fun and didn't know if bike touring was for him. I think I had something to do with his unhappiness although he shared nothing with me in that vain. He has a way of dropping bombs on me. This time I was better prepared to handle it. I, also, found touring together difficult. I'm not having as much fun as I usually do and I'm not sure why. But I decided to try going on alone and see if I can figure this all out. I've always wanted to do this so let's just see if in reality it's as much fun as it sounded. The difference in cultures (although not dramatic) has an effect. I often have a hard time understanding people and get tired of having to ask them to repeat themselves so I smile and nod at whatever was said.
Back to the rest of the weekend. Sunday we all went out to lunch at the market by the harbor and tried to bike into the center of town, but the rains beat us down. Philippe took us in by car later so we could get some supplies. That's when I started the hunt for a real rain coat. I've got to figure out how to be warmer or I'll be hopping a plane home too:) And I did find one that I think will work well AND is cute. Critical, of course!
I"m just too tired to continue or the drugs are still in me, but I can't type another letter.
Goodnight, BagLady
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