The Real Deal

Wow! I am finally in Ireland and damn...it's gorgeous! Right now I am in Cape Clear Island, the second most southernly tip of Ireland, which is right up there with Bergen in it's amazing beauty. I arrived in Dublin on Wednesday thinking I would reach the farm on Clear Island the following night but no no no. Silly me, it takes two days to get anywhere! When I left Dublin I had no idea how far I would really get so I hadn't made any reservations. When I ended up in Cork City in ..County Cork I frantically went through my travel book calling hostels, all of which were full due to the easter holiday. The sixth place I called was a B&B called the Garnish House. Luckily they had a great deal on a small room and I had a place to stay! Upon arrival at the B&B they give you tea and biscuits and the such. I sat down with an Irish family on holiday, their son was in love with Florida, think Disneyworld, and said it was very educational to fly upside down..it was really interesting to hear their thoughts on NYC, the short story being they never ever want to go back. After I left the B&B i headed to a local pub off a tip from someone about good Irish Music. I got my first pint of Guinness, sooo good, and sat down. Someone told me that the live music was going to start in about a 1/2 hour. But this being Ireland it was another good hour and a half before there was any music whatsoever...gotta love it. So after a few pints and listening to live music I headed back to the B&B. The next morning before I headed south for Cape Clear I was given a complimentary full Irish Breakfast...oh my goodness. I was so overwhelmed by the amount of food..especially meat I didn't know what to do! I didn't touch the blood pudding...but remember I had reindeer in Norway so don't yell at me...but I did try the huge amount of bacon, sausage, potato bread, and everything else piled on the plate. I don't know how people eat 'the fry' which is about twice as much food..I couldn't even finish the Irish breakfast!
Anyway so after I left the B&B I hopped on Bus Eireann, the main bus company in Ireland..a less sleazy version of greyhound, headed for Baltimore through Skibberean. Once I got to Baltimore...after we almost ran over a dog that looked just like the Bus Eireann dog...slightly funny...I had a 4 hour wait for the next ferry to Cape Clear. The ferry took about an hour altogether much of which involved traveling along in the water in the middle of a cloud of fog! You couldn't see anything around you, just the cloud. Once I got onto the Island I made my way to the goat farm which has great views of the Bay from it's position on top of the hill. The Island itself is tiny..3 miles by 1 1/2 but it has many rocky hills, much of which I just finished hiking through, with amazing views. The goats are adorable! 8 kids so far and one who is just about due any time now! Well that is about it for now..I must go water the goats!