Yesterday, was not a very nice day either. Funny how weather is such a part of life here in Ireland too. We have that in common with the Irish, I guess. Everyone talks about the weather every day here, so it’s hard for me not to dwell on it more than just a little bit in my notes.
We left the cottage about 12 noon, and went into Waterville, to check out a few stores, some that we’d been to and others that we hadn’t explored yet. Pete’s wasn’t open the first time we tried, so we went back later. We spent about 90mins there catching up on emails, downloading pictures. I found the access to the web very slow, but Mark didn’t seem to have an issue.
Pete is quite a character. He almost never said hello to me, and always to Mark. He shaves his head, he’s tall for an Irishman, and quite thin; a man of about 50-55, I would say. He runs the adjoining hostel as well, and each time I was there, he got into a heated conversation with someone on the phone or swore at his cell phone. (I presumed he got a message that he didn’t particularly like!) “Jaysus Christ, you fooking idiot!” He liked to listen to RTE (CBC of Ireland) where politicians or those aspiring to be, like to get into arguments with each other and the hosts. It drove us batty as we tried to concentrate on reading and writing. Twice, when he was outside or had gone over to the hostel, I leaned over and turned down the radio; he came back and turned it up! After the second time, he put a CD on; I think he got the message that we found it loud. The café was cold. Many places in fact were cold. I was often frozen despite dressing properly. Although we are accustomed to a colder climate, we are equally used to keeping our homes warmer than the Irish. It felt like Pete didn’t use heat, in fact.
After getting a few groceries, which we hoped would carry us over the weekend, we returned to the cottage and read and watched TV. I spent an inordinate amount of time organizing, editing and enhancing photos that I’ve taken over the past winter---stuff I NEVER do at home—I even learned how to use the collage feature on Picasa. About 10pm, we headed back to town, which is about a 5 minute ride, to the Lobster Bar, because they were having live music. Finally, about 11pm, he showed up. In the meantime, we listened to a group of men, from the Cork area, who were in there for a weekend of golfing together (18 of them), take turns singing various songs a capella. They ranged in age from about 30 to 65. Two of the men had beautiful voices, and the rest were brave souls indeed!!! A couple of the younger men in the group struck up a conversation with Mark and me. They were interested in our trip so far.
The entertainer did a good job. He had a nice voice, but didn’t toss up his music selection enough, and after a couple of hours, they all sounded the same. He did however, allow anyone who wanted to, to come to the mic and sing. Both of the men who came forward were pretty good. There were a lot of folks there from a wedding we thought. Later in the evening, out came the food. It was hard to tell if it was part of the party or just what they do at the bar. Anyhow, we were handed a plate of nibblies with wings, sausages, fries etc. It was fun to people-watch; a very drunk old woman, and a young couple groping each other helped to keep the laughs coming. I hate to be critical, but…the woman here, especially the young ones-15 to 40- are not very tasteful in their apparel. VERY short skirts, very high heels, and lots of cleavage are the norm. We got back about 130am, and I finally stopped singing to my tunes and shutting down my brain at 3am.
We left the cottage about 12 noon, and went into Waterville, to check out a few stores, some that we’d been to and others that we hadn’t explored yet. Pete’s wasn’t open the first time we tried, so we went back later. We spent about 90mins there catching up on emails, downloading pictures. I found the access to the web very slow, but Mark didn’t seem to have an issue.
Pete is quite a character. He almost never said hello to me, and always to Mark. He shaves his head, he’s tall for an Irishman, and quite thin; a man of about 50-55, I would say. He runs the adjoining hostel as well, and each time I was there, he got into a heated conversation with someone on the phone or swore at his cell phone. (I presumed he got a message that he didn’t particularly like!) “Jaysus Christ, you fooking idiot!” He liked to listen to RTE (CBC of Ireland) where politicians or those aspiring to be, like to get into arguments with each other and the hosts. It drove us batty as we tried to concentrate on reading and writing. Twice, when he was outside or had gone over to the hostel, I leaned over and turned down the radio; he came back and turned it up! After the second time, he put a CD on; I think he got the message that we found it loud. The café was cold. Many places in fact were cold. I was often frozen despite dressing properly. Although we are accustomed to a colder climate, we are equally used to keeping our homes warmer than the Irish. It felt like Pete didn’t use heat, in fact.
After getting a few groceries, which we hoped would carry us over the weekend, we returned to the cottage and read and watched TV. I spent an inordinate amount of time organizing, editing and enhancing photos that I’ve taken over the past winter---stuff I NEVER do at home—I even learned how to use the collage feature on Picasa. About 10pm, we headed back to town, which is about a 5 minute ride, to the Lobster Bar, because they were having live music. Finally, about 11pm, he showed up. In the meantime, we listened to a group of men, from the Cork area, who were in there for a weekend of golfing together (18 of them), take turns singing various songs a capella. They ranged in age from about 30 to 65. Two of the men had beautiful voices, and the rest were brave souls indeed!!! A couple of the younger men in the group struck up a conversation with Mark and me. They were interested in our trip so far.
The entertainer did a good job. He had a nice voice, but didn’t toss up his music selection enough, and after a couple of hours, they all sounded the same. He did however, allow anyone who wanted to, to come to the mic and sing. Both of the men who came forward were pretty good. There were a lot of folks there from a wedding we thought. Later in the evening, out came the food. It was hard to tell if it was part of the party or just what they do at the bar. Anyhow, we were handed a plate of nibblies with wings, sausages, fries etc. It was fun to people-watch; a very drunk old woman, and a young couple groping each other helped to keep the laughs coming. I hate to be critical, but…the woman here, especially the young ones-15 to 40- are not very tasteful in their apparel. VERY short skirts, very high heels, and lots of cleavage are the norm. We got back about 130am, and I finally stopped singing to my tunes and shutting down my brain at 3am.
No comments:
Post a Comment