Wednesday, May 31, 2006

canadian invasion

this evening my friend rachel's mom and two sisters are arriving in cork!

i'm pretty excited about this. they will be my first visitors to ireland! YAY! angela (rach's mom) will be bringing fun canadian things and my yoga mat. we have reservations for cafe paradiso on thursday and other plans include going to the beach if it's nice... oh, we have a kite to fly too! we'll probably tour cork city a bit, go to blarney, and we're going to try to hit a pub with some irish music. all in all, a good time.

how much actually gets done is totally dependant on their jet lag, of course!

yay!!! people are coming to visit me!!!

apple attack

had an interview with apple yesterday. it went really well... except that i had to confess my written dutch isn't that great. since you're required to write lots of emails, this could be a small problem. obviously i mentioned my willingness to brush up on it.

the position includes some traveling, and is decent pay. i'm not sure that i would be disappointed to not get the job... it does mean a lot of responsibility, and i was trying to get away from that, it also changes my chances of going back to school, which i'm also tossing around the idea of.

so much to think about.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Wich Super Heroe are you(awesome pics)

it was the title that did it for me.

1. wich... that's classic.
2. heroe... oh my gosh. is that for a french hero?
3. awesome pics... i like awesome pics!!!

with all this going for it, how could i resist? well, i couldn't.


the quiz really is a test because it's almost impossible to read-the grammar and spelling are so outrageous. and actually the quiz itself is hilarious, "are you invisible?".

"You scored as Robin.

you are Robin you rock you Know kung fue you grew up with bruce Wayne your parents died they were Circes people at least tons of girls like you and Star Fire has a crush on you"

What's in a name?

... That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

"eating out ireland", although really funny to me, has been getting some slagging... i've decided to change the name to "eating out: ireland". it might get less hits, but then again, punctuation doesn't usually stand in the way of searches, so we might be alright.

Monday, May 29, 2006

okay, i'm totally addicted

What kind of bride would you be?

"You scored as You're a Modern Bride.

While you aren't ready to throw away all wedding tradions, you want a wedding with a twist You're more inspired by celebrity weddings on E! than from bridal magazines Whether this means getting married on the beach barefoot or a mariachi band for the reception... Your wedding will be a blend of old and new - white dress cocktail, personalied vows, whatever suites you!!!"


My anti-dress

so, i answered totally opposite to what i really like, and the green dress ended up on the bottom, and the pink dress on top:



i'm jean grey

did the x-men quiz too.

You scored as Jean Grey.

Jean Grey is likely the most powerful X-Man. She loves Cyclops very much but she has a soft spot for Wolverine. She's psychic so she can sense how others are feeling and tries to help them. She also has to control her amazing powers or the malevolent Phoenix entity could take control of her and wreak havok. Powers: Telekinetic, Telepathic

eating out ireland

so, i've started a new blog. it's called eating out ireland.

as mentioned in a previous blog, i am dissappointed in the quality of guides to restaurants in ireland; instead of whinging about it, i've decided to do something about it.

check it out: eating out ireland.

more quizzing!

well... i thought the "Which BEAUTIFUL Prom dress is right for you? *with pics*" was going to be a full-on joke.

it was much more sincere than i thought. this is the dress they chose.

i kinda like it. and they chose green!!! still, it would have been more fun if i'd ended up with an 80's-style fluffy sleeved number.

i hadn't thought to hump you...

reading sinéad's blog about all these fun quizzes at quizfarm.com i decided i'd better find out who i'd be humping if i was at hogwart's. it's these important things that i'm always desperate to know.

turns out, i'd be gettin' it on with ron.

"You scored as Ron Weasley.

If you went to Hogwarts you would be screwing Ron Weasley. Now don't let the fact that he's Harry Potter's side kick discourage you, there is a lot more to Ron than meets the eye. And thats what you love about him. He's sweet, sensitive, quirky, and not to mention a firey red head. You know what that means? It means he'll fuck your brains out if you let him! He had you on your back the second you heard he stole a car! So go head girl go head get down."

quizzes are fun. i'll let you know if any other fun ones are found.

Friday, May 26, 2006

i forgot!

x-men was good. worth seeing, but not amazing.

thanks for reminding me, K.

1 week

okay... a week ago i put a canadian flag sticker on my car. until then, i had maybe been honked at once. possibly not at all. in the time that the sticker's been on, i sometimes get honked at more than once in a day. i only don't if i haven't left the house.

what the hell?

8 weeks

well, it's been about 8 weeks since i was in canada. let me tell ya, it doesn't feel like that long ago... i guess that's what happens when you've been unemployeed the whole time and as gerry likes to think: sitting around all day watching poker and eating bon bons.

how did i realise the time had flown by? getting my pits waxed today. i had to figure
out how long it had been since i last waxed them, because the lady was like: the hair's the perfect length.

so, i've had a couple of leads for jobs and i guess we'll see how they go.

it's actually kinda sunny-ish here today, so now that poker's over, i'm going to head to the post office, and pick up a newspaper at the same time.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

XXX

i bought tickets for x-men 3 yesterday, so we're going to go see it at 5.45 tonight. the tickets were like 2€ less because the show's before 6. it's perfect because there won't be as many people as a later show, i'm sure and this way gerry can go there right after work, and i'll get there at a good time, and we'll get good seats. whoot!

i'll review it when i get home.

want wood?

this morning (luckily i decided to get into workout clothes as soon as i woke up, because normally i wait until the absolute last minute to get anywhere near decent) i heard a sort of 'knocking on glass' sound so i went to the back door, and the next door neighbour, the flower lady, was there... well, actually she wasn't exactly there... she was down the house a bit... like she'd maybe been peeking in some windows. i was immediately concerned, because she's never come over. she was in a bit of a kurfuffel because there was a guy who'd come over, who was selling wood and she was worried i'd miss my chance.

because the heating wasn't working for a while there, we bought a tonne (or 40kg) of coal and some brickettes, which i explained to her, and said that i think we were fine. she didn't super believe me, and was a bit concerned. seriously. i was like, we still have lots of coal, and the heating's working again. and she was like: oh! well, i'll make sure they call me the next time they come down, so that you don't miss them.

very nice of her... but funny.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

slip and slide

i go through a lot of slippers. in fact, i'm basically down to two pairs (was up to ten at one point). one set of which are too small and pushing at my toes. slippys are for comfort and this is not equalling comfort. the other set are also too small but lets my heel hang out. maybe i can get my sister to send me a pair of ikea slippers. a pair or twelve. actually... she's not that reliable, especially when it comes to the post. i knew i should have stopped at ikea while in b.c.. now i'm totally regretting it... and so are my toes. boo urns.

you are foxy, my friend!

i finally got firefox for newt. i'd been meaning to for a while, but things were working well on safari, and i guess i was being lazy and not wanting to do a new bookmarks bar. last night, so that i could use calendar sharing from google with gerry, i bit the bullet.

this morning i've been updating my window. all blogs are now easily accessed with a little tap of the mousepad. phewsh.

firefox is a great browser. and it lets me have the quick links on blogger, so i don't have to type in my own code. i think there's something slightly cuter/less boring industrial than safari. i don't know what it is, but it's more appealing.

welcome back.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

still no job

i'm still an unemployed waster girlfriend (who, is still paying her own way... don't be confused, waster not useless) but it's losing it's appeal, and quickly.

however, today i found a position for an assistant graphic designer for a position doing a company's annual report. well, that's right up my street, and i applied for it immediately.

wish me luck cause in other job news, things aren't looking so good.

my great idea

dear georgina campbell,

your guide has turned out to be a little more miss than hit. we sort of lucked out the first two times, and really one of those restaurants is no longer mentioned in your guide.

guess what? you've got some competition. i'm going to make my own guide. so there.

you may or may not be scared right now, but you will be.

with a more developed palette,

ursula

Friday, May 19, 2006

i didn't do the reading

gerry and i managed to get to cafe paradiso today, and then to the davinci code.

okay, i haven't read the book. in fact, if i hadn't got a bit of the low-down from gerry, i wouldn't have even known the book has anything to do with religion.

i liked the movie. i'll bother to read the book now. movies are like wine... go in open-minded, and if you like it, you like it... that makes it a good one. i wouldn't say the movie was brilliant, but i did like it.

when healthy goes bad

yesterday gerry and i went to the cinema. we'd decided to see confetti. because the oil light went on in my car, our plans for going to cafe paradiso and then to mahon point were altered to getting a sandwich at o'brien's and then going to the cinema. a sandwich at o'brien's is supposed to be the healthier option at the food court, but i almost died yesterday.

in the lineup to pay, a woman on stilettos wobbled in front of us to pay. clearly she ordered earlier... no problem. oh! oh...wait, there is a problem. i think my retinae are being burned... i have absolutely nothing against a woman in her 40's dressing sexy... because generally sexy doesn't mean like a very very cheap whore. that's why retinae were burning. she was in stilettos, white capris, a faux fur-lined jacket, wearing soooooo much makeup, a bad bleach job (i saw peter mark all over the place) and the cherry on top? a white 'shirt' that was basically open in a cut-out circle design from her sides, from the bottom to her breasts. did i mention her tits were hanging out all over the place? i couldn't stop laughing... it could have been the belly-button ring that did it... or the orange tinged tan... or it could have been that i was initially shocked and then looked at gerry who was sporting the same traumatised looked that i realised i must have also had going.

i tried to control myself, and sort of managed to, until she sat down with her children.

•••
confetti was hilarious. it's funny cause it's true. or at least it might as well be true.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

tour this

on saturday, instead of going somewhere gorgeously warm with endless beaches, gerry and i decided to follow through with our original plan to take his parents to the nuremore (service was good, but the food was over-rated) and extend our trip by going to the giant's causeway and the jumping church.

sunday we made a day of it, despite the weather being...hmmm, what's more than miserable? we went to newgrange which is this ancient (3000 b.c.) passage tomb that is perfectly aligned with the winter solstice. anyway, it's on a hill, so (you can see two openings in the pictures) you enter through the bottom one, and squeeze between all these stones (it's totally dry inside) to get to a chamber. the sun shines through the top one, at an angle so that it lights up the entire chamber. very cool.

newgrange
at newgrange (it was raining soooooooo much)

we were literally soaked. there had been lots of path flooding and streams flowing over paths etc.. i almost wanted to skip the jumping church... and how lucky we didn't!!!
u&g
at the jumping church

caretaker
this is the caretaker from the jumping church. when we were driving there, he was walking along the road. he saw us and chased after us. he then gave us the best tour ever! he told us about the graves that are there, and stories behind them. this guy was a total character. we're going to send him one of the pics, and possibly a new hat.

really, this guy is classic. he was really into what he does, and he knew everything. he was definitely my favourite part.

g_causeway
giant's causeway-the stones are hexagonal pillars... similar stones have only been found on the other side of the causeway, in scotland. this was also a favourite part of the trip. in fact, the jumping church and the giant's causeway are my two favourite sites in ireland. i liked west cork, but the jumping church is such a great story, and the giant's causeway is amazing.

west cork pics

a few weeks ago, gerry and i went camping for a couple nights in west cork. we both blogged about the gorgeous food at annie's and at kalbo's bistro. now here are some pics.

w_cork
west cork - the southern-most point of mainland ireland

foodallday
'food served daily' my ass... but that led us to the bistro!

tag, you're it

can you tell i'm looking for a job? post/email your details. it will be fun for you. i was going to email it, but then saw that kenji had posted his... s-m-r-t... whoot!

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. graphic/web designer
2. do-it-all at hope unlimited
3. fashion politzei at the mall
4. do-it-all at mom's fabric/craft store

Four nicknames I've been given:
1. ursy
2. uschi
3. curse
4. pookie

Four movies I would watch over and over:
(i will watch any movie that i liked over and over, refer to degree)
1. LOTR
2. big fish
3. stay (far away...so close)
4. i'm sure there are tonnes more...in fact, too many

Four places I have lived:
1. west coast & 'out east' canada
2. england
3. the netherlands
4. ireland

Four TV shows I HAVE to watch:
1. Law & Order
2. CSI
3. Daily Show
4. Columbo

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. india
2. western europe
3. 80% of the states
4. 80% of the provinces (0% of the territories)

Four things I could NOT live without
1. friends-they are my support and remind me to laugh
2. love
3. memories
4. humour

Four of my favorite foods:
1. pavlova
2. indian
3. sophie's veggie burger
4. reese's peanut butter cups (food/not food whatever)

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. darbar... reading k's made me think that i could go for a nice dhansak right about now
2. on the beach in the med. oh, well... a nice hot beach anywhere, i guess
3. sonoma county, with a glass of sparkling
4. vancouver

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

i'm baaaack!

okay, i'm back from the north and already drunk.

i will blog more tomorrow, but wanted to use this to ensure i upload some pics of the giant's causeway and the jumping church.

these were the best things i've seen in ireland!

oh, and i have to write my review of the nuremore, another of georgina campbell's recommended restaurants.

Friday, May 12, 2006

still hurtin'

after some stretching and umm... nothing doing... i'm feeling a bit better. but i'm still übersore.

i'd start drinking, but i'm supposed to pick up gerry after an evening of debauchery following his last day at ecocom. oh, that and i've been trying to cut back on my boozing. it's that whole mixing drugs and alcohol thing.

that'll learn ya

oh my gosh. i am in so much pain. must stretch shoulders, must stretch legs. do not let downward dog win this round. so sore.

i've basically got two options here... stretch it out and go again next week, or lay in bed, mooching massages and never going back. one's looking a bit better than the other right now, but i'm no quitter. i think this weekend i'm going to start lifting weights again so i don't hurt as much. besides, after next week's class there's a break week, and then gerry and i are going to join the beginner's class. i doubt beginner will hurt as much as intermediate.

in the meantime, back to bed for a half-hour.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

burn on you, squeegie man!

today, driving home from yoga (to which i consciously only brought my license, €15 and a towel, so i wouldn't have to worry about bringing too much stuff to class, and leaving stuff in my car) there was a squeegie man.

now, until a few year's ago, i wasn't really bothered by the squeegies. i guess i was indifferent, they didn't enrage me, and i didn't have a real soft spot for them... blah blah blah... my policy for the last few years is that i don't give street people money, i give them food... sometimes homemade, sometimes i'll just go into the mcdonald's whose trash they're rooting through, so that for one meal they get to eat not out of the garbage. it's my policy, good or bad... i'll go out of my way to make sure you eat something, but i'm not giving you money. this was not always the case.

one day in kingston, back when i used to give squeegie kids money if they insisted on washing the windshield, i seriously had no money. i mean, it happens. no spare change in the ash tray for parking, no cash in my wallet. nothing. on the corner of princess and division, i believe, i was stopped at the squeegie lights. *panic* the guy raised his squeegie, and i was like, no no no! i really don't have any money! i have no change! he gave me the finger. it pissed me off... i wasn't trying to be mean or anything, i was saving him from washing my window for free.

today... no money... i was like, oh god, not this again! so, i'm trying to yell at yer man: i have no money, i don't have my wallet, the people on the other side of the street heard me, but not the guy in front of my car. i said it repeatedly. i don't have any money. so when he was done, because what, he thought i was lying or something? he came over to the window and i'm like, dude, i told you, i have no money. i just went to a yoga class (then thinking: he has to believe this. look at me, look at what i'm wearing. now thinking: i'm so dumb, i should have almost run him over like the car in front of me). he's like: 50¢? i told you: i don't have *any* money. and he was mad at me. luckily the light changed then.

so:

dearest squeegie man,

i told you i didn't have any money, and guess what? i didn't.

burn on you.

best wishes,
ursula

p.s. my clean windshield says, 'hi'.

it's been too long

dearest yoga,

it's been too long. i've missed you. but now i'm back. please tell your friend, downward facing dog, that i will destroy it. i may need some time, but i'm comin' for it.

see you next week,

xoxo ursula

booo-ring

as i don't have a job yet, my life continues to be a bit boring. so i blog the mundane. mwah hah hah... misery loves company!

now that gerry has next week off. we thought that we should go on a last minute vacation somewhere warm. we found one to turkey, one to morocco, and one to lanzarote. we have decided instead that considering we already have reservations for the nuremore on saturday, and that we're expected in carrickmacross for the weekend, that we should stay in ireland. while up north, we are going to see the giant's causeway!!! YAY! oh, and gerry's new nephew and all his family. maybe i'll even get to see the jumping church... that would be fun for me.

we may bring the tent and rough it a couple nights... but it's not that warm here... so i'm not exactly sold on that idea. hmmm... maybe in between job searching and waiting for yer man to patch up the giant hole in the bathroom, i will look for cute b&bs. and by cute, i mean cheap. :o)

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

i love you

dear rice krispie squares,

i love you, and your marshmallowy goodness. you hurt my mouth when i eat a million of you because you're so crunchy, but i still love you.

xoxo
ursula

i hate you

dear bitch at peter mark who cut my hair,

please learn that "one inch" is about 1/4th the amount you actually took off. i believe i went in with curly hair and that might suggest that if cut short, my hair will actually be even shorter. i am now sporting a shoulder-length hair cut, and no... my hair isn't darker, it's even more blonde.

allow me to sum up.

i went in asking for my roots to be touched-up and for a trim. i ended up getting much lighter hair (despite a conversation where i would be getting some darker ones, so the highlights would last longer) and much shorter hair (despite asking for a trim, and then confirming that only 1 inch would come off).

i now hate my hair and have learned my lesson. if tony & guy can't do your hair, because one of their colourists is sick, wait. it's worth the money and the wait.

peter mark sucks.

sadly,
ursula

big deal

i really wanted to leave the house yesterday, but i couldn't. i was getting ready to go...just brushed my teeth, washed my face, etc. and was about to get dressed when someone knocked at the door. i thought it miight be the dude dropping off the recycling bin... i was in my nightclothes, so decently presentable, but still... i opened the door, and it was the guy who'd been working on our heating... i was a bit confused, cause i didn't think he worked for the county. turns out, he was here to fix the hot water leak. umm... i was totally not prepared for this. luckily the house had been cleaned up from the party. but somethings needed to be put away.

so he was supposed to check the radiators and listen where the leak is or something like that. gerry did clean his side of the room the night before, but a couple of books, the furry hadcuffs and sassy dice that jim bought him for his birthday were still on the ground *eek*. so i let him listen, but not in the spare room. i told him i needed to put some stuff away and freaked out and found hiding spots for "gerry's babies" while he was eating his tea. i was freaking out because the dude told me the landlord was coming over too. basically i was spazzing, but the house was already clean, so i couldn't do anything about it.

then while cleaning up from making rice krispie sqaures after dinner, i got a sliver. well, at least that i can deal with. nope! instead it's way too deep, and i can't get it out... 30 mins or more later i finally admit this, the sore red finger is evidence to this. (hmm... still can't get it out.)

so, i was a spazz yesterday. but at least the internet's back on and i can leave the house today.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

the hindernet

*phewsh* finally back online. the internet and phones in cork have been down for the past couple of days. it was like being back in the dark ages. i couldn't look for a job, check my email, blog, read blogs, etc.. murder. *gosh*

to catch you up:

gerry's party was a success... lots of people showed up, and lovely food was had.

still no job, was supposed to hear about this one spot that was a temp spot that would finish right as i was expecting guests, so it sounded decent. no go though.

the heating has probably been fixed at the house, after yer man had to dig up half of the second bathroom. he'll be back thursday to fix the gaping hole left in the ground, and to make sure he's found the leak, and that there was only one.

gerry has next week off work now, so we're trying to figure out if we can go on a late break somewhere.

today i made rice krispie squares with the left over marshmallows from the barbeque. and DAY-AMN they are good. i've eaten a million, and plan to eat a million more!

yesterday i found the daily show on sky (killing time because there was no internet). that helps me towards happiness.

Friday, May 05, 2006

makin' muffins

no, no buns in the oven, but we have got some cupcakes.

gerry's made brownies; i'm making cupcakes; rose is bring a cake. and then there's the barbeque... burgers, kebabs, salads, quiche for brunch tomorrow, and a good ol' time just waitin' to happen.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

the good word, indeed

thanks yo! to kenji's blog about getting the free iTunes song, and some further directions, i am now on the free song bandwagon.

thinking about it, i remember trying to get it when iTunes was first started... but i couldn't set up an account because it was only in the U.S.. NOW i'm in like sin. whoot!

interview with a vampire

okay, yer wan wasn't actually a vampire... but i did do an interview with a recruitment agency today. it was good to get up early throw on some make-up and dress up, all while pretending that i do that every day... and that's it's natural. i took my first typing test and hit 52 and 54/wpm, i will try to find something online that will bring me up a bit higher.

the receptionist was lovely there. she was like: i really like your top. it's so soft and feminine but professional too! which was extra great, cause in a moment of panic (me? no!) i freaked this morning and was like: does this top look stupid with these pants?! and then we chatted for a bit.

on another note... my pants fit me again, and the pants that i was wearing yesterday are now too big. boo urns. danielle... i may be making requests soon. my new shoes looked HAWT with my pants, and it was only after about 3 km of walking on cobble stone in them that they started to kill.

i'm going to try to get my hair done today. i went to my regular salon, but one of the colourists is sick today so they can't take more appointments. i'm going to go to peter mark at mahon point, because it has free parking. parking downtown is expensive for the three hours it will take to have my hair done.

tomorrow is gerry's birthday so i have a whole list of things to do before/after hair. my friend rose is going to make a cake, and i'm going to make cupcakes. i also plan to make a whole fiesta of food items for the barbeque. also we're continuing our Georgina's Guide theme and going to Jacob's on the Mall for gerry's birthday dinner tomorrow night. as per my request, a vegetarian option will be available for me. whoot.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

sweaty pig-dog

over the past month or two i've been waking up in the middle of the night soaking wet. i don't think it's from peeing the bed, so those suggestions can be left out, thank you.

i'm freezing when going to bed, then it evens out, and around 4 in the morning i consistently wake up sweating. it's so bad that my side of the bed is actually damp. this morning i thought the warming blanket was on, because it was so hot. my clothes are literally wet. i looked it up online but didn't like any of the answers so i'm going to have to do some more research. one suggestion was anemia...which i already have but hate taking iron for, cause it messes around with my pooh and makes me have really stinky farts.

i have said it before, i'd just eat red meat, but i don't think that barfing it back up would make it useful at all. luckily chocolate also has iron. pass the m&ms.

i've got to get more coal on the fire.

barbeque this

gerry's been having a weekend of birthday. as i mentioned before, it is fun for me!

one of his presents was a new cordless drill. whoot. i think that here they call it a hammer drill. anyway, he was going to put the barbeque together on thursday, when i bought it, but knowing that his present on monday was the drill, i asked him to please not. nothing to explain, just please don't. apparently the drill was a good present, because he's put the barbeque together and bought a set of shelves that he was happy to put together- all with the drill. what else can i buy him that will in the end benefit me? :o)

we tested the barbeque out yesterday, and maybe because i was drunk, or maybe because it was the truth, but it seemed to work great. the veggie burgers were yummy, and the marshmallows took some effort, cause they can't really touch the grill, but were also a success.

yay!

oh, as a side note to the four star camping... there was a kitchen, games room, playground, showers and clean warm toilets. warm toilets while camping and having no bugs in them kinda threw me off...but in a good way. there was this one family who parked their car on the grass and everytime i looked at them it made me crazy. i was like: can't they read? there's a big sign that says, "DO NOT DRIVE ON GRASS" no please, no thank you, just don't. i wanted to slash their tires. i wouldn't have, because that's bad but it would have been funny for a bit.

west cork-representin'!

and how!

i've learned so much about ireland over the weekend. good times in skibereen!

DO NOT CAMP IN APRIL
no matter how nice and seductive the days are, the nights are still going to be very very cold. mostly this would be fine, but i tend to have to go to the washroom at least twice once i'm tucked into bed. this means exposure to the dewy grass and the chilled temperatures of dusk. in nature's defence: our house is just as cold, so we would have been freezing at home too... unless cuddled up by the fire.

THERE IS GOOD FOOD
i wasn't sure it was possible, but it's true! outside of the fabulous cafe paradiso and wagamama, there is great food that isn't just pizza or something equally common. gorgeous gorgeous food was found. once by luck, and well, the other by luck too. gerry comments on this too. the night we were going to end the cleanse we had decided to just go into town and find something. afterall, we had driven through town to get to the campsite, and we'd seen a few places advertising food... shouldn't be too hard, right? wrong. apparently you don't have to serve food to advertise that you do, that it's good, or that you are a restaurant. when we got to the second place which said "Tsar Restaurant, Good Food Served All Day" we were like, oh well, that's not too bad, it'll be a real restaurant, and it'll be so much better to finish the cleanse like that. turns out they also "don't serve food at all". but yer wan gave us two suggestions, the first kalbo's bistro, just around the corner and the second, the hotel on the other end of town. she said the food is gorgeous at kalbo's but more expensive. and that we might not get in, because it's probably booked. if someone says the food is gorgeous somewhere and you've just been on a cleanse... well let's face it, gorgeous wins! magically we got a table. unfortunately once the large group of english got there and sat beside us, the atmosphere went way downhill, but otherwise... yes. gorgeous.

i opted out of a starter because the waitress asked gerry all these questions about extra foods with his main course...and someone had to try the dessert! we ended up with so much food. gerry had a burger that he said was delicious and i had the risotto (OH MY GOD) which was devine. it was so perfectly done. and it's not like risotto is the easiest thing to perfect. yummy yummy yummy. and my dessert? mango and passionfruit pavlova. my only complaint? the english, and the potato wedges, but i wasn't too bothered by the wedges cause it just meant i ate less.

PART TWO- ANNIE'S
the next day we went to the beach, played some cards, read a bit and then were off to bantry to get an extra blanket, walk around etc.. it was a bit colder that day, cause we were by the water the whole time, but still a nice day. we went to the southern-most part of the irish mainland, and skipped out on seeing the lighthouse. but we did get to see some fancy nautical items in the museum. then we went to annie's.

we found out the day before that we got our reservations for annie's. she called just as we were leaving to say that we could get a spot. yay! so we went there and were taken across to the Levi Pub. it was awesome because it was the kind of place gerry had told me about. it sells toilet paper and household things on one side, and booze on the other. and if you want to watch the game, you go to the sitting room. it could have been lack of food (i had a small salad for lunch and a croissant for breakkie) but i suddenly got really dizzy and thought i was going to barf. i was a bit worried about barfing in public, so i went outside. i came back in, and after a bit felt sick again, so we waited outside. i didn't want to miss annie's! turns out, as soon as i started eating, i felt a million times better. tasty garlic bread to start, then our appetisers, then i had the lemon sorbet, and my meal was roasted red peppers stuffed with tofu and tomatoes. it was lovely. and strawberry pavlova to finish. WOW. gerry's dessert? chocolate fudge cake. so moist and rich and just amazing.

after our meal... 2 1/2 hours later... we went to the campsite and passed out.

reservations for june, july and august are basically impossible to get at annie's this late in the year. but if you go on the waiting list, she said that you have a decent chance of getting in, as long as you're flexible, because people's plans change.

i'm going to try to get reservations for kalbo's bistro for when danielle and her mom come. yum... maybe i should ask for a night with no english.