Going into the weekend we were all a little apprehensive considering we are all pretty happy and adjusted to apartment living. My homestay roommate Kelsey and I had met and hung out a few times before the weekend so I knew I'd at least be in good company. Mary and Jeff Masterson picked us up where the bus dropped us off and away we went! Mary is a child minder, or nanny, and Jeff retired from working at Eircom, which a communications company here in Ireland. Their house was beautiful! My favorite room was the kitchen, which was coincidentally where we spent the most time! For dinner the first night Mary whipped up some spaghetti bolognese. It was delicious! After the dinner, she brought out the most delicious apple pie, which she had made that day from the apples in the yard. It was so nice to get some home cooking! In traditional Irish fashion we all had a few cups of tea after dinner. Then me and Kelsey took the 10 minute walk back into the town to meet up with some of our friends at a pub called McGoverns to listen to some live music. I think we were all impressed with the music and spent most of the night singing along and have great craic! We all decided to leave after the singer played a rendition of Wagon Wheel. It made us all a little home sick and knew it wouldn't get any better than that.
While the weekend was a lovely time, I know it hit some of my friends a little harder than others. It was strange to be in a home that wasn't OUR home. Anyway, after returning home we found Jeff and Mary watching the Late Late Show in the living room next to a roaring fire. We decided to sit with them a while and unwind from our long day. Saturday morning we woke up around half nine (9:30) and Mary had prepared a huge feast for us! Sausages, rashers (bacon), eggs, toast, tomato, beans, and of course as much tea as we could drink! It was so filling. When we met up with our friends in town a little later we discovered that we were being spoiled and most of them barely had corn flakes for breakfast! The girls all did a little shopping in the various shops around town. I don't think anyone ended up buying anything, but it was nice to take in a fairly normal activity. We even got stopped by a group of locals who tried to recruit us for the women's rugby team! After hitting all the stores we wanted, we stopped into the Gorey tourism office. The gentleman running the desk was one of the nicest people I've met in Ireland. He recommended lots of things for us to do and even called us a cab so we wouldn't have to search for one in the rain (it only sprinkled on and off, still waiting on that notorious irish rain!). We decided to take the drive about ten minutes north to Courtown Harbor. Our first stop was the Seal Rescue! The poor little seals were so cute, but it was kinda sad knowing they were there because they were orphaned, injured, or starving.
After seeing all there was to see at the Seal Rescue we headed down to the beach. I finally got to touch the Irish Sea! Most of us live on or near the coast in the states so we were ecstatic to feel the sand between our toes and be in our element! We ran around and played in the surf. Definitely one of my favorite moments of the trip so far.
At the top of the beach, there was an arcade so some of us played a few games and grabbed ice cream before heading back to town to watch the All-Ireland Hurling final between Tipperary and Kilkenny. The original match was played three weeks ago but they tied, so it was replayed on Saturday. The Cantwell family has ties in both counties so I wasn't sure who to cheer for at first, but I decided on Kilkenny. I chose the right team! My host family was Tip fans though, so they were a little disappointed haha. We had another killer dinner of chicken burgers and chips. For dessert we had even more apple tart and ice cream and, you guessed it, irish tea. They really do love that stuff here. We were pretty stuffed so we took a little power nap before heading back out for drinks with our friends. Mary and Jeff were impressed that we were going out for a second night. If only they saw how we act in Dublin! Everyone met up at a pub called Paddy Blues for a night of dancing and having a great time! We woke up today a little tired and ready to head back to Dublin, but Mary of course wanted to give us another full Irish breakfast, this time with black and white pudding included. For those of you who don't know black puddings main ingredient is sheeps blood and white pudding is liver. I was very apprehensive but tried it. Let's just say I won't be having that again. After breakfast, Kelsey and I just relaxed and watched the All- Ireland Women's Gaelic Football match. Wexford was playing New York. Yes, the one in America. Wexford came away with the win. Overall it was a relaxing weekend, and a nice escape from the city, though we're all grateful to back at home in Dublin, which is actually starting to feel like home.
Until next time,
From Dublin, With Love.
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