PHONE FIASCO - KILKENNY AND CORK, IRELAND - DAY 4

We're up early, scarf down a hostel breakfast, Kay does some med school homework online, and then we’re off to Kilkenny and Cork. Most of the day was spent on the train. It was my first day learning the trains, and I admit, I’m rather intimidated...It’s hard for me to understand the schedules, and Kay has already been doing this for at least a week- Gotta start somewhere. I just need to be a pro for when we split up from Austria, so I to get to Austria-Milan-Lake Como- Milan- Croatia by myself.

We went from Dublin to Kilkenny today to see the Kilkenny Castle. It’s something Kay wanted to do, but if I knew ahead of time, I’d think it was a waste of a day because we have less time in Cork now, and that’s supposed to be a great city. I'm not at all salty about it, I just know I have less of a fascination with the castles than she does, and I need to keep a level head to remind myself that this is originally her solo trip- I'm just happy to be a part of it, and take a break from the horror that was 2017. Overall, the castle was just okay, and we’re going to see so many of them. After the castle tour, we stopped for lunch, and had all-you-can-eat Chinese food at a really good price- We don’t want to have only pub food the whole time we’re here.

After that, we went back from Kilkenny to Dublin and now Dublin to Cork. We’ll get to Cork sometime late this evening and only spend the morning in the city.

Kay just had a hilarious conversation with her mom. The WiFi reception is spotty on the train so when she called, Kay said she was a bit homesick, but her mom just thought she said she was sick. Her mom panicked and Kay had to repeat and explain. She had to keep her voice down, but was getting frustrated with her mom panicking on the other line, and the terrible connection was NOT helping, so Kay started giving muffled yells in Hindi and English to her mom over the phone. I started cracking up, and so did the ladies in the seats next to us. With all of us failing to stifle our laughter at this phone conversation, Kay began to crack too. This prompted her mom to think she was crying about being sick. At that point, we all lost it, and I was crying for real. This happened back and forth for at least 4 minutes until finally Kay had a break through and could properly communicate with her mom. I wish I filmed it because it was absolutely hilarious, and the highlight of my day!

On the train ride over, we make our plan for the following day. Tomorrow, Kay and I are going to try to split because I REALLY want to see the James Turrell Skygarden in Skibbereen. I’m kind of nervous though because I have to take a bus and a cab to get the Liss Ard Estate where it's located, and then a cab and possibly two buses to meet Kay in Killarney- Kay will just go straight from Cork to Killarney. On top of that, the buses are a bit pricey I think, and the people at the estate that I’ve been emailing said the Skygarden was closed because of a storm. However, they are always trying to accommodate Turrell enthusiasts so they gave me a reservation for 2pm-4pm tomorrow to view it. I’m very excited but the transportation has me a bit on edge. I don't have cell service like Kay, so I can only communicate where there's WiFi. I’m not TOO worried- I suppose I can always ask people for help, and I will get to Killarney eventually, but it’s not a straight shot by any means.

The Skygarden exhibit is typically open from May- Sept., but I doubt I’ll come back to Ireland for that ONE thing, even though the weather would be perfect for photos and videos. Plus the estate is a 5-Star hotel and a VERY expensive one at that. In Cork, I’m only an hour away from it and the exhibit is so unknown, it’s not even on Turrell’s website.

I’ve been researching on the train’s WiFi for all the bus schedules, but I’m also going to speak with the reception at Cork’s hostel tonight to double and triple check and see if they can have a cab pick me up from the bus station in Skibbereen to get to the estate. It’ll be quite the adventure all the same, and you can bet I’ll send an email about it tomorrow night! Wish me luck!

.......

We arrive in Cork. I was tired but Kay wanted to go out, so we dropped our stuff at the hostel and went to the downstairs bar. We enjoy some Guinness and Jameson and flirted with the bartender a bit. We listen to some live music which was quite good, and eventually made our way over to the pool table. Some guys start chatting with us, two Irish, one NZ, and one French. I’m enjoying myself, but then the conversation goes south as Kay is assertive, and the guys were being dicks to her. I'm on my way to ditch the game to hang out with Kay, but she prefers I stay and beat them at pool. This certainly wasn’t a priority for me, but then she went back over to the bar and started chatting with a British bloke, so I gave her space.

The next thing I know, Kay comes over in a hurried panic, saying someone swiped her phone. We damn near shut the bar down looking for her phone because it has all of the hostel, plane, train and GPS info- Plus it’s our only lifeline to communicate with each other when we separate. We search for about an hour, checking security cameras, looking under jackets, grazing tables, checking our pockets, even going as far as to check the pockets in the pool table. Kay is distraught and angry at herself, so I buy her a drink while the British guy she was speaking with is helping to text and call her phone to the person who possibly stole it. (I’ll have an attempted international phone call on my mobile as well Mom- Kay said she’ll pay the bill, she was desperate).

The dust settles, and I’m convinced we can keep traveling the old school way with paper maps and borrowing peoples phones for future communication. About an hour later, I’m still consoling her, until suddenly... Kay leaps out of her seat remembering something that she done before- Like a magician pulling out a rabbit in a hat, she whips her phone out from HER JACKET HOOD that she had been wearing! She put it there so it WOULDN'T get stolen. Now her, myself, and the British bloke start drinking to celebrate. He takes us out to a club on students’ and a junk food place called, Hillbillies.

Long story short, we're buzzed, celebrating over nothing, dance until the club closes, and head back to the hostel. Kay borrows the Brit's computer to do more homework, and I go to bed to crash.

More tomorrow!

-eM