Despite all the weather warnings and possible disruptions to air travel, our flight over to Cork last Friday was a lot better than I expected. I was ready for a sideways landing into Cork, but other than being bumpier than usual, it was actually alright. Once landed and through baggage reclaim, we grabbed a taxi and made our way over to Brian and Lorraine's place to meet them (while Brian was still actually awake), as well as Claire, Noel and Oran for a couple of drinks at home.

On Saturday we kicked off with breakfast at home then caught the bus into town for coffee and cake at the English Market, a bit of shopping around town, then a few relaxing wines in La Châteaux, which was done up really nicely for Christmas. After a few there, we headed home to change, then out to Kinsale for dinner down at the Shanghai Express which specialise in Asian and Asian Fusion food, and was exceptionally good. On the way back, Michael dropped myself and Una in town and landed up doing a mini pub crawl from Dennehy's Bar over to Bodega and finishing up where we initially started, at La Châteaux.

Sunday was a similar day with us catching the park and ride into town, grabbing a coffee and cake at the The Bookshelf Coffee House (old Cork Library), followed by some shopping and then a few at the Hi-B pub, which is an iconic bar in the heart of the city. Thee entrance is through an anonymous looking door on Oliver Plunkett Street and then up two flights of stairs into an old fashioned front room which looks like a trip back to the 1920's Cork when the pub first opened. I like the sign above the bar stating no mobile phones - apparently they're strictly forbidden. We landed up staying in the Hi-B for ages, then decided on El Vino restaurant for dinner.

On Monday we caught the bus down west, getting picked up in Skibb by The Boss then spending the evening just chilling out at home. On Tuesday afternoon we headed into Skibb for a bit of a walk around and popped into the Horse & Hound, but were too early to meet the others for some Christmas Eve drinks, but still grabbed ourselves a quick sundowner before heading home to mind the house. Which was all fine and good until the power went out, and not just the house but the entire parish. Luckily it only lasted a few hours, otherwise there certainly wouldn't have been any Turkey on Christmas Day. Once the power was back on, Lui and and the boys popped around with great excitement for a few of their presents, followed by a last minute decision for Claire, Michael, Teresa, Uns and myself to head down into the village and meet up with Noel, Megan and a few others who were all down at Lil's.

Wednesday was Christmas Day and after mass down in Myross and a Skype chat to the folks up at Teresa's, we decided to take a drive around the coast and even managed to get stuck in the mud half way round the coastal loop. Fantastic! Needless to say I was less than happy with the woman who made no effort to let me pass, causing us to get stuck. But with a bit of a push from Uns (in her heels), we managed to get out and head home to warm up in time for Christmas dinner later on in the afternoon. On Boxing Day St. Stephens day, myself and Una headed over to Rineen Forest for a nice lakeside walk around the trails there. The route is quite well known for the number of carefully constructed fairy houses built into the roots of the trees along the walk. That afternoon we popped over to Anthony and Lui's for our darts tournament and landed up staying on late playing a few games with the lads. That night we had yet another crazy storm where it felt like the roof was going to lift off, but at least it didn't knock all the power out this time.

Then Friday, after breakfast at home, we took a drive around the coast to watch the waves crashing up against the coast after the previous night's storm. Later on, after dinner, we looked after Eamonn for the evening while everyone was up at Anthony and Lui's place, which was anything but relaxing with the amount of energy he has. At least I got to play and build some Lego again :)

On Saturday we headed into Skibb for breakfast at Kalbos Bistro Cafe, and landed up bumping into Brian and Lorraine who also popped in there for something to eat. After a bite to eat, we headed out to Baltimore and then into Lough Hyne which is is a marine lake about 5 km southwest of Skibbereen and was designated as Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve back in 1981. We landed up only staying briefly, I wasn't feeling too great so decided to head home and landed up sleeping right through until yesterday morning which seemed to do the trick, felt much better after that!

Yesterday afternoon Michael and myself spent some time playing a bit of Irish road bowling which is a sport originating in Ireland and mainly played in Counties Armagh and Cork. The idea of the game is to throw or bowl a metal ball along a predetermined course of country roads and attempt to reach the target in the fewest number of shots. Good fun for a bit of the afternoon. Then last night we popped down to John and Jane-Ann for a bit of a Bailey's Coffee session with them, followed by the Quiz night down in Lil's with Teresa, where we landed up coming second and winning a box of chocolates each. Even though I can't take credit for answering many of the questions! Glad I got over whatever that 24 hour bug was, always annoying being sick on holidays. If anything would've helped, it'd have been those Bailey's Coffees :)