Thursday 28 July 2011

Blarney Castle, Co. Cork


Denis had to go to Blarney and I decided to join him to get out for a while. The day was not too bad and while he visited a company, I was strolling around and as I thought Denis meeting would take longer, I went into the Blarney garden. Pity, that I could not stay long, as I liked the place very much!





I did not see the castle and garden properly, so I promise to be back soon to have a closer look.

Fotos by Margit Anna Binder

Monday 11 July 2011

GRAIGUENAMANAGH in County Kilkenny


As the promised hottest summer of the century did not arrive yet, we had to use the opportunity to get out yesterday. It was dull, but at least it did not rain and it was relatively warm, about 18 degrees.
I remember when I came to Ireland first, I found the summers here freezing cold, I was used to 30 degrees and more,but you have to take what you get, though I have to admit that I still miss the sunny hot days.

Da der heisseste Jahrhundertsommer noch nicht eingetroffen ist, mussten wir die Gelegenheit gestern nutzen, um ein bisschen rauszugehen. Es war trüb, aber zumindest regnete es nicht und es war relativ warm, ca. 18 Grad C. Ich erinnere mich, als ich das erste Mal nach Irland kam, da empfand ich die Sommer hier fröstelnd kalt. Ich war an Temperaturen um die 30 Grad und mehr gewöhnt, aber man muss es so nehmen, wie es kommt, obwohl ich zugeben muss, dass mir die sonnigen, heissen Tage noch immer sehr fehlen.


We walked along the Canal in Graiguenamanagh, the village where Denis' father comes from, which is situated in the Barrow Valley in Co. Kilkenny, . It is a nice, peaceful place with a long walking path, where you can enjoy nature, without being bothered by loud tourist crowds.

Wir marschierten den Kanal in Graignuenamanagh entlang, dem Dorf, wo Denis Vater geboren wurde und welches im Barrow Tal in County Kilkenny liegt. Dies ist ein netter, friedlicher Ort mit langen Wanderwegen, wo man die Natur geniessen kann, ohne von lauten Touristenschwärmen umgeben zu sein.


We passed some march land with lots of wild flowers and I asked Denis if you could get stuck in the mud. He said he would not think so. Then he called me further down, as he spotted a sheep. "That is a strange one," he said, "it has two colours, brown in the back." We took a closer look with the camera and noticed it was injured in the back. There was a big baldy patch, covered in blood with lots of flys attacking the wound.

Wir kamen an einem Marchland mit vielen wilden Blumen vorbei und ich fragte Denis, ob man darin stecken bleiben könnte. Denis verneinte, doch kurz darauf rief er mich zu sich, weil er ein Schaf gesichtet hatte. "Das sieht eigenartig aus," meinte er, "es hat zwei Farben, braun am Hinterteil." Wir schauten uns das Tier mit der Kamera näher an und bemerkten, dass es am Rücken eine Verletzung hatte. Da war eine grosse haarlose Stelle zu sehen, die mit Blut bedeckt war und etliche Fliegen attackierten die Wunde.


"Poor creature," said Denis, "it must have been stuck in the mud." We felt so sorry for the sheep and felt even worse when it starred at us with a desperate look, as if it wanted to say: "Please help !"

"Arme Kreatur," sagte Denis, "es muss im Schlamm steckengeblieben sein," Das Schaf tat uns unendlich leid und wir fühlten uns sogar noch schlechter, als es uns mit einem verzweifelten Blick anstarrte, als wollte es sagen: "Bitte helft mir!"


We went back as fast as we could and drove to the police station. There we showed the pictures of the poor animal and told the officer the location where it was to find. He promised to send a veterinary to the place and to look for the owner of the sheep. We did what we could and hope the sheep will recover!

Wir machten uns eiligst auf den Rückweg und fuhren zur Polizeistation. Wir zeigten dem Wachmann die Bilder, die wir von dem armen Tier gemacht hatten und beschrieben die Stelle, wo es zu finden war. Er versprach uns einen Tierarzt dorthin zu entsenden und nach dem Schaf zu sehen und den Besitzer ausfindig zu machen. Wir haben getan, was wir tun konnten und hoffen, dass das Schaf das übersteht!


Fotos by Margit Anna Binder

Friday 1 July 2011

The Tall Ship Race 2011 in Waterford



I was at the Tall Ship Festival on Friday 1. July and I was rather disappointed. There were not as many tall ships as I expected, I  saw maybe ten or twelve and a few small ones, but I did not come to see the small ones. There are lots of food stalls, but most of them offer only food and I find it very uncomfortable to eat and having nothing to drink with it. A stall's owner told me that they are not allowed to sell drink, which I found does not make sense. It was hard to walk through the crowds of people and lots of barrieres made it even harder to get through.


I had a few snacks, looked around and after 3 hours I had enough and went home.


What I really would love to see is when the ships leave together and when they are in full sail, but I will have to get up early to see that and I have to look for a good spot somewhere outside of Waterford City.


Fotos by Margit Anna Binder