Ireland -- Day 4

I'm still adjusting to sleeping in a small dorm bed, but more than that, getting used to constant traffic/people/city noise all through the night!  My room is just a stone's throw from N22, a busy four-lane road that leads right into the heart of downtown Cork.  Right as I would start to get comfortable enough to drift off to sleep, a host of vehicles would come by or people would come by shouting about something, and it seems to be happening right outside my window!  Plus another student and I heard lots of loud banging (trying to open a door?) at 1:00 am, so sleep was not the greatest last night either unfortunately!  I did catch a few off-and-on winks from about 3:00 to 8:00, at which point I just decided to get up, do a little reading in preparation for our lectures, and have a few oat biscuits and a vanilla Greek yogurt for breakfast.  Then it was time to head over to the Geography Building on University College Cork's campus, approximately a 15-20 minute walk from our rooms.  I LOVE how much walking there is around here, just naturally built into the day and required to get from place to place.  I've consistently been logging at least 15,000 to 20,000 steps so far throughout each day, which is awesome.  Also, the walking to get to and from dinners (and really anywhere/anything else) is quite relaxing.  I will miss this routine when I get home!

Today's activities were entirely lectures by Colin Sage, a professor at the college and author with special interest in the environment and food.  Except for a brief break to grab coffee/hot chocolate, stretch our legs, and an hour for lunch (I had chicken, a rice salad, steamed mixed vegetables, and water), we spent the entire day in lecture with him...so about seven hours.  We covered so many topics from climate change and GMOs to sustainability and how to best feed the world.  There was a TON of information to process, absorb, and think about, plus I am not used to sitting -- in class or otherwise -- for that long, so I think my (and a few other students') brains were in desperate need of a break once we were released at 5:15!  There was a lot of good information shared with us in clear, understandable ways, and an important foundation was laid for the upcoming lectures and field visits.  We decided to head into Cork for some dinner at Milano, Italian in Ireland as we laughed about!  I had the Fiorentina pizza, brimming with spinach, mozzarella, tomato, garlic oil, black olives, Gran Milano cheese, and topped with a free-range egg!  They even offered it (and many other pizzas) on gluten-free crust.  Complete with a Watermelon Chill, a blend of strawberry/watermelon/apple juice and fresh mint, it was a superb meal.  We took the long way back to our dorms, admiring the small shops tucked in side streets (practically alleys, they are so small) and the River Lee, which cuts through the center of Cork.  It was a beautiful evening, pleasantly cool, to be walking and drinking in more new parts of this lovely city.

Fiorentina pizza

Enjoying the beautiful sights and River Lee after dinner

~Anna