Suzanne Visser

The last week of my internship was a tough one. In just four days I had to revise my whole report of almost 50 pages with the last comments on about half the document only two days before the deadline. On Monday I could only work until 4:00 because of my volleyball training. In the evening I had a dinner in the Boardwalk restaurant with the research group because some guy finished his PhD. It is a tradition that people who finish their stay within the group get a free dinner. As surprised as I was when I tried to pay, I got a free meal. The food was really good. I started with a chicken bacon salad, followed by salmon with spinach and concluded with a banoffee pie.
The following two days I worked as much and as fast as I could which resulted in 9:00 to 18:30 days followed by almost two hours after dinner. On Thursday I had to finish the report and because progress was slow I finally sent my report at 00:15 to my supervisors. Pleased that it was finished I started somewhat later on my last day. That Friday I arranged all kind of things and half way the afternoon I said goodbye to everyone. They surprised me with a card at which they all had written something and a few presents.
My internship had finished. I’m very happy about what I’ve done and learned during these few months. A very good choice!

In my last weekend it was time for my last trip through Ireland. I decided to go to Galway and Connemara. Galway is a city at the west coast about halfway between the south and north point of Ireland. With a large student population it’s a very lively city even in winter. After a 3.5 hrs bus ride from Cork to Galway I checked in in Kinlay House Hostel after which I spend the afternoon wandering through the city. The boulevard was especially nice.
In the evening I made a small trip but being really tired of the hard work of last weeks and the cold I went to my room quite early. There I met my three female roommates. We chatted for a while but then they went out for dinner and a pub and I read for a moment before going to bed.

For the next day I had booked a bus tour through Connemara. With Healy’s Connemara and Galway Bay Tours I saw the spectacular landscape north west of Galway. After leaving Galway we drove west along Galway Bay and through the deserted famine village. Some two hundred years ago the Catholics were banned to this area of Ireland where nothing will grow on the land. However, they found that by mixing the top layer with sea weed potatoes could grow. But because there were so many people and the land was scarce everyone lived along the roads while the land was divided in small pieces with stony walls. When a potato disease destroyed all the food almost everyone died leaving the stony walls and a deserted land.

After this strange landscape we drove through a beautiful landscape with mountains, valleys, lakes and many sheep. This area is Gaeltacht, an area where the Gaeltacht or Irish language is spoken and preserved. People are only allowed to live there if they can speak Irish, work in the area and have the intention to stay there. The tour continued to Kylemore Abbey and Gardens. The abbey was built as a castle in 1871 but converted to an abbey in 1920 after changing ownership. It is now run by nuns but unfortunately due to lack of money the day school for local girls just closed while the last girls of the international boarding school will leave in June. The abbey and gardens are now totally depended on tourism. The garden is in progress of restoration and is already nice to see even though it was winter. The ground floor of the abbey is open for public and shows the original castle.
After this cultural part of the day we drove back to Galway through the valleys and along the banks of the large Lough Corrib. This bus tour from 10:00 to 17:15 was followed by my return journey to Cork. At 18:30 I entered the bus again and left it at 22:50. Instead of just under 3.5 hrs it took 4.5 hrs because of a traffic accident. Despite this long journey home I had a great last weekend with good weather in a beautiful part of Ireland.

Click here for the other pictures.

The following day I packed my bags, had my last volleyball training and said goodbye to my housemates. On Tuesday I returned back in the Netherlands without any trouble. There my parents and one of my brothers surprised me at the airport and brought me back home.

A very nice, learning full experience has come to an end…

From 1824 to 1923 Cork had a prison at the north side of the river at Sunday’s Well Road. It is now open for the public to experience the prison life.
It was not as spectacular as I expected but still being in a former prison does something with you. It confirms how importance it is to stay outside one in operation because it is no fun at all.

For some pictures, click here.

On Sunday 17 January I went to Bantry. Bantry is a small village on the west coast of Ireland overlooking Bantry Bay. The area is heavily influenced by the Gulf Stream creating a mild climate with heavy rainfall allowing semi-tropical plant growth. With the ocean on one side and mountains on the other side this village is beautifully situated.
I was quite lucky with the weather. During the week Cork had a lot of rain and although the forecast looked promising, you never no in Ireland, especially near the coast. With a perfectly blue sky in Cork but increasing cloud cover during the two hour bus drive to the west I wasn’t surprised to end up in rain just before arriving in Bantry. Luckily it was dry again when I left the bus and only one short shower after half an hour or so was all the water falling from the sky.
With a mix of clouds and sun and temperatures around 4 degrees it was chilly but nice and relaxing to be out for a day.

Check the pictures here.

As the snow and the ice melted away and the normal Irish weather (= rain) is back into place my stay is coming to its end. Six more working days at my internship place in University College Cork, 2 more weekends and 1.5 day and I’m flying back to Holland. A mix of positive and negative feelings is rushing to my body as I think about this. I’ve learned some much in those few months and I’ve a great time here but I also like to be back in Holland. My own room, my own stuff, all the familiar things and no mess in the house from 7 other persons. But being back in Holland also mean that I’ve almost finished my master study. And that means: no student anymore AND finding a job.
First however, I’ve to finish my internship. For this I’m writing a report which basically is a summary of everything I’ve done in about 4 months. This sounds easier than it is and it takes a lot of time to write everything down. Since the new year I’ve been writing and this weekend I want to finish my draft report. Hopefully this allows enough time in the last week to revise the report and get it evaluated before I leave Ireland. With some hard work and a bit of help by fast corrections of my supervisors I will succeed in this.
Besides the internship I try to see the last things of Ireland I really want to see. So, this weekend something in Cork and hopefully the last weekend Galway. All the other nice things have to wait for a future holiday or so.

While winter stroke hard everywhere in Europe and parts of America, Ireland and Cork also tried to cope with it. Cork experienced its coldest winter in about 60 years. That meant that it was around zero during the day and a few degrees below freezing point in the night for more than a couple of days in January. Already in December temperatures were low and this continued in the first week of January. Except for the problems faced with the roads during my brothers’ visit I wasn’t really bothered by it. I only had to walk carefully on the slippery roads.
On Saturday 9 January I decided to check out the lough as I heard that it was nice in the frost. Many parents with children thought the same. They were feeding the birds and some tried the ice. However, the first couple of meters from the edge looked bad with cracks everywhere. This explained itself when I headed to the other side. An excavator was destroying the ice built up over night, probably to prevent people from going on the ice. In this way the city council prevents to get accused by the community when something happens on the ice.

Since I arrived in Cork I wanted to have a look at the north side of the city. This part is built against a steeper hill than the south side which creates steep roads and good views. On Sunday morning 10 January I finally had the time to go there. I was only 15 minutes away and the first snow flakes were falling down from the sky. According to the weather forecast snow would fall in the morning as temperatures were just below freezing and in the afternoon rain would follow. During a walk of 2.5 hours the amount of snow slowly increased and turned Cork white. Around 13:30 I was home again and it was still snowing. After that the snow flakes became bigger and the density higher so by sunset the whole city was covered in a layer of snow of several centimeters. Just around midnight the very unusual snow in Cork stopped creating sludge and slippery roads in the morning. By the end of Monday most evidence was gone and Tuesday morning it started raining again as usual.

See here for the pictures of Cork Lough by frost and here for the pictures of my walk in the city and the snow.

After the nice weekend with my parents a few weeks ago it was now my brothers turn to visit me. On Monday 28 December they flew to Dublin to rent a car there. In the mean time I took the train from Cork to Dublin, where they picked me up from Heuston train station. During the almost three hours in the train I was pleasantly surprised by the weather north of Cork. The mountains were covered in snow and also part of the grass lands were white of the frost.
In Dublin the expected sun was nowhere to be seen. It was cold and some of the foot paths were slippery. Nonetheless we spent a good late afternoon and evening in Dublin. We enjoyed the nice Christmas decorations throughout the city, with as climax a large Christmas tree consisting of large balls switching between white, blue and red lights. Dublin has some nice buildings and a lot of bridges crossing the river Liffey.

After the good start in the capital of Ireland it was time for some nature. We drove from Dublin to our next overnight stay in Waterford. However we had some difficulties getting there via our preferred roads. We wanted to cross the Wicklow mountains via Sally Gap, Glendalough and Laragh to continue our way via Wicklow and the east coast southwards. Not so far south of Dublin we entered the mountains and were surprised by snow in the fields. At some higher altitudes there was some snow and ice on the roads but the conditions were good enough to proceed.

until…

a few kilometers before Sally Gap.

We passed a crossing and saw a sign lying on the ground on the right side of the road. Nonetheless we continued but after a few hundred meters we suddenly drove on a layer of ice. After some turns and trying to go uphill the car stopped. We had lost all the resistance from the tires on the asphalt. Luckily it was possible to stop instead of sliding backwards down hill. One of my brothers, who was driving at the moment, tried to turn the car to go back. Unfortunately this was much more difficult that we thought.
He was able to get the car across the road but when he tried to turn further the rear of the car slipped downwards. My other brother and I tried to assist from outside the car. This was also really difficult because we couldn’t stand on the sloped road and were forced to stay in the grass. I even crossed the road on my bottom because I just wasn’t able to walk. Meanwhile it started snowing which made it even more unpleasant. After some more trying, considering and pushing we almost gave up. But what do you do in the middle of nowhere?
Finally we put some towels under the front wheels to gain resistance. Luckily this solved our problem. Bit by bit we were able to turn the car and finally with two towels beneath the front wheels the car gained enough resistance to turn towards the left side of the road. My brother wanted this to drive downhill with the left wheels in the grass and on the mountainside instead of being on the valley side.
After this adventure he drove slowly downhill until a car approached. All the time that we were struggling with turning the car no one was there but when we finally managed some more cars tried to climb the ice road. Two cars were able to turn quickly. This first car that approached had some difficulties because he was also not able to turn. He slowly drove backwards with his wheels in the grass until he could turn. The advantage for all these cars was that we stopped them on the flat road instead of being on a slope.
We finally managed to get of the ice and we drove back to the crossing. In the mean time we stopped four more cars advising them to go back. At the crossing someone had put up the sign which stated…

ROAD CLOSED

Ok, if we just had followed our feelings of wanting to know what was on the sign (after the bits of ice we passed earlier) we didn’t have the trouble. But the four cars we stopped on our way back had definitely seen the sign. They were just stupid.

After this adventure we drove to Wicklow and followed the coast line southwards. Near Mizen Head we parked our car in front of a closed car park and had a look at the rough sea. The icy, strong wind almost blew us away so we quickly got into the car again. After Acklow we took the main road N11 to Enniscorthy and from there we drove southwards west of the River Slaney until we reached the N25 which brought us the Waterford. Unfortunately it rained almost non-stop so we only went to a restaurant for dinner instead of also walking around town.
The next morning it was drizzling which was good enough for a short walk. Some defense towers and parts of the city wall reminds of the history. Furthermore it is just a town on a hill at the coast.
With the ice event fresh in our minds we chose a route from Waterford to Cork but agreed to turn around the moment we were unsure about the roads. The N24 to Clonmel was no problem and after some one-lane roads we came on the R678 to drive a circular road south of Clonmel. Soon we were driving on a road covered in the remainders of a fresh snow layer. We stopped the car to enjoy the scenery and to check the road uphill to decide what to do. In the mean time some cars passed us and the road wasn’t slippery so we continued carefully. However, after the crossing of the R678 and the R671, and choosing for the R671 to continue our circle we had to go uphill. Here the amount of traffic was much less and the amount of snow much more, so unfortunately we had to turn around again. Luckily, it was easier to turn.

In the rain we drove back to Clonmel to continue on the N24 to Cahir where we had a quick look at the castle and the river. The weather was so bad that it wasn’t a pleasure at all. In Bansha we left the N24 to drive through the Glen of Aherlow. This is supposed to be a very nice valley but we hadn’t a view at all. Surprisingly the weather became slightly better when we drove the R662 to Mitchelstown. This enabled us to have a good view on the snow covered Gaity Mountains. With some daylight left we chose to make another detour. Near Fermoy we left the N8 and drove eastwards on the R666 to Ballyduff and Lismore along the River Blackwater. Via Tallowbridge and Conna we entered the N8 again which brought us to Cork. Cork showed the true nature of Ireland: it was poring with rain. So we were completely soaked after a 20 minutes walk from the bed and breakfast where my brother were staying to a restaurant in the city center. And after the dinner and doing some shopping we were soaked again after our walk back. Again this forced us to stay inside instead of walking through town. We filled another evening with playing games.

After two days with almost non-stop rain and ice and snow which prevented us from doing what we wished for the last day of the year was finally with us. It was chilly but fine enough for a walk around Cork. In the morning I showed my brothers the UCC campus and Cork Lough and after lunch we did the city center. In the dark we walked again over the campus to make some pictures of UCC by night. After a good meal in my house and we spent the night in the bed and breakfast. We had the living room for ourselves and enjoyed some games accompanied by rose and beer. Around midnight we listened to Irish music on the TV and toasted ourselves into the new year with sparkling wine. 2010 had begun!
And 2010 began great. We woke up late and had a nice extended breakfast/lunch. In the afternoon we visited the coastal town of Cobh, a picturesque town with a big harbor and built against a hill. All day the air was absolutely blue, and after all the rain the sun was a very pleasant surprise.

When we had enough of the town we headed back to my house for dinner. Later that evening we wandered around town, unfortunately largely covered in fog, to see Cork in the dark. With the moon almost full we tried to get some good pictures. With our cameras full enough with pictures to remember this holiday it was time to say goodbye. My brothers would travel around Ireland for a few more days but I stayed in Cork to relax in the weekend before getting back to my internship.

5 days with my brothers: ice, snow, rain, sun and fog, mountains, valleys, rivers, oceans, grasslands, cities and towns; more diverse than that is hard to get. But still we had a great time and I really thank my brothers again for visiting me here in Ireland!!!

Click here to see all the pictures.

My first Christmas without family I spend in Cork. Ireland, and Cork, prepared already for a long time for this feast. Just the day after Halloween, so from 1 November, all shops were decorated with all sorts of Christmas decoration and also the streets were one by one transformed with lights and Christmas trees. Santa officially arrived on 21 November, the same day Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands, and from that day all kinds on Christmas events started such as lighting Christmas trees, opening of ice skate rings and Christmas markets.
I had some trouble getting into the Christmas mood, because for me Christmas preparations start after Sinterklaas. So when my parents visited me around Sinterklaas, it was a bit weird to visit Christmas markets and hear Christmas songs in the streets, as it was Sinterklaas for us. But after that weekend I decorated my room with a few Christmas balls to get a bit of a Christmas feeling.

Now Christmas is already almost over and I must say it is strange to be alone these days. All my housemates from last three months left the house and the new ones are only in their rooms, so I do not have any contact with them. The only advantage is that I can do whatever I want in the house.
At Christmas eve I went to a Christmas mass at 4pm in Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral. It was not a normal mass but it was ‘The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’. Nine lessons from the bible from the time before and after the birth of Jesus Christ were told, followed by carols song by the choir, and by the choir and the congregation. A special way to start the Christmas days, also because it finished at 5.15pm instead of somewhere in the evening.
The Christmas days I spend at home. Relaxing, sleep late, good food, listening to Christmas songs and watching movies; a perfect way to spend two days. First Christmas day I had an extended dinner. My starter was salmon with lettuce and tomato; the main course chicken filled with a creamy pepper sauce, baked potatoes with bacon, and lettuce with tomato and cucumber; the desert was toffee ice cream. Everything was delicious.
On second Christmas day I kept the dinner easier. I baked a ready made quiche with bacon and leek and creamy cheese and egg in the oven, and served this with the leftover lettuce mixed with tomato and red pepper. I finished dinner with the nice toffee ice cream.

Christmas in Ireland: another good experience!

I am working now just over three months at the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry at University College Cork in Cork. It seems ages since I first arrived here in an unfamiliar city in an unfamiliar country. But now after living in Cork for almost four months everything is familiar. I know my way in the country, in the city and around the university, and feel completely comfortable with it.
My internship is going fine. Last week I discussed with my supervisor and head of the department about finalizing my time with them. We discussed how the internship report should look like and about the way of assessing my work. I also told them when I want to have my last day, which is perfectly fine with them.
Friday 29 January 2010 is my last day. And on Tuesday 2 February I take the plane back to Holland.

The last weeks were pretty busy. I finally got my share of lab work. Together with a postdoc we are trying to develop a method to analyze anions and cations on quartz fiber filters after these are loaded with particle matter somewhere outdoors. It is fun to do but takes a lot of time. Everything we try something, run the samples in an ion chromatograph, look at the results, and try to improve the method. Besides the lab work I worked together with a PhD student on a data set with various air quality indicators. We had to remove weird values caused my instrumental errors and line everything up in one excel file. In this file we marked values that indicate events such as ship plumes, domestic burning and traffic. Each event results in an increase in different air quality indicators. It gave me a good opportunity to work with a real data set and to contribute to the work done in the research group.
Coming week I try to finish the lab work and then in January I have to work hard on my report. I can already say that it is a successful time in this research group!

Last week was also a party week. Christmas is a big thing here and the Christmas spirit starts already right after Halloween. It is normal for classes, departments and companies to have Christmas parties. Last Wednesday 16 December we had our Christmas party. Around 4pm everyone gathered in our office to have a drink before we went to the city center for dinner in a restaurant. The restaurant ‘Market Lane’ at Oliver Plunkett Street offered a great Christmas menu. My choice was French onion soup with gruyere and croutons, followed by Roast duck breast with herbed potatoes and peppers wrapped in smoked bacon with red wine jus. My desert was Raspberry sorbet with fresh fruit. All three courses were excellent! After dinner we went to a pub called ‘The Old Oak’. In here we had our own room where we spent the night talking and drinking. At 2.30 the pub closed and a very nice party came to an end.
On Thursday quite a few suffered from a hangover (I was only tired) so everyone started late, hardly worked, and went home early. This repeated itself more or less on Friday. Most people started on time but we stopped early to join another Christmas party. Another part of the department organized a Christmas drink Friday late afternoon.
Coming week will also be irregular. We will work until Wednesday 1pm until the university will close its doors until the 4th of January. However, quite a few take two weeks off so it will be quiet the coming days. I will work those days because suddenly the end of my internship is very near, and it scares me when I think of the work I have to do before then…