St. Patrick's Day in Ireland

Last week was St. Patrick's Day, and nowhere on earth is this holiday celebrated with more gusto than in its home country of Ireland.  To participate in the festivities (which is of course a national holiday - no working allowed!), I went up to the city of Cork, the second largest city in Ireland for its St. Patrick's Day parade. The streets were full of people and it was quite the spectacle.

Then it was back to work the next day. The rest of the week I helped out in the cheese factory, focusing most of my attention on the curing of the Gubbeen Cheese.  I made two small batches of cheese again this week and with the help of Giana, I am making great progress, but I still need to do a little fine tuning.  

On Saturday morning I caught a bus for Galway, a city on the western coast of Ireland. In Galway, I met up with Seamus Sheridan of Sheridans Cheesemongers (photos above). I spent the afternoon in his cheese shop learning and sampling cheeses from Ireland and around Europe. To top the day off, I watched Ireland defeat Wales in the Six Nations Rugby Tournament to Win the Grand Slam. I was able to make some contacts in others cheese factories around Ireland who I hope to start visiting this week. Until next time!