Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland

Hello :)

At last I have enough time to post regularly. I hope you enjoy Boxing Day ;)

Some of you may have noticed my enthusiasm for Irish language and culture and, in fact, for Ireland in general. Today I am going to tell you where this passion comes from.

In order to progress to the third year of college I have had to do a 12-week work placement. I spent these three months, together with my best friend Ivona, in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. We worked in a three star hotel called Quality Resort and Leisure Center Killarney as Food, Beverage and Bar Assistants. The Quality is a very big company with more than hundred employees and it's part of the hotel chain Choice Hotels Ireland. 

Killarney is a lovely small town in the south-west of Ireland, situated in the county Kerry, which is famous for the beautiful Ring of Kerry. The town has just about 10.000 inhabitants but, after Dublin, the most hotels in the whole Republic of Ireland. So it's definitely a touristic centre. Most tourists come to visit the famous Killarney National Park, an area in the west of Killarney. The heart of the National Park is a beautiful lake district with numerous big and small rivers, lakes and castle ruins. Luckily, I got the chance to visit both the Ring of Kerry and the Killarney National Park. I was absolutely amazed by the beautiful white sandy beaches. Aren't they stunning? 

At the beginning of the traineeship we worked in a very big room, called Backroom, which was especially reserved for bus tours. We served food and sometimes also drinks for about 250 people every night. In the mornings we have had to settle the tables and to offer coffee and tea to the guests. But after one month our boss decided that we have to change our workplace. From this moment on we were working in the Lobby Bar. Our main responsibilities were taking the food orders, using the till, doing drinks, communicating with the kitchen and collecting the money from our customers.

The whole staff was really very friendly and helpful. In other words they were grand ;). Everybody tried to help us to settle in and as we were used to everything we were totally accepted as members of the team. That was great. Also our bosses and chefs were very fair-minded and understanding persons. 

We were living in an old hotel room which was not used for guests anymore. It was really old, but not ugly or dirty. I think we were lucky to stay directly in the hotel. So we had a very short way to work and we were able to be always punctual. 

The food was also included in our contract. That was good because food and drinks are very expensive in Ireland. Even though we were allowed to take hot and cold food in the kitchen 24 hours a day, we enjoyed going to restaurants as well. One of my favorite dishes was lasagna with garlic bread, chips and coleslaw. That's hard to believe but true ;)

I really enjoyed my time in Ireland! I loved the hotel and most of the time also the work. The staff was great and I took some wonderful friendships from my traineeship. Killarney is a really lovely town with great restaurants and a wonderful atmosphere. The nature, especially the National Park, is breathtaking. 

I think this job was a very precious experience and very important for my professional and personal development. Everybody should really take the chance to go abroad; the experiences and images are priceless :)