Slow Tourism in Ireland

It took me a long time before writing again, after I told you what reasons led my attention to slow tourism. During this time, a lot of things have happened, and they are all bound together…

Last July, 13 italian people and I were selected to take part to a Leonardo programme called “YEAH (youth, environment and heritage)”, concerning sustainable and social tourism. It would have been based in Ireland, and it was supposed to last from the 14th of September to the 14th of December. We left Italy bringing with us all our doubts, hopes and expectations. We barely knew each other, so that it was hard to get a name for each face… All we knew was that we would have spent the first part of the programme (4 weeks) in Bandon, near Cork, sharing local families’ houses and attending an English course. Then, during the second part of the programme, we would have had a working experience in different Irish companies somehow involved in tourism.

The programme I am in works perfectly thanks to the cooperation between the company that manages our staying in Ireland, and local families, who share their houses with us. And, of course, thanks to the companies, too, because they give their availability to host us, and sometimes invest on internships as resources-to-be.

Bandon is a small town in County Cork, founded roughly around 1604, by the Bandon River, and its Irish name actually means “bridge on the Bandon River”. Well known as the gate to West Cork, it has a population of about 6.000 inhabitants.

I stayed there for five weeks, leaving a piece of my heart. What I have loved most was the Farmers’ Market, every saturday morning. It’s a market focused on organic food, where farmers sell their products. Well, actually it is much more than this…

At the farmer’s market you can find Katie’s handmade chocolate, that she began to produce because of an allergy to products used on ordinary chocolate process, and she wishes no children would grow up without such a delicious food. Then, you will meet the O’Learys, owning a farm two hours drive from Bandon,  that sell organic lamb hamburgers at the stall of Ms. O’Leary, while her brother, usually at the opposite stall, would sell you organic pork sausages and steaks; then, another man, maybe one of their relatives, has eggs and handmade nests.

And in “Ron’s Oven” stall you would taste a real handmade pizza, with fresh toppings (all vegetables come from the farmers’ market), cooked in a little wood-fired oven…

But this market isn’t just gorgeous for the quality food you can find there: you will also meet lovely people, as genuine as their products.

And usually, you can listen to some live music, as last saturday, when I enjoyed a French choir playing a cappella Shrek’s soundtrack songs. To be honest, I think I would hate them forever: because of their talented voices, I left Bandon with tears in my eyes…