Bacon looks just as tasty when it has legs.

My first true introduction to pig farming began with a jarful of olive oil in hand (natural KY) and an eyeful of Alfie sticking the artificial insemination rod into the unsuspecting swine. A couple of squeezes of the sperm bag later and the deed was done. All work, no romance.

Our workaway hosts Alfie and Margaret managed a herd of 13 pigs (7 adults and 6 babies), 8 chickens, 4 ducks, and 2 dogs on their lovely 5 acre estate.
The pigs were farm razed free-range for the table (mmmmm) and lived a pretty luxurious life. Apart from me wrangling a few of them (see the pics below) to move them from one pasture to another, they spent their days sleeping in their straw lined houses, grazing on the pasture, or eating some of the yummy treats the family provided. Some of the treats included a variety of perfectly edible vegetables that the local produce farmer couldn't sell (because of "defects") as well as some pretty delicious Gouda cheeses that had to be tossed because the rind had split.




Piggies!






These little guys were strong.




The veggies were perfectly fine and we took our pick of them for lunch and dinner.


The cheese was great! Regular and aged Gouda. Amy and I took a chunk of the aged gouda for the road because it was so delicious.


The chickens never laid an egg so the ducks had to fill in. They must have laid a dozen eggs or so while we were there.


The two guard dogs. So ferocious!

Alfie and I went over to the neighbors house to milk the cows one night. We got through 16 of them before we relized the gate wasn't closed. The cows were wondering down tbe road. Luckily we were able to get them back.





The apron kept the cow pee and poop off of my chest but didn't do much for my hands.

We spent the rest of our time around the area visiting some of the old castles, towns, and ruins.













At the end of our stay, and sad to go, we rented a car in Galway to take a few days to drive up the western and northern coasts before departing the island for Scotland.

Workaway #2: Pig Farming

We headed off to Birr by way of a discount bus service and got picked up by our next workaway host. Margaret and Alfie made us feel right at home from the very beginning: the food, the wine and the company were all fantastic. This was the start of our week as Irish pig farmers!

The farm (known as OldFarm) is a small holding, about 5 acres. They have amazing fruit trees and gardens (plus hens, ducks and pigs) and almost every one of the meals that we ate was made from stuff that was grown on their land.


The lovely old farm house that has been renovated.

Alfie and Margaret both love to cook (they even offer cooking classes!) so for the whole week we were completely spoiled with beautiful meals made from beautiful organically grown ingredients.

Margaret and I spent a ton of time in the kitchen trying to keep up with all of the fruits and veggies we were harvesting. Here are a few of the things we harvested over the week: apples, pears, tomatoes, strange yellow cucumbers, peppers (hot and sweet), quince, squash, string beans and peas! We had our work cut out for us trying to come up with recipes that used up the harvest ingredients, but to add to it, we also had all of the amazing veg that came in on the "magic trailer" (see the next blog post for more details!).

We preserved, we baked, we cooked. Then most importantly we ate!


Just a few of the preserves we made!

At the local pub... I guess all pubs in Ireland are Irish pubs!

Homemade soup with Alfie's delicious homemade bread.

The ladies weren't the only ones working away in the kitchen!

Yum.

Kurtis' fave.

Alfie cutting the pork he cooked up on the Big Green Egg

Yummy Beetroot! Made by Alfie.

Funny mural in Moneygall, where president Obama visited when he came to Ireland... his great-great grandmother was born there. There were American and Irish flags going up and down the streets.

Discotheque!

It's a small world. Last year during Lollapalooza weekend, Amy met 2 German travelers (Max and Matthias) at Treasure Island in Chicago who couldn't find any place to crash for the night. She invited them back and we hung out for a couple days. It turns out that the 2 of them are from Schweinfurt and were in the area for the weekend while we were here (crazy coincidence)!

We got in touch with them and they invited us out for a true German BBQ. Max picked us up and took us on a drive around the area as we searched for a very special beverage for the evening. The beverage is called Federweisser and is basically partially fermented wine so it is sweeter but still contains alcohol. We had to drive a while trying to find a wine maker who actually had some. From two 25 gallons jugs, out in the barn where the wine is made, the lady filled up some empty liter bottles that Max had in his car. We got to taste a bit as well and, as described, it was like a carbonated white grape juice.

With the bottles topped off and plopped down in the back seat, Max drove us up to a point in Schweinfurt with an amazing view of the surrounding area.


Max in his car







We then drove down the hill to Max's parents place (beautiful house, by the way) for the feast. There were about 8 of us around the patio table, drinking beer and federweisser and eating a spread of cucumber salad, corn salad, regular salad, pork belly on a stick (tasted like bacon coiled on a stick), steak, bratwurst, a croation meat thingy on a stick, and some breads. I ate one of everything and was pretty stuffed. Unfortunately I didn't have time while shoveling food in my mouth to take any pictures.

We finished up the feast and went down with Max and Matthias to the city center and had a few beers outside and within the nearby bar "Cinema". It's legal for people in Germany to drink on the street so thats where you found the majority of the people. Once we downed a couple drinks (and a redbull for me) we went to the discotheque (It's just a club, but Max and Matthias always wonder why Americans think clubs in Germany are called discotheques).




Amy, Matthias, and I

We rounded out the night at 4 am with a cab back to Max's place, some pickings at the BBQ table, carbonated water, and bed! The next morning we all sat down for breakfast that Max's Mom laid out (Delicious!) and were dropped off back in Hirschfeld.

Biking the Nearby Villages

Our American neighbor Keana (pronounced like Keanu Reeves, but with an A) loaned us some bikes so we decided to take a ride around the countryside to see all of the nearby villages. Bike riding along the Main River is a popular activity around this area so there are very well maintained bike paths, which is great since Amy is a terrible bike rider. We set off, not sure of how far we would make it (both because we are not used to kilometers and because of Amy's lack of skills), but we ended up making a great day out of it. Our ride took us from Hirschfeld past St. Ludwig Cloister to Stammheim, a pretty little village with a nice pond that we stopped to take a water break beside.


Amy beside her pink fixed gear retro bike! Fits her perfectly!

Kurtis next to the pond sporting his European Sachel Bag (aka Amy's purse holding our water, snacks and camera).

Watching the fish (big rainbow trout, carp and koi) swim around and around.

The next village we rode to is called Fahr (fitting because it was the farthest we rode!). On the way we rode through fields of fruit trees of every sort (plums, pears, apples) and vineyards galore! This area is extremely beautiful!





When we reached Fahr, we took a ferry across the Main river (.70€ a peice) to Untereisenheim. The ferrys just sit and wait to take both foot passengers and cars back and forth across the river because there are no bridges.


Bikes on a boat!

We continued on and hit two more small villages on this side of the river until we arrived in Wipfeld where there were a few nice cafes and biergartens along the river. We stopped at one and had lunch. Most of the Germans we have encountered speak English very well, but when they are asked "do you speak english?" by Amy or "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" by Kurtis they always respond with "a little" when in reality, they know far more than a little. We have also had many conversations in "Danglish" (Deutsch + English). Kurtis understands some words and Amy understand body language and situations. We have yet to be in a situation where neither of us can figure out what is going on!


At the cafe we devoured our Flammkuchen (kind of like a white pizza with cream instead of cheese, very tasty!) before we snapped a photo!

A short ride back from Wipfeld took us full circle and we arrived back in Hirschfeild. It was very hot, about 30° C (about 85ish° F) and we were both glad to be off of our bikes. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and then attended a viking fest in Volkach with Keana, Emma, Aaron and the children. We also took advantage of the time to see a little bit of Volkach which was a very cute town.


Italian food in Volkach.

We have decided to goto Prague this coming weekend, we will use the Mitfahrgenlegenheil website again to get there on the cheap and hopefully we will find a couchsurfer to host us! Tomorrow we will goto Bamburg which is known for making a particular type of beer, which I am sure we will learn all about! Coming soon: a post and photos of the family and village we are staying with!

Schweinfurt and Wurzburg

To get from Frankfurt to Schweinfurt you must endure a 2 hour car ride on the autobahn with a man who has a minimal personality who is against wearing deoderant in all forms. Hannah helped us arrange a car ride from Frankfurt to Schweinfurt via a website for ride shares (www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de)which is a very common way for the German people to travel. The website is difficult to navigate if you don't speak German but luckily our translator (aka Hannah) walked us through it and called our ride for confirmation of the pick up point and the cost. To our delight, the ride cost only 16€, which is great in comparison to the train (80€). We held our breath, endured the ride and were dropped of at Burger King for pickup by our first workaway host and enjoyed a little American fast food flashback while we waited.

Our workaway is with an English family who live in the village of Hirschfeld in Bavaria, Germany. The village only has a bar and a church but luckily, a bus that runs often. Emma, Aaron, and their 4 boys Cameron, Arlie, Jonah, and Darwin (ages 2-12) graciously invited us into their home. We are helping out with the kids in addition to chopping wood for the winter months (made easy via a chainsaw and hydraulic splitter), and doing some small home renovation tasks. We have a lot of freetime to explore the area and have been using it to its full potential.

On our first day Emma dropped us off in Schweinfurt where we took some time to explore the city and attend the local art Museum (Museum Georg Schäfer, featuring an exhibit about the relationship between animals and humans). There wasn't much to Schweinfurt but we made a day of it none the less. Emma told us that Schweinfurt is a depressed city from being smushed in between Wurzburg and Bamberg which are both very beautiful.




Oh look, another church.

We took a day trip to Wurzburg (Got a ride to Schweinfurt from the friendly American Keana down the street and hopped a train to our final destination). There are many Americans in this area becuase there is an Army base nearby.


The bus unfortunately only runs every 2 hours on Saturday :(.


Trainride through the countryside. You can see the local nuclear plant off in the distance.

We had a limited amount of time in Wurzburg because the last bus back from Schweinfurt left at 8:30 so we assigned our site seeing priorities and marched off to Fortress Marienberg.


Another church (Marienkapelle) along the path between the bus stop and the Fortress.

The churches are beautiful, most of them taking 100 years or so to build.

View of Grafeneckart and Dom St. Kilian in old town.

We had to cross the 15 century bridge Alte Mainbrücke to get to the Fortress. The bridge was full of musicians and people enjoying the locally made weisswein (white wein).

Aww.



We are probably going to hell for this.

The view from below would be enough to keep me away from the fortress. We hiked all the way up the hillside, marching on switchbacks through rows of wine grapes in 85 degree heat (of course the weather earlier in the week was very cool and only changed from cold to hot when we planned on doing this walk).







The fortress was enormous and we walked through the museum (Fürstenbaumus), but unfortunately a lot of the artifacts were destroyed during WW2 bombings, which were never mentioned in the musuem (all of the signs simply read "destroyed by fire in 1945").







The views from the top were pretty amazing.





Doing what the locals do best, sitting and drinking beer and wine. Locally made wine for Amy and locally brewed beer for Kurtis!

We finished are drinks and caught the train and bus back to Hirschfeld, collapsing from exhaustion upon arrival.