Friday
At last, an Irish weather day. ‘Twas a soft day:
A soft day is a description of the weather, and is probably very unique to the Emerald Isle.
It is a day when the precipitation is a cross between mist and drizzle and is sometimes referred to as “mizzle”. The rain does not fall to the ground in heavy droplets, but seems to hover and linger in the air. Yet this rain is too heavy to be classified as mist, and it is not vaporous and rolling like fog. It only takes a few minutes outdoors on a soft day, to be soaking wet.
A soft day is refreshing, and can be unexpectedly bright. The air is crisp, but not sharply cold. It’s just damp, damp, damp.
It’s not exactly rain. You can’t really sea any raindrops.
It’s closer to a mist, a pervasive mist that clings to you, your clothes, your hands and the tip of your nose.
It seems to seep through everything, work its way under your clothes, leaving you feeling wet from the inside out.
We had a quiet day at home mostly. We stopped in at Curran’s to thank American ex-pat Craig for the lovely books (pamphlets) that he gifted us. He wrote them and they try (and succeed) in describing the unique Irish experience of the pub. They will be kept as treasures of our times in Dingle.
We did manage to get out for dinner at Ashe’s. It’s nice to show up on the right day, the day of your reservation. The proprietress, Sinéad, wasn’t there on our first visit (off on a trip to Spain with her father and daughter). She remembered us well from previous years and we had some good conversion (and after dinner Amaretto’s on the house). After Aperol spritzes, I had Gambas Pil-Pil (garlic and chili shrimp) for my starter and a Crab Trio (three different and delicious crab cakes, two hot and one cold) as my main. Elaine had Goat Cheese for her starter and Shrimp Risotto for her main. The wine was a French Beaujolais.
Then it was off to O’Flaherty’s for a last listen to Fergus’s music. As usual, he played six or seven different instruments and sang several songs. This time he played the bodhrám drums while singing the Foggy Dew, a song commemorating the Easter Rising of 1916. I recorded (part of) it below, complete with pub noise and possibly our voices talking – and I didn’t stop at the right time so there is extraneous noise at the end. We also made a new friend who took our picture.
Thanks Cindy for the nice welcome back. Joe thinks I must have mistakenly clicked on an “unsubscribe” button. Breakfast coffee isn’t the same without the blog. Say “hi” to Caroline and Gary for us. We’ll always remember the great time we had with them in Las Cruces.
We might as well have had mizzle here in NH. It’s been raining (and snowing just a bit north of us) for days with temps in the 30’s and 40’s. It’s hard to believe it’s Memorial Day weekend. Weather looks much better in a day or so. Lucky for you both that you’ve had such spectacular weather, at least so far.
The food at Ashe’s looks so so good. I can almost smell it. Yes, much better to show up on the actual day of your reservation!
Fergus sounds as robust as ever on the drums. Sad that you’re starting to say goodbye to all your Irish friends.
Music and singing was lively, a great way to begin your goodbyes. Nice hearing your voice Joe at the end of the music. You were talking about going down the side street because you liked it better, it was longer and you needed the exercise! Sue, I will definitely tell Gary/Caroline you say hi. So nice you had time with them in Cruces.