Early post today after missing yesterday. Posting after dinner on Tuesday rather than Wednesday morning.

Monday

Cloudy but dry. A do-nothing day topped off with a grand dinner (no pictures). We walked into town, bought some stuff, and made dinner reservations at the Half Door. The Half Door has always been there, but we had never been. Gráinne gave it high marks and it has just reopened after being closed for almost two years due to Covid. The original owners have retired and it now run by their son and his partner. They are doing it brilliantly! No food pics again – I have to start correcting that.

Tuesday

Bright sunshine, no wind, and almost warm! Where are we? Certainly not Ireland. We did separate walks into town in the early morning, meeting up halfway. I took some phone pictures:

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After some breakfast and showers, we decided to drive up to Conor Pass for some pictures in bright sunshine. It was the calmest I’ve ever seen it at Conor Pass – almost no wind at all whereas often you can lean into the wind and not fall over. We walked further up the mountain above the car park before heading on down the other side toward Castlegregory. We stopped at Brandon Point, Brandon Pier, and Fermoyle Beach (where you can drive right onto the beach, much to Elaine’s terror and chagrin). Brandon was the home base for St. Brendan who, according to local Brandon legend, discovered America long before Columbus, on his voyage to the Island of the Blessed. Back to the Canon G7X for these pics.

After Fermoyle we turned around to go back through Conor Pass for lunch at Sheehy’s Takeaway in Dingle Town – fish and chips of course. A nap in the afternoon for me while Elaine watched her favorite TV series (from the UK) – Four in a Bed. Dinner was at home – barbequed lamb sausages from Kennedy’s Butcher Shop with potato and veg. That was after cocktails, of course. Quite yummy.

I just finished reading a book we took out of the Dingle Library. Written by John O’Conner, it’s called Children of the Shore – Growing Up in Dingle in the 1950’s and 1960’s. That’s when I grew up, of course, albeit not in Dingle. It’s quite interesting. He still lives in the house he grew up in Dingle, one we walk by every day. It turns out his brother, Ignatius, is the estate manager for the housing development we live in on Ard Na Mara. Mianne, you would love the book, especially his scathing description of attending schools run by the Christian Brothers.

Sunday

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All pictures today (save for one) taken with the functional but somewhat disabled Canon G7X. Camera phones are OK, but I am a camera man.

The Lord bringeth another great weather day. Our weekly house cleaners were coming in at 10:00 AM, so we headed out for a ride. Eask Tower is right across the water from us up on Carhoo Hill. You can see it from our kitchen windows. So we decided to head over and hike up to the tower. See it in the picture to the left? Zoomed in, you can see it on the right hand picture.

It’s a short drive to the bottom of Carhoo hill. We met the lady farm owner (who is worth the price of admission even without a tower) and paid our €2.00 each for access to their farm property. Fair price. We also met a couple from Tipperary who rode in the bike race yesterday and who were climbing before heading home. They went all the way up and down with us. It’s a tough slog on the old lungs going up. Easy on the lungs but tough on the knees going down. The main activity during the climb in avoiding sheep shit. The views from the top are fantastic with water on three sides. Read more about Eask Tower here. Plenty of pics below to enjoy. The views back to Dingle Town are spectacular.

Then it was onto Slea Head Drive again with a couple of stops at scenic sites with the sun shining brightly. The goal in mind was a pub, Tigh T P, in Ballydavid where in the past we have enjoyed great lunches right on the water. Alas, the last few trips, they have been closed at lunchtime. Given it was Sunday, we hoped for the best but no luck. So we soldiered on back to Ventry and had a wonderful lunch at Quinn’s Pub – mussels for Elaine, prawns for me. Then it was home for nap time. Marian came over at 6 PM to teach us how to effectively use the fire box. Lesson learned. We had a great combination processed peat and wood fire. No pictures – next time! Then it was cocktails and dinner (leftovers).

Elaine’s picture of me at Quinn’s Pub taken with her camera phone.

All in all, a GREAT day. Come back tomorrow for more. Go Celtics! Crush Kyrie and the dreaded Nets. Go Suns too. Celtics/Suns final? Hoping.

Saturday

Last night was our seventh night in Dingle – 21 to go then a week moving around. Friday was another perfect day in all regards including bright sunshine all day. Dingle was busy with the bike race, but we managed to have takeaway fish and chips for lunch. We ate them in a little hutch by the boatyard – the town built them and they are a nice touch.

I had my normal afternoon Guinness at the Dingle Pub. Dinner was at home – delicious rib eye steaks from Kennedy’s Butcher Shop. We had a nice chat with Jerry Kennedy when we bought the steaks. Also got some lamb sausages – they are so delicious! We’ll probably have them for lunch someday soon.

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Friday

Is this really Ireland? Another bright sunny morning. Clouded up in the afternoon, but it remained dry. Some brief comments today.

Renewed my Dingle Library card and checked out a couple of books. Reading one now about growing up in the 50’s and 60’s. That’s when I was growing up too, just across the ocean from Dingle.

The Farmer’s Market was a bust. Just three vendors, all selling crafts. Later in the morning we had a long chat with Marion, our landlord’s mother and our neighbor – she lives next door (maybe to keep an eye on the wild Americans in residence). She said the farmers won’t be out with their product until May, so maybe we’ll see some before we leave. Bought a AA battery to fix the kitchen clock. Previously had to buy a 2032 lithium battery to fix the remote for Seamus (our Toyota C-HR).

Had a walk into town in the morning. Quiet afternoon at home. Dingle was busy getting ready for Saturday’s bike race. Supposedly there will be 3,000 + participants.

Dinner was at Fenton’s which just reopened from the pandemic closedown. Great food. Oysters and lamb for me. Leek and potato soup followed by scallops for Elaine. Plus decadent desserts. After dinner we stopped at a busy O’Flaherty’s for some Irish beer and music.

Love all the comments! Keep ’em coming.

Picture Potpourri

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Shots from around town taken with my somewhat crippled but functional Canon G7X. Poor baby.

Thursday

Cloudy morning, but I guaranteed Elaine a sunshiny afternoon. Lo and behold, I was right. We walked into town around noon and enjoyed Calamari and Chips for lunch from Sheehy’s food truck. Yummy. I had a beer at the Dingle Pub while Elaine looked for a sweater to buy – no luck. It was a very low key day. We enjoyed the sunshine at home. Dinner was home cooked Shepard’s Pie and Peas with a nice Pinot Noir. Our house wine here in Dingle is New Zealand Oyster Bay Pinot Noir. Of course, I first enjoy a gimlet made with double distilled Dingle Vodka – very smooth. No Rose’s lime juice to be found around here, so I substitute Robinson’s Crushed Lime and Mint Cordial. It works!

I’ve displayed below a few pics from our walkabout today. Tomorrow is Farmer’s Market Day in Dingle. We’ll be there! And Saturday is the Ride Dingle bike race (info here), so the town will be hopping. Dingle was busy this week because of Easter, the Monday bank holiday, and spring break week for the Irish schools. Next week should be quieter.

Slán go fóill.

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Wednesday

Mostly (totally?) overcast. We took a ride out Slea Head Drive and took the odd phone camera pic. Nice naps in the afternoon.

Dinner was at Chart House, our dingle most favorite – no connection to US chain. Reconnected with owners Jim and Susan. Food was outstanding! Elaine had Goat Cheese and Beetroot Salad followed by Monkfish and Halibut entree. Home-made Ice Cream for dessert. I had a stunningly good Beef Tartare for my starter, delicious Rack of Lamb for my main, and Orange Crème Brûlée for dessert. We started with Kir Royales and enjoyed Tinpot Hut Pinot Noir from New Zealand for the wine. No pictures – sorry!

Then we ventured up the street to the Dingle Pub to see Richie O’Brien and Dreams of Freedom perform. He’s an old buddy. The girls from Sacred Heart College were out in force, and there was good craic all around. We sat with and chatted up a nice Irish couple as well as a French girl travelling on her own. Then we staggered home to bed.

Picture Potpourri

Saturday – Great day weather wise. Easter dinner was crackers and cheese.

Sunday – Mostly rainy day for jet lag recovery. Didn’t do much. I did manage to drop my camera off the countertop onto the tile floor. Result: busted camera. Blah. I have jury rigged it for now so I can take pictures, but it needs to be replaced forthwith. I’ll get by with it and the camera in my phone for a few days and see how it goes.

Monday – Easter Monday, a bank holiday in Ireland and start of school spring break. Weather gorgeous. Stocked up on supplies at SuperValu. We’re good to go now. Dinner at James Ashe’s restaurant – delicious as always. Kir Royales to start. Elaine had chowder appetizer while I noshed on Glenbeigh oysters. Mains were local scallops for Elaine, fresh caught halibut with a langoustine on top for me. (Pics below) Fine wine. Shared a decadent dessert. Walked to O’Flaherty’s for an after dinner Guinness and see Fergus O’Flaherty who looks as good as ever.

Tuesday – Gorgeous morning. We both took walks. We drove into Tralee (30 miles) to get some things not available in Dingle stores. Then naps in the afternoon. Dinner was Indian (Chicken Tiki Marsala, another chicken dish, rice, naan, and a salad). All prepared at home by the resident chef. At night we went into town for some music in a crowded Nelligan’s Pub and then a quiet drink in peaceful McCarthy’s Pub.

Pictures of Dinner and Inside O’Flaherty’s

Rained all Saturday night but Easter was sunny and bright for most of the day. Some showers, of course; it is Ireland after all.

Easter was basically jet lag recovery day for us. We didn’t do much except take a walk. Our car didn’t move. By the way, the car is named Seamus for no especially good reason. It’s a 2021 Toyota C-HR Hybrid – has a battery but uses regular unleaded gas. No charging required.

We had lunch sitting outside noshing on delicious fish (cod today) and chips from Sheehy’s lunch wagon. Had a beer at Curran’s Pub with the locals. It’s not a big tourist draw. There’s a couple of great videos on the web about Curran’s. One (from Rick Steves) is here:

I had a good nap in the afternoon and we had dinner at home: breaded chicken cutlets, scalloped potatoes, and mixed veggies. Then we were off early to bed.

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Three cancelled trips to Ireland over the past two years because of the pandemic. Now vaccinated, boostered, and re-boostered, we are back! Ireland is open. Masks optional. No entry requirements for vaccinations or tests. (We will still need a negative test to go back to the USA.)

The camera is just coming out of the bag, so no pictures today.

The trip was OK. Uneventful flight to Boston for a couple of nights to visit relatives went fine. We stayed at an AC Marriott in Medford of all places. The overnight Aer Lingus flight to Shannon went fine. I even managed to sleep a bit on the Business Class lie flat seat. We were through passport control in about two minutes and our bags were first onto the carousal.

Only Enterprise will rent you a car in Ireland without hassle if you are over 75, so we rented through them. Alas, they had not yet reopened their Shannon operation because of the pandemic induced reduction in flights into Shannon. So we had booked a car to take us into Limerick to the Enterprise office there. The flight arrived early at 5 AM and Enterprise in Limerick opens at 9 AM. We spent the time at the Absolut Hotel having a nice Irish fry-up breakfast.

We got our car at 9:15 AM and before noon we were in Dingle to see Gráinne, our delightful landlady, by noon. The house was still being cleaned. No problem. We stopped in to see Tom at the Dingle Pub and I had my first Guinness since 2019 – I don’t touch the stuff unless I am on hallowed Irish soil. Then it was lunch at John Benny’s Pub, one of our go-to lunch spots. We both had Mike’s Fish Pie. No clue who Mike is. Finally, we did some essentials shopping at Garvey’s SuperValu – wine, vodka, cheese, crackers, water, coke, tomorrow’s dinner, etc. And then we settled in at 23 Ard Na Mara for our four week stay. (Our final week in Ireland will be on the road.)

We unpacked, enjoyed cheese crackers and cocktails, and it was off to a much needed long night’s sleep. I just got up – it is Easter morning in Dingle. It rained heavily during the night but it is looking bright out so far today.

More later. Stay tuned.