Friday was our last full day in Dingle. We drove out via a back road to the far end of Slea Head with the idea of having lunch at Tigh T P, a pub right on little Ballydavid Harbor, which was supposed to open at noon. We stopped at picturesque Brandon Creek for a look see at a favorite spot. It is from here that St. Brendan and other monks supposedly began their voyages in little one-man sailboats, sailing to America, Hawaii, Australia, and other places back in 535 A.D. Remember, the Irish drink a lot. Listen to Christy Moore sing of Brendan’s Voyage here.
Then it was on before noon to Ballydavid to be first in line for lunch. We met two women from Alberta who also came for lunch. Noon came and went. 12:15 . . . 12:30. The pub door was open but the bar stools were on the bar. We left at 12:35 with no sign of anyone opening for lunch. We went to Ventry to eat at a little seafood restaurant, but it was packed to the gills. So we went to the pub of Paddy O’Shea (Páidí Ó Sé in Irish), the late, great Irish footballer. It had four tour buses in the lot. Not going in there! So it was back to Dingle where we had a nice lunch on the end of the new pier.
Dinner was at home and very simple – salad and toasted cheese sandwiches. We then planned a quick stop at the Dingle Pub for a touch of music and sad goodbyes to Tom and Susie. We stayed longer than expected, and then we ventured down to O’Flaherty’s where we met the same two women we had met at Ballydavid. We got talking and drinking with them while listening to Fergus O”Flaherty sing and play his instruments – various fiddles, a flute, an accordion, and the bogdan. Next thing it was midnight and we were still there, happily chatting and pleasantly over-served. So much for a quiet night!
On Saturday morning we were packed and out the door by 9:00 despite our transgressions of the night before. It is about a 3.5 hour ride to Galway, just bypassing Limerick via the new tunnel under the Shannon River. We had time to kill before we could check into our B&B in Galway, so we stopped in Kinvarra, a pleasant little town on Galway Bay, for a look in Dungaire Castle and a nice lunch in the Pier’s End Pub – Elaine had excellent mussels and I had a delicious cold seafood platter. It was especially fun because lots of locals were in the pub with their kids all dressed up after celebrating their first communion.
In Galway we checked in at Marless House, our B&B just a few yards away from Galway Bay in the Salthill section of Galway. Salthill has a long seaside promenade and is filled with restaurants, amusement arcades, a Ferris wheel, and rides like the Twister. It is very reminiscent of Revere Beach in the 1960’s but without a roller coaster. We were lucky on a Saturday night to get a table at the Fisherman, a seafood restaurant that was good enough for us to make reservations again for Tuesday night. Elaine had monkfish and shrimp; I had a very good halibut. I started with delicious Gigas oysters from Galway Bay while Elaine’s starter was squash soup. We split a nice chocolate ganache with ice cream for desert. Then it was time for bed as we were badly in need of sleep after our late night on Friday.
By the way, the weather continues to astound us, and today was the warmest day yet. The forecast looks promising for the days ahead although with showers predicted for today, Sunday.
Love the pictures, especially the Irishman with his row boat!!!!