Rain At Last

Sunday

We awoke to cloudy skies, and it remained that way most of the day with periods of light rain and drizzle. Real Irish weather at last. But by supper time the sun was out once again. We had a quiet day at home. Elaine won the game of Scrabble (but only because I got stuck with a “J” tile as the game ended, so my score was reduced by 8). Oh, well, Wait until next time. I am undefeated in Gin Rummy (3-0) so far.

Not much to report. We headed off to dinner at 6:45 pm for our 7:00 reservation at Out of the Blue. Alas, we got there and realized that our reservation was actually at the Half Door. So we hustled across town to the proper venue. Dinner was grand. I had oysters and rack of lamb (yes, it’s rare just like I like it!). The oysters were from Réalt na Mara which, like the more prevalent Glenbeigh oysters, are from Dingle Bay. Elaine had seafood chowder and baked hake. The wine was a red from New Zealand. (You almost never see wines from the USA on Irish wine lists – it’s mostly France, Spain, Germany, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand. It’s not triff related as it’s always been that way.) Our old landlord, Grainne, was dining at the Half Door as well and graciously paid for our bottle of wine. She stopped by our table for a nice chat as she was leaving.

The Half Door is just a two minute walk from the Dingle Pub, so we stopped in and listened to music for a bit. We met four young men from the Boston area who are doing a stint at Sacred Heart University’s Dingle campus. It’s USA campus is in Fairfield, Connecticut. For quite a while, the campus was only available for one semester stays, but with the opening of their new buildings, you can now do your full four years in Dingle (I think).