Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Days Dwindle Down.....

Sunday was an uneventful , lazy day reading half of the newspaper and then we went out in the evening.  Our last attendance at the Session held at the Marina Inn.  We talked with most of the Musicians we recognize, Eoin, Tommy and Dennis and his wife, Mary Margaret.  She will be returning to the states on Tuesday to help with her ill father.  We met Ann who plays the flute.  She only learned 5 years ago after all of her kids took flute lessons and then abandoned the instrument as soon as they learned how to play.  Our dear friend, Katherine was there of course and Michael from The Craic House.  Katherine introduced us to a new Dingleman, Kevin.  One of the better looking guys on the peninsula.  Tommy suggested we go to his new pub on Tuesday night--singers only.  We might. Fun night.

Monday was a damp, drizzle laden morning with a chance of clearing so we headed for Kinsale.  It was a day of firsts.  We spotted our first wombat crossing sign.  We did not take any photographs on our way to Kinsale.  For the first time we had different opinions of of a town.  I loved Kinsale and thought it was charming nestled along the harbor, Bill found it cramped  with narrow streets and zero parking.  When we finally found a parking spot along the harbor, I took it as a sign.  Reluctantly, Bill parked and pulled his hood up against the rain and wind.  I quickly found him a bar--The Lord Kinsale Inn--and then I explored.  The colors of the shops were amazingly bright, the streets amazingly crooked, the alleyways numerous.  Returning to get Bill he told me how much he enjoyed his conversation with Colin, the streetclearner who was on lunch break at the pub.  We left, got the car and were driving to get a better vantage point of the harbor before lunch, we did find a good spot for photos.  And then the driver of the car, took off out of Town.  Another first--no lunch and we were retrancing our drive into Kinsale. Usually we try to take another route back to Dingle.  Another first I was disappointed in the drivers behavior.  But we did stop to take some photos of ruins, stop at a toy soldier factory--the only one in Ireland--and finally arrived at Inch Beach.  We have passed this beach several times and every time it was calm.  Not this day.  Now we know why surfers flock to this spot.  Huge waves accompained by strong wind.  We could hardly stand up to take a couple of photographs.

We arrived in Dingle at dinnertime and ate at Murphys.  I got the special of the day and surprise, surprise it had 3 ice cream scoops of mashed potatoes, two mashed mounds of squash, green beans and chips.  The stuffed roast pork was stuffed with baked apples.  Bill stuck with his soup--potato and bacon soup.  Home again, home again.

Tuesday was another day without sun.  We could not see the bay or the mountains.  Going into town we decided to purchase fish and then went back home.  After a long nap we were ready to eat and head for the Charthouse Pub.  We were so glad we went.  It was like attending a concert of Irish music.  The pub is newly renovated, cozy and very, very low ceilings.  Either everyone who came to the bar is 6 ft. tall or the ceilings are 5 ft high.  Lots of head butting.  We got the front table and really enjoyed talking with Eoin, listening to Sandra and Tommy, hearing Dennis sing and then another banjo player singer.  A good 1 and 1/2 hours of singing.  Plus a whistler in the audience.  When we left Tommy and Sandra said we would love the music on Thursday and suggested once again that we come back.  I think we will. 

Today the sun is flirting with the clouds and may emerge soon for longer periods of time.  We are headed to the other side of the pennisula today to get a last look at some ruins we failed to see on previous visits.

Exploring Dingle, Lois and Bill

No comments:

Post a Comment