It was a dark and windy night

The last two days were stormy.  We came to town to get our food supplies and looked into my favoriate store--Dingle Artsworks.  The owner finally recognized me and as she was  going on holiday, I made my purchases.  She has directed us to many wonderful natural beauty spots not mentioned in the travel books.  The male shop helper checked me out and talked for about 15 minutes.  If we wanted to see the Irish Navy--that day was the day.  When gale force winds are predicted they pull into a Swilly bay. Gale Force winds were predicted. The Irish Navy is comprised of one ship but Bill and I thought it would be interesting so we went over the mountain pass and got to see the ship bouncing in the rough waves.  We also got some great photos after the sun came out.  So much for sustained gale force winds.  That night it was very windy and rainy at our cottage.  But in the morning, the most incredible clouds and sunny spots greeted us.  Once again we were enthralled by the ever changing landscape and headed up the Slea Head Drive, again.
We believe we were the only people enthralled because we stopped the car whenever we wanted to take photos.  We really enjoyed the drive.

Pat and Monte, remember the sheep road over the cliff, I took another photo of that.  The sea was rough  and I didn't want to get blown over the edge.  I wasn't.

We returned home on a one lane road that passes Tony the bartender's house.  No traffic again.  Now we wanted to see the stained glass windows in the convent because it was very sunny.  Before we could get to the convent, the sun disappeared and the rain began.  We had to rush into DICK MACK's bar.  This pub was once the only shoe store and shoe repair business in town.  One side of the shop boasts the bar, the other the shoes and repair equipment.  Disarray and dust prevail.  The owner, Oliver,  is the 2nd generation owner and has been for the last 50 years.  What an unusual character.  If we closed our eyes, he sounded exactly like Barry Fitzgerald.  Prolonged vocalization of each vowel.  Very friendly bar.  Our next stop was McCarthy's Bar on Goat Street.  This bar was highly recommended by the couple from WV who would teach over here each summer.  Fortunately they had a cozy fire and a talkative couple near the fireplace.  Dave you would have loved this.  John Rouney was from Scotland and his finance Alexandria was from Italy.  They will be married in September in a small Italian town close to the Alps.  The church they will be married in is about 3 centuries old.  He will be in full Tartan attire.  Interesting couple and delightful to talk with.  It was dinner time so off to the Benner Hotel.  Bill had another heart attack on a bun and I had a Guinness Beef Pie.  Very good food there.  Our bar companion was a very intersting man from Dingle who had just returned from Holiday in Italy.  I am always amazed and even more so during this conversation, that Bill seems to know everthing.  Unbelievable to me.  I'm getting a history lesson and these two are chatting away for more than an hour as though the two of them had shared the same experience.  The photos he took were a pocket away waiting to be viewed from his digital camera. Each segment of his journey was illustrated with beautiful photographs.  Then the place was taken over by guests arriving for a 40th birthday party.  The women were dressed very fancy.  I got Bill out of there as quickly as possible.

Today we are in town again to get the paper, talk with family on Facebook, and stretch our legs.  We will be leaving here on Saturday and feel that we may miss this little sheltered village of Dingle.