A balanced breakfast

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Geo: 52.1433, -10.2687

Only a little banging, and not till around 7:00 a.m. And at breakfast, Sue Staley said she thought she heard something, so I felt much better. Sue Anderson asked me about the banging too, and the manager overheard and asked what was wrong. I told her about the noise, and she said that what happens is that people leave their bathroom windows open, and the wind rattles the room doors. I still think it's weird that no one else heard it the night before, but she said you don't really hear it in your own room. I guess I can kind of see that because of the way the rooms are shaped, but I don't know .... At any rate, I'm not going crazy and I don't have a poltergeist. Always a nice way to start the day.

I had a hard time getting myself going this morning. It's our day off from the tour, and I planned to meet Katherine and Michelle at 10:00, and we were going to go for a walk and do some shopping. But when I woke up, it was absolutely pouring and the wind was whistling so that I didn't even want to get out of bed. It was all I could do to convince myself to just take a shower, especially as there is a directive in the bathroom to open the window when showering. I did eventually get moving, and by the time I walked over to the other B&B the rain had stopped. The wind, however, hasn't died down all day. In fact, all the shopkeepers we met today have commented on how awful the wind is. Fortunately, when it rains, it doesn't last too long. It's not like Seattle where it will rain hour after hour after hour. And with all the wind today, the clouds are being pushed through fairly quickly.

More happy cows outside the breakfast room this morning. One cow was even trying to play leapfrog with another cow. ;-) I had egg, sausage and bacon with tea and a scone for breakfast. There is also oatmeal (porridge) on the menu, but I wouldn't be caught dead. Several other people ordered it, however, and eventually Dave Gillespie came over to pour some of his bottle of Bailey's (sticking up out of a brown paper bag) on my oatmeal. He was disappointed that I didn't have any, so I proffered my juice glass. So: I'm not crazy, I'm not being haunted, and I got Bailey's at breakfast. Really, just a very nice start to the day! (P.S. Bailey's on oatmeal was something offered at the hotel in Kinsale.)

Met Katherine at 10:00, but Michelle elected to stay in with a pot of tea and then do a bit of shopping while we went on our walk. Couldn't say as I blamed her. We walked out along the coastline, through fields full of cows and cowpats, along a muddy path and through incredibly tight stiles to the mouth of the harbor in the hopes of seeing Fungie, Dingle's resident dolphin. He's been hanging around the town for thirty years, and Michelle is sure that this must be Fungie VIII. How long does your average dolphin live, anyway? It was a very picturesque walk, and a rain squall blew in only once, but it was windy, windy, windy! We felt like mimes walking into a gale. The cows mostly ignored us, which is a good thing because I forget how big cows are until I get right up next to them. An angry cow could easily have charged us right over the rocks onto the beach below. Granted, it's only about a two or three foot drop, but it would still have been mightily unpleasant.

The path leads all the way to the lighthouse right at the entrance to the harbor, but we stopped a bit short of that at a point where we had a lovely view of the lighthouse, as well as an old stone tower. A 6th-century lighthouse perhaps? Walking back to town went a lot faster, as the wind was with us. I had such a hard time combing all the knots out of my hair once we got back to the hotel.

We decided to go into town to do a bit of shopping and since it started to rain again almost instantly, I ran into the woollen store (store that sells woollen things, not a store made out of wool) to look for a hat. The stock was all really lovely stuff – gorgeous sweaters and capes and scarves – but all a touch expensive. But I did find a waxed, brimmed hat with some decorative buttons down the side that was awfully cute and only 23 euro, so I bought it. I am slightly regretting it now because it's a greyish-green color that doesn't go with anything I own and because it doesn't have a strap so very easily blows off in the wind. Oh, and because I don't really wear hats. Still, I was glad I had it later on when it started to rain again. Maybe I can find a hat maker when I get home who could sew in a strap. On the other hand, who'm I kidding?

We went on up the hill to the jewelry store that we went to the other night: Brian de Staic, a local jeweler who also has a workshop down by the harbor. I ended up getting a sterling silver necklace with a Celtic-style pendant and a pair of simple earrings. Katherine tried on a watch, but it wasn't quite right. Then we went a little farther up the hill to the competition, John Weldon, where Katherine bought a necklace with a pendant showing three men carrying a currach, a traditional Irish boat. It's slightly abstract, so it looks a bit like pi with an extra leg, and K particularly likes it because it's Irish but not too Celtic. Mr. Weldon waited on us (he's been in Dingle for 15 years but is still considered the new kid on the block, he says), and he also designed the pendant. Katherine took a photo of him showing off the necklace.

While we were in there, Dave and Nancy Gillespie came in. Dave was very enthusiastic – for a guy, anyway – about all the nice pieces in the shop. He kept pointing out things he thought we would look good wearing. He didn't go so far as to offer to pay for them though! He said something which is quite true: he said he thought that all the shops would have a bunch of touristy crap, so he was surprised that there is so much good-quality stuff in the town. He's right. There are, of course, a few tourist-type shops selling “I Dingle” t-shirts and leprechaun key chains, but for the most part the shops are ... what's the word I want? Artisanal, I think.

We were both very happy with our purchases and went to meet up with Michelle for lunch at An Cafe Liteartha (again, there should be some accents; and don't ask me to pronounce it), a bookshop in front with a cafe in back. I think we expected a little more than what was on offer, but what we did get was good. We all got toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, which were small but served on a really hearty, crunchy brown bread. The lady had several different options for dessert, and I got chocolate biscuit cake with cream. Katherine and Michelle both got hot rhubarb crumble with cream. All in all, we left satisfied.

Walked back down along Main Street, where we were tickled to see a pub with Guinness signs in Gaelic. Irish really is impossible. With French or Spanish or even German, you might not know what the word means, but you can sound it out and be reasonably close to the correct pronunciation. But since Irish doesn't come from Latin, it's a different animal altogether. Before coming to Ireland, I made myself an Irish playlist for my iPod that I would listen to on the bus. One song is called “Tochailt uaighe go roluath.” I guarantee that however you're pronouncing that right now, it is completely wrong. (By the way, it means roughly “digging myself an early grave.”😉 There's a funny French & Saunders sketch where they send up The Corrs, an Irish band: “And this is Jim on the drums, but it's spelt J-I-C-H-K-I-O-M.” I know they were being silly, but they're probably not far wrong!

Popped into the SuperValu for a few minutes. I didn't find anything I was actually looking for, but I did get a Diet Coke (I was dying for some carbonation), a Kinder egg that I haven't opened yet (Hi, Yvonne!), and a Hello magazine, which is just so mindless and kinda trashy that it's just perfect for a rainy, windy afternoon sitting on my hotel bed. I'm planning to meet up with Katherine and Michelle around 6:00 to get some dinner. In the meantime, I'm enjoying doing next to nothing.

LATER: Well, I got tired of doing next to nothing, so I went back out into the crazy wind and walked up the waterfront to Oceanworld, Dingle's aquarium. There is a giant penguin out front, and I had to have a picture. I guess they have a new penguin exhibit. I didn't go inside because it's pricey and I only had about an hour till dinner.

Walking along the front I found a painting on a hoarding of Tommy O'Sullivan and Eoin Somethingirish, the musicians we saw last night. I also found the statue to Fungie the dolphin, and I suppose that's the closest I'm going to get to the real one.

Went back to the B&B and was able to Skype with John for a bit. He says the news is that Hurricane Katia, which swung by the east coast, is supposed to hit Britain in the next day or so. I think we're already getting the leading edge of the winds. Tomorrow in Galway is supposed to be 27 mph winds. Looking forward to that!

Met up with Katherine and Michelle and we went to Murphy's pub for dinner. It was much less crowded than Moriarty's the other night and, therefore, more pleasant. I won't tell you what I had because someone will shout at me, but I just couldn't do more fish and chips. Profiteroles for dessert, and I think they used warmed-up Nutella for the chocolate sauce. I like Nutella, but not when it sort of hardens. These profiteroles get about a 5 on scale of 1 to 10.

Back in the room doing sink laundry and packing up a bit for departure tomorrow. My little bathroom is festooned with underwear and socks, which will probably scare the bejeezus out of me if I need to go in the middle of the night.

At least if my “poltergeist” comes back tonight, I'll know what it is.

(Just realized that today is 9/10/11!)

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Photos

Bus stop in Dingle
Depicts men carrying a currach

Comments

[Yvonne]

Ok, so the minute you said you were shopping, I instantly thought of a Kinder Egg and am so glad you bought one. I would have bought several, but at least the need to buy one lives on in you! :o)