Ireland day 1429. Wednesday 27 August 2025- Picnic!

Today’s summary	A very wet start so we spent the morning in the flat. I did some admin and finished off my Spanish homework, and Val did some baking. Then the sun came out again so we decided to pack a few things and have a picnic lunch on Malahide beach. After returning to the flat, we had a cup of tea and then later on I went into Dublin for my Spanish class at Cervantes
Today’s weather	Heavy rain in the morning then dried up with sunny intervals from noon onwards. Moderate south westerly wind. Appx 17c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Picnic on the beach

Commentary

We have got quite accustomed to waking up and seeing blue skies and sunshine outside. So it came as a bit of a surprise this morning to be awoken by the sound of rain lashing against the bedroom window and leaden skies all around. But it’s quite soothing listening to the rain drumming outside, when you are warm and dry inside.

So we didn’t rush to get up but once we’d had our cups of tea and generally made ourselves look lovely, we set about tackling the day. Val wanted to do some baking, so cooked up some delicious cheese and onion mini-scones, which we just couldn’t help sampling as soon as they were ready (actually we ate half of them there and then, while they were still warm).

Meanwhile, although I had had to miss Monday’s Spanish class because of our trip to the UK, I didn’t escape the homework, which was emailed to me yesterday. So I spent most of the morning reading “Lola Largo” and doing some exercises from my “Aula Internacional” textbook.

By the time we had finished, the rain had stopped and it was showing every sign of being a decent afternoon. So in a break from the norm, at Val’s suggestion we packed up some bits and pieces from the fridge to eat, made a flask of coffee, and headed for the beach.

We were rather short of time so we only walked a short way, as far as Malahide beach, but soon found a sunny spot out of the wind, and settled down to enjoy our picnic lunch.

There were a few people out and about on the beach, but it was a lot quieter than it has been lately. After all, it was midweek, and the schools went back this week, plus the earlier weather probably put quite a few people off. Whatever, it was the perfect spot to linger, and we spent at least an hour relaxing there, just enjoying the sun and watching the wispy cirrus clouds drifting overhead. A storm front on its way, perhaps?

Afterwards, it was only a short walk back to the flat, and a welcoming cup of tea. Then I put my feet up for a few minutes before gathering my things and catching the 16:44 DART into Dublin for my Spanish lesson at Cervantes. Val came in with me so we had just a few minutes to walk together over to Grafton Street to look at the shops before I started my lesson. Val stayed a little while longer and made her own way back a little later. I had to knuckle down to three hours of solid Español, which was exhausting but tonight was the penultimate lesson, and I’m sure it will be worthwhile eventually. No pain, no gain!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


This summarises our mornings in one photo. Mine at the top (Spanish) and Val’s at the bottom (delicious freshly baked mini-muffins)	Testing out the new steps and paving surface on the footway from our flats to the Dublin Road. It’s pea-gravel set in resin and it looks really good. Will be interesting to see how hard-wearing it is

James’ Terrace – on the way to the beach	Looking satisfied with our lunches!

Look carefully and you will see three perfect examples of the Subjunctive	Everyone seems to have an air-fryer these days. Maybe we will have to move into the 21st century at some point, too?

On the beach by the outflow from Malahide estuary. The tide was coming in fast, so unsurprisingly the flag was red (no bathing by the narrow channel)