Ireland day 0066. Friday 03 December 2021- Quiet

Today’s summary	Videoconference at lunchtime then Portmarnock loop walk via Leisure centre in evening while Val was at work.
Today’s weather	Dry and overcast with light cloud.   No wind and little sun.   Appx 8C
Today’s overview location (the red cross in a circle shows where Val and I are at the moment)			Close-up location (click button below to download a GPX of today’s walk): Portmarnock evening loop

Commentary

Someone once told me that if you haven’t got anything to say, then don’t say it.   And I have to admit that this is slightly the case today.   For once, after months of rushing about, we had a relatively unspectacular day today.   So I’ll try and be brief.

To be fair, our day was a bit disrupted as we both had to attend a videoconference at noon which went on until 2pm.   That consumed a fair chunk of the daylight hours, and also precluded us from doing anything significant in the morning.   We managed to get out briefly after the conference, then had a quick lunch before Val dashed off to work.

I spent the next hour or two doing more Spanish homework (only one lesson left) and tidying off some chores.   That included taking the recycling out which did give me the perfect excuse to have a surreptitious look in the bins to see if anything useful was being thrown out.   Sadly today it wasn’t, which was a bit of a shame as we could do with some coffee cups and a couple of extra plates.   I’m hoping for better luck next time.

As evening was falling, I was faced with the choice of either going out and enjoying some fresh air, or staying in and reading a book. As a side-note, by the way, I’m actually reading about someone who walked across Ireland in the hope of finding a navigable route which might eventually emulate Wainwright’s route across England.   But by the end of Chapter 2 he seemed to be finding it tough going – lots of private land and overgrown byroads, which is exactly what we have experienced too.   The fact that there isn’t an established Irish C2C route today suggests he may not have succeeded.  I need to read to the end to be sure though.

Anyway, I chose the outdoor option, and decided to head off on my favourite Portmarnock circuit – down the main road then back in an arc along the seashore.   The first thing that I noticed I stepped out was that the Irish Model Railway Museum – which shares the same grounds as our flat – had been lit up in much the same way as Swords Castle yesterday (you can see it in the featured image at the top).   We’ve seen many big buildings in Ireland similarly illuminated and It’s really rather nice.   I hope they don’t get switched off after the New Year, though I suspect they may only be short-lived seasonal features.

As I was walking through Portmarnock itself, I thought I’d drop into the leisure centre.  I’d been rather fobbed off last time I went, and was giving up on the idea of using their swimming pool as it was too complicated to book a session and too expensive anyway.  This time though, the lady on the front desk was much more helpful and it seems there may be a more practical and lower cost of doing it.   That was especially good news as I am rapidly going off the idea of sea swimming at least until the spring.   So all being well, I may try and check the pool out next week.

Finishing off my walk along the coast, I diverted to look at the High Rock and Low Rock sea swimming areas.   They are both well maintained with good access to the sea but on a dark December evening they weren’t looking their best and it just confirmed in my mind that this was an activity best left to others for the time being.

So – that was our day.   A bit less frenetic than usual, and actually quite a welcome opportunity to pause and catch breath.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

The Portmarnock Leisure Centre – about 30 minutes’ walk from where we are living and very close to the college where I go for Spanish lessons.   It seems to be well supplied with facilities including a 25m swimming pool	The path to the Low Rock sea swimming area near the Malahide lagoon estuary
The High Rock swimming area – a bit further round the coast from the Low Rock.   A sturdy iron ladder leads down into the sea below, which can be as far as seven meters down.   It can be a bit hazardous for beginners, apparently, and certainly looked very uninviting to me tonight

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