Ireland day 0126. Tuesday 01 February 2022- Quiet

Ireland day 0126. Tuesday 01 February 2022- Quiet
Today’s summary Various pre planned calendar engagements were cancelled so had a free day.   Went on a run in the morning then an evening walk with Val later on
Today’s weather Grey, drizzly and mild.  Light breeze in morning.   About 11C
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 GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom):
Demesne run 2
Commentary

Robert Burns opined that “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, Gang aft a-gley“, and that was the case with our day today.    I’d planned the day around two fixed points – Spanish this evening, and a video call with a friend in the afternoon.   As it happened, our Spanish teacher got Covid – so the class was inevitably cancelled – and my video call got postponed until tomorrow.

So with an entire day at our disposal, Val elected to get on with her reading (she’s just finished Michelle Obama’s book and very much enjoyed it) and I decided to re-launch my body resculpting programme and go on a run.   I was a bit faster than last time, but I’m still feeling my way into it so am not trying to break any records.   You can see the details in the map below, in case you’re interested.

Then I had to spend ages on the phone trying to sort out a broadband problem (which I am pleased to say is partially solved now) by which time we were both ready for lunch.   After dining, I headed off for a saunter round Malahide to see what was what and do a bit of shopping and Val got on with her book.   As I was out, I was idly looking at the pubs as I walked past, as you do, and I was hit by a sudden realisation.

None of the pubs had names like “Red Lion” or “Bricklayers Arms” or even “The Plough”.  Rather they were all named after people – their owners, or original owners, I suppose.   So in Malahide we have Duffy’s, Fowler’s and Gibney’s and while I wasn’t surprised that you don’t see many “King’s Arms” here in Ireland, I might have expected at least the occasional “White Horse”.   I expect this is all blindingly obvious to almost everyone else, but the penny has only just dropped with me.   I can’t find any reason in particular why pubs here are named after people not things – I guess it’s just a culture thing.

Having made this exciting discovery, I bought some frozen sprouts at Tesco (we are having a sprouts phase at the moment) and then went back to the flat to collect Val, who by this stage had finished her book.   It’s staying light here at least 45 minutes longer than it did back in the depths of December, so after a quick cup of tea we headed back out into the twilight to return Val’s book to the library (any excuse for going there – it’s such a lovely place I could spend all day hanging around browsing the aisles).   From there, we decided to explore a few of the roads out to the east of the town centre, and then return to the coast for the quick walk back above the waves.

So although the day didn’t work out entirely as planned, it was very enjoyable nevertheless and I think we both secretly quite enjoyed having a bit of down-time to recover from our extensive but tiring explorations over the last few weeks.

 

 

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

Duffy’s is said to be the best bar in Malahide.   But to my absolute shame, I haven’t been in yet so can’t corroborate that claim Val and I have actually been in this one – after our trip to Belfast in December.   I’d give it 6.5 out of 10, where Bennett’s is 10
Atmospheric shot over the estuary from the coast road this evening.   The glow on the horizon is from Donabate.   I must say this iPhone night mode photography feature is pretty brilliant Another atmospheric photo, taken from the access road which runs above the Coast Road
Val inspecting the Martello conversion featuring in the big photo below Another view of Duffy’s this time taken when the smokers weren’t assembled by the front door, so i could get a better picture.
Although it’s not an intrinsically beautiful house, I do quite like the idea of living in a converted Martello tower.   This is one of two such conversions along the Coast Road to Portmarnock
Interactive map
Total distance: 4548 m
Max elevation: 23 m
Min elevation: 9 m
Total climbing: 34 m
Total descent: -33 m
Total time: 00:31:31
Download file: Demesne Run 2.gpx
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