Ireland day 0139. Monday 14 February 2022- Valentine

Today’s summary	A quiet day. Video call with friends in the morning then coast walk and shopping in the afternoon
Today’s weather	Fresh, bright and sunny. Moderate westerly wind. About 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 GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Malahide coast late afternoon walk

Commentary

Today we had a bit of down-time – which was quite welcome as I have to admit I was quite anxious about yesterday and was good to have a bit of space to unwind. But the trouble with having time on your hands is that you also have time to reflect – though today most of my reflections were positive.

I suppose that my over-riding reflection was that I feel very fortunate to be able to have the time and resources (and a very supportive wife!) to enable me to do things like come and live in a foreign country. I also felt particularly fortunate that I really enjoy what I am doing and although it’s some time since I stopped most of my paid and voluntary work, I am still very happy.

Managing the transition from work into the less structured world that you fall into after it can be quite tricky and I know many people struggle with it. But that’s never been an issue for me, and that has allowed me to enjoy things like chatting to friends over video in the morning, then going on a long walk by the sea in the cold fresh air in the afternoon, and watch a downloaded film in the evening without ever feeling guilty that I should be doing something more purposeful. Every Monday morning when I have a cup of tea in bed I always give thanks that I’m not at that very moment crammed onto the 7:30 am train heading to a strategic cost leadership meeting or an uncomfortable grilling in the Treasury, and that’s something I think I shall be grateful for every Monday for the rest of my life.

Well, with that I think I have actually revealed most of what we did today – though I should add that Val (impressively) went for another run round the castle in the morning, while I did the hoovering and pulled together a super-healthy salad (well fairly healthy as it also featured poached eggs, bacon and peanut butter as well as green things) for lunch.

Then in the afternoon we dropped into the library, did some shopping (and I still can’t get over why they price toilet paper in Euros per 100 shts – seems altogether far too descriptive for me) and went for a walk along the coast.

Well that’s all very romantic I am sure you will agree – in keeping with the Valentine occasion. And to cap it all off I have downloaded a couple of films for the evening so I think a few goggle-eyed hours and a decent bottle of red wine will finish off a good day and make it perfect.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Heading up into the new housing development on the top of Robswall Hill (or is that Paddy’s Hill?). Through the trees, the views are superb. If you had a top floor flat in the right place, you could see down across Dublin Bay with the ships coming in and out, right down to the Wicklow Hills, and in the other direction, Howth, Ireland’s Eye and Lambay island. Now that’s something to aspire to.	Here’s part of that view – Ireland’s Eye neatly framed by the lamp posts. Trips to the island re-start in April I think and we will definitely be booking a slot.

The Martello Tower near Portmarnock. My sources tell me that it’s been divided into four flats and although I think in theory it would be very nice to live in one of them, the same sources tell me it’s very cold. Given that the walls are about two metres thick, they must I suppose act like a giant storage heater. Or more likely storage fridge, in this case.	My favourite view again. The hills of the Howth peninsula on the left hand side of the picture, and the Velvet Strand beach in the foreground. It was low tide when we visited today, so looking more velvety than usual. No swimmers though

I am really going bonkers on the salad stuff. By having this at lunchtime, you can justifiably eat chocolate biscuits all afternoon.	This is Ireland’s most iconic tea. And deservedly so, I should say, as it tastes really nice. Especially with chocolate biscuits

Woo-hoo! Spring must surely be on its way! Daffodils looking their best down by the shoreline, where presumably it’s pretty much frost-free. In the cool wind though today, I must admit it felt pretty Baltic though.