Ireland day 0367. Friday 30 September 2022- Breezy!

Ireland day 0367. Friday 30 September 2022- Breezy!
Today’s summary Gym in the morning, some paperwork and a short walk in the afternoon.
Today’s weather Poured with rain all morning, drier by mid afternoon.   Moderate to strong westerly wind.   About 17C
Today’s overview location
(The blue mark shows the location of my route)
Close-up location
(The green line shows where I walked)
(Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected):
Malahamble walk
(Click button below to download TCX of today’s gym session):
Friday morning gym
Commentary

Val’s skills seem to be in short supply at the moment – as today she was drafted in at short notice to do an extra shift up at the castle on the front desk.   So I was left to my devices as the rain poured down unappealingly outside.   I did struggle a bit to get up, I have to admit.   I’d like to say I was worn out by the events at the Irish Management Institute yesterday but actually I think it was more to do with the six large glasses of wine I’d had with my celebratory curry last night.   But, I thought, if Val can get up and brave the elements and go to work, then I really ought to be able to stir myself.

Eventually I poured myself out of bed, had an extra cup of tea, and then pulled my stuff together.   I had decided that the best cure for a hangover was likely to be a workout at the gym, although I am not certain that the medical fraternity would necessarily agree.   I splashed my way through the rain down to the gym and duly pushed myself through the torture machines.   I didn’t honestly feel any better after that but I did start to feel a bit more human after I’d had a decent swim.

By this time it was almost lunchtime and it had practically stopped raining.   I always seem to have a backlog of paperwork to deal with so after lunch I spent a happy hour or so tackling that and taking a look at the fiendishly difficult Spanish homework we’ve been set this week.   Once all that was out of the way, the weather was definitely looking a lot better so I headed off out for a short amble round Malahide and then down to the shops to pick up some components for our next few days’ lunches.

There’s a nice walk down Hanlon’s Lane, which leads down to the coast from close to our flat and then on to the town centre.   It’s quite short so you can fit it in easily between showers and there’s always something different to see, even if it’s only the changing tides in the lagoon.   Halfway down there’s an old tree stump where someone has assembled a “Fairy Garden”.   Fairies are a big thing here in Ireland, especially with children.   The stump garden in Hanlon’s Lane has been there ever since we arrived but it particularly caught my eye today because a giant toadstool had erupted right in the middle of it.   I thought it actually complemented the whole effect quite well.   You can see it in the banner image at the top.

Well that’s enough for now.   I seem to have spent long enough staring at the computer today and my latest Ian McEwan novel (“The Innocent”, in case you were wondering) is waiting patiently for me to pick it up again.   The plot is starting to get interesting and I’m quite anxious to see what happens next.   It’s all to play for!

 

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

White Cape Daisy (Osteospermum barberiae) still in full bloom outside the Grand Hotel in Malahide.   I like these plants because they flower all summer and are relatively easy to grow. Conker!   A real reminder of the “back to school” month.   It’s a shame that they so quickly lose the glossy shine that they have when they first pop out of their spiny shells
Hanlons Lane.   It runs down to the coast from the main Dublin road, and is a handy way of getting to the shore of the lagoon from our flat.   I quite like the road because it’s quiet, convenient and unostentatious Exceptionally high water down in the Broadmeadow lagoon today.   I’m not really sure why – the photo was taken a couple of hours after high tide and it wasn’t a particularly high tide anyway.   Perhaps the recent heavy rain had swelled the inflowing Broadmeadow river
Cabbage palm (Cordyline australis) growing down by the marina.   The flowers – which are now turning to the big bunches of tiny fruit – are almost overpoweringly sweetly scented.   The plant originally comes from New Zealand where the fleshy roots were used as a foodstuff The relatively new-ish apartments down by Malahide marina.   They have lovely views but on windy days like today the whining clattering noise of the wind in the rigging of the boats harboured there can be quite intrusive.   I’m not sure I’d like to live there
Well this is actually where we do live.   The Casino apartments in Malahide.   They are a bit quirky but quite nice – apart from the railway noise and especially when Iarnród Éireann do incessant bridge repairs.   They were built in 2005 and are named after the Casino – the thatched “hunting lodge” belonging to Malahide Castle and which today holds the model railway museum where Val works.   It’s just behind where I was standing to take this photo.
Interactive map

(Elevations corrected at  GPS Visualizer: Assign DEM elevation data to coordinates )

Total distance: 2901 m
Max elevation: 16 m
Min elevation: 1 m
Total climbing: 37 m
Total descent: -37 m
Total time: 00:42:42
Download file: Malahamble compressed corrected.gpx

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