Ireland day 0549. Friday 31 March 2023- Tapas! *

Ireland day 0549. Friday 31 March 2023- Tapas!
Today’s summary While Val was at work, I spent the morning doing Spanish homework and the afternoon at the gym.   In the evening went to the “Toro” pop-up tapas restaurant in Townyard Lane to celebrate Val’s first full year of work at the museum
Today’s weather Grey, overcast and drizzly almost all day.   Hardly any wind.   Appx 10C
Today’s overview location
(The blue mark shows the location of our route)
Close-up location
(The blue line shows where we walked)
(No GPX today)
Commentary

(Summary blog only.   Last full blog was Day 0368).

Val was back to work today so my first task was to try and cobble together breakfast and packed lunch from the very limited range of ingredients we had to hand (in the end it was ham and cheese salad followed by a jam sandwich).

Once she was safely off to the museum, I decided to tackle this week’s Spanish homework.   It took a couple of hours today – which was actually quite quick for me, as I find the audio comprehensions, in particular, very hard.   Anyway I think I managed to bludgeon my way through it eventually, although I must admit I did have to resort to Google Translate more than once.

Anyway once that was despatched, I headed back to the gym for a few more of my agonising physio exercises followed by a much more enjoyable dip in the pool.

But the highlight of  the day today was an evening trip out to a pop-up restaurant, only open on Fridays and Saturdays, which has just appeared in Townyard lane, here in Malahide.   It’s in a slightly surprising venue – evidently a shop previously occupied by a clairvoyant – if the neon sign in the window is to be believed.   Toro is a Spanish tapas restaurant, and seeing as I seem to spend most of my spare time these days slaving over intractable Spanish homework, it felt like an ideal spot to celebrate the end of the week – and also Val’s first complete year of work at the museum.   It seems incredible that she’s been there a year already!  And the meal itself was excellent.   Good service, nice ambience (thick velvet drapes made it feel like a speakeasy) and excellent tapas.   A thoroughly enjoyable evening and I’d definitely go back.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

The dreaded exercise bike – upstairs in the gym.   Actually it’s not too bad.   After twenty minutes pedalling aimlessly, I feel completely zoned-out Low tide down in the Malahide estuary.   The Alexanders (an edible celery-like weed introduced to the British Isles by the Romans) seems to thrive in Irish coastal areas and is in full bloom at the moment.   The flowers have a peculiar smell – a bit like bad breath.   At least that is how it seems to me.
Keeps you guessing about what’s inside Val discovering what is actually inside and enjoying celebrating her work-anniversary
Tonight’s menu!
Interactive map

(No map today)

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