Ireland day 0610. Wednesday 31 May 2023- Feet On Ground *

Ireland day 0610. Wednesday 31 May 2023- Feet On Ground

Today’s summary	Val was back at work after our trip away so I did some admin then walked over the hill to Portmarnock and back along the coast. Cooked line-caught salmon for tea
Today’s weather	Grey and overcast all day until about 4pm when the sun came out. Moderate easterly wind. Appx 14C

Today’s overview location (The grey mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Paddys Hill and Sea Urchins

Commentary

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

Despite only getting back to the flat from the ferry at about midnight last night, Val was up bright and early and into work at the museum this morning by 9am.

Spurred on by her activity, I got up, made the packed lunches, did a couple of loads of washing, and practiced some Spanish. I also made a brief trip into Malahide to pick up some salmon from the fishmongers, then collected my sandwiches, and took a brisk walk over the hill and down to Portmarnock, and back up the coast.

It was a very pleasant outing, and I really enjoyed getting my feet back on the ground again after spending much of the last few days cooped up in planes, cars, trains and boats, dashing backwards and forwards to the UK. It was a pleasant and pretty quiet walk, although as some of the schools have broken up for summer now, there were a few young people out enjoying themselves on the beach, and even a few hardy types had braved the cold and were splashing about in the uninviting grey sea. There had obviously been some peculiar current or tidal event (perhaps related to the strong easterly wind) because in one small spot, close to the Low Rock swimming area, I came across dozens of sea-urchin shells washed up in the flotsam. You can see some of them in the banner image at the top of the blog.

I’m back in the flat now, and Val is in from work, so now it’s time to start cooking the salmon. But first I’m going to join a Zoom lecture by the Irish Geological Association, on the history of Iron Ore smelting in Ireland. It promises to be a fascinating evening.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


There was lots of banging and drilling going on in the corridor outside our flat this morning – it turns out that Virgin Media are installing fibre broadband to all of the building. It will probably be activated in a couple of months, but to be honest the broadband here is pretty good already so I’m not sure what real benefit it will bring (unless it’s cheap, which seems unlikely)	A couple of months ago Val contacted the local fishmonger to see if she had any wild salmon. Finally, one of these rare creatures came into stock this morning. It was line caught in the Blackwater River , which rises in Kerry, runs through Co Cork, and runs into the Celtic sea between Cork city and Waterford. She doesn’t sell very much of it, which isn’t surprising as it costs €27 for two fillets

A simply unbelievable weather forecast. Can this really be Ireland? (And can it actually be true, given that it was actually cloudy pretty much all day up to 4pm, despite the assurances of my app to the contrary)	Malahide was a hive of engineering activity today. Up in the castle demesne, the paths are being re-laid

Ireland’s Eye peeking out from the peri-Alpine slopes of Paddy’s Hill	Coming on the boardwalk through the dunes onto the Velvet Strand, south of Portmarnock. The lifeguard station is in place now, but not yet manned

Testing out the new tarmac!