Ireland day 0749. Tuesday 17 October 2023- Drive back from Beara *

Ireland day 0749. Tuesday 17 October 2023- Drive back from Beara

Today’s summary	Drove back from Beara in heavy rain most of the way. Just under seven hours door to door, with a couple of stops. Spanish tonight for me, and Pilates for Val
Today’s weather	Heavy rain and strong wind from early morning until mid afternoon, as Storm Babet makes her way north east across the British Isles. No sun. Strong easterly wind. Appx 14c

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).

Just a short blog today, as we returned from Beara back to the “real” world of Dublin, Spanish lessons, and work (for Val).

We had a check-out time of 10 am so we got up early, stuffed our bags, and ate as much of the leftover food for breakfast as we could, to avoid having to carry it back. We had chosen a good day to depart, as Storm Babet had just started her unwelcome progression across the British Isles while we were packing our bags. So it was lashing rain and blowing a howling (and unusually easterly) gale as we started our drive back.

Despite the rain, we made good progress and arrived at the halfway point, the Circle K service station at Fermoy on the M8, in time for lunch by about 12:30. Suitably refuelled by Mr McDonald, we finished off the second half of the journey up the motorway straightforwardly, before reconvening at Tesco in Swords (again) to get some essentials for the next few days. Our friends are staying with us until Thursday, so we needed sustenance to keep us going in the manner to which we have become accustomed in Beara.

Anyway now we are safely back in Malahide and I have to get my head into Spanish mode, ready for the session at Portmarnock Community School. And Val and at least one of our guests are going to head out to pilates at the Rugby Club. So we have a busy evening ahead and it’s hasta luego, for now!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)