Ireland day 0882. Tuesday 27 February 2024- Val’s Violin *

Ireland day 0882. Tuesday 27 February 2024- Val’s Violin

Today’s summary	Went to the gym this morning and Val took the bus to Drumcondra to buy a violin(!) After our various expeditions we met up at the Grand Hotel in Malahide for a late lunch. Val spent the rest of the afternoon rehearsing on her new acquisition and I went to Spanish in the evening
Today’s weather	Mostly bright with some sun and a light shower late morning. Moderate westerly wind. Appx 10c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (No GPX today)

Commentary

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

Perhaps it was Patrick Rafter playing in the Hugh Lane Gallery on Sunday, or perhaps it was the freedom that working a bit less has brought, but whatever the reason, this morning, as we got up, Val announced that she was going to buy a violin.

She clearly feels the need to make melodious music so once we’d had breakfast and the obligatory cup of tea in bed, she headed off to catch the no 42 to Crehan Musical Instruments in Drumcondra, to see what she could find.

As soon as she had gone, I packed my bags and set off to the gym to start working-off some of those over-indulgence calories from the long weekend with our guests. It was quite an enjoyable session, actually, and I finished it off with a good swim before heading over to the Grand Hotel for a coffee and croissant where I basically put straight back on all the calories that I had just burned off.

Val joined me in the hotel shortly afterwards, then we both walked back to the flat where she serenaded me with several recitations of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. She was pretty good, considering she had never picked up a violin before in her life. I’m looking forward to seeing (or hearing) how it develops in the future weeks and months.

I need to leave now to head over early to Spanish – there’s a parents’ evening on in the school tonight and there’s no on-site parking. So I might have a long walk..

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)