Ireland day 0952. Tuesday 07 May 2024- Catching Breath

Today’s summary	A day spent mostly at home. In the morning Val and I walked up over the hill and down to the coast at Portmarnock. Got chips and sausage rolls to eat for lunch on the beach. A video call to a friend in Houston in the afternoon the Spanish / Pilates in the evening
Today’s weather	Dry bright and sunny all day. Light easterly wind. Appx 14c

Today’s overview location (The grey mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Hill and Coast with Val

Commentary

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

We’ve been quite busy over the last few weeks, and have quite a lot coming up in the near future too. But at the moment, we have a window of a few days when we aren’t doing too much and the weather is nice (at last!), so we are taking the opportunity to catch our collective breath and actually to cram a bit less into our lives than we normally do.

So after a cup of tea in bed and a leisurely start to the day, we got up, put the washing on and decided to go out and enjoy the sun. We weren’t too adventurous – just our normal walk up Paddy’s Hill and down to the coast at Portmarnock – but it was thoroughly enjoyable and the blue sky was a real tonic.

Once at Portmarnock, we treated ourselves to the most unhealthy lunch imaginable. Chips, sausage rolls (albeit vegetarian), black pudding and a doughnut. We ate it down on the beach, watching the swimmers who didn’t actually seem quite as ludicrous as they do for nine tenths of the year.

A brisk walk back along the beach and we were back at the flat in good time for my monthly video chat with my friend in Houston. Nice to keep up with familiar faces even if they are half a world away.

The day was rounded off with a trip back over to Portmarnock for my weekly Spanish class (more conversation than grammar at the moment, which suits me better and is more useful) and Pilates for Val. Finished off the day by watching the closing episode of “Chloe” on RTE Player. A nice, relaxing, day all round.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Feeling like proper springtime at last. Enjoying the blue skies for as long as they last!	Val on the lookout for skylarks on the top of Paddy’s Hill

Curiously there were hardly any cowslips on the top of Paddy’s Hill (last year there was a veritable carpet) but there were plenty in the parkland off Wendell Avenue in Portmarnock. I am beginning to wonder if they are actually planted every year	Mermaid bringing the teas!

Martello-cum-house on the Portmarnock Coast Road	Iconic view over the Malahide estuary

These roses are so cheerful! I could look at them all day