Ireland day 1155. Tuesday 26 November 2024- Car Fixed

Today’s summary	Took the 102 and 197 to Ashbourne to collect the car at lunchtime. All fixed but the clutch cost €1400(!). Stopped off at Tesco Swords to collect groceries on the way back from the garage and went on a short walk round the marina while Val was out having a pedicure. Spanish class in the evening with our end-of-term party. Val didn’t go to Pilates as she’s still recovering from her Shingrix vaccination
Today’s weather	Dry and sunny all day. Almost no wind. Appx 7c

Today’s overview location (The green 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): Hanlon's Lane evening stroll

Commentary

The main task of the day today was to go back to Ashbourne to collect the Trusty Yaris from car-hospital. It’s a bit of a pain getting there on the bus, with lots of chilly hanging around on the way. So I had put off doing it last night and eventually set off mid-morning today.

Eventually, courtesy of the 102 and 197, I made it to the garage and picked up the keys. All was well, and the Yaris now looks clean and resplendent with its new clutch and two new front tyres (mostly invisible to the naked eye, rather sadly). Though the garage did relieve me of €1400, which felt a bit painful. Still, that’s just the price you pay for the convenience of having a car I guess.

On the way back to Malahide, I tested out the new clutch on the M2 motorway (it seemed fine) and dropped in to Tesco Swords to collect some groceries. Once I got back to the flat, Val was out having her hair done (it looks lovely by the way) so I made myself some lunch – left over casserole and jacket potato from last night – and read my book for a bit. (I’m reading “The Spinning Heart” by Donal Ryan, and it’s OK so far but a bit miserable). I also retrieved our new EHIC cards from the postbox – they eventually arrived this time, after previously having been delivered to the wrong flat. So now we can travel with a bit more confidence – in Europe, at least.

Val popped in briefly after her hair appointment to drop some things off, and then headed off again to go and enjoy a pedicure (her toes also look lovely, you will be pleased to know). While she was out, I wrapped my present for the Spanish Class “Secret Santa” game tonight, and then did a short walk.

Anyway, I must sign off now as it’s time to drive down to Portmarnock for the last Spanish class of the term, and to our end-of-term party. I’m quite looking forward to it though Val, sadly, is still feeling a bit under the weather after her Shingrix vaccination. So she decided to skip her Pilates tonight. ¡Hasta luego!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


All aboard the 197 as it trundles through the Meath countryside to Ashbourne	Second time lucky! Our EHICs finally arrived today

We’re having a sort of “Secret Santa” game at the Spanish end-of-term party this evening. This is my contribution – straight from La Gomera!	Old Street restaurant in Malahide. I always think it looks nice in the evening light – and the food is very good too. But it’s impossibly noisy so we tend not to go there any more

All calm in the marina	Looking over to St Sylvester’s from Malahide Green

Good (if rather blurry) view of the new cycling / walking viaduct over the Broadmeadow estuary. It’s quite an epic construction and I’m looking forward to trying it out