Ireland day 1206. Thursday 16 January 2025- Down

Today’s summary	Spent the morning waiting for the results of the lesion removal operation I had on my back a few weeks ago (all OK) and doing my Spanish homework. After a light lunch, we went into Dublin to try and buy me a cheap down jacket, but couldn’t find one. Had a cup of tea in Dubray books then came back to Malahide. I had a quiet evening while Val went to a late Christmas dinner with colleagues from the museum
Today’s weather	Dry mild and sunny most of the day. Light southerly wind. Appx 10c

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

Commentary

The day dawned bright and clear today, but the pink clouds in the east did suggest worse weather was to come. Anyway, it didn’t and the day was mild, sunny and almost springlike all day. The rest of the morning, though, was a bit of a waiting game. I was hanging by the telephone for the results of the minor operation I had to remove a lesion on my back a few weeks ago. I didn’t know when the doctor would call, other than “sometime this morning”.

Anyway I eventually got the call and was told everything was OK. In fact the lesion was totally benign which did slightly leave me wondering whether I needed to have had it removed at all. Anyway, better to be safe than sorry. While I was waiting, I got on with my Spanish homework, and was pleased to be able to polish it off quite quickly.

Once that was done, we had a light lunch of some nuts and fruit, left over from our guests’ recent visit, then contemplated the afternoon. Last week, I had gone into town and almost bought a new winter jacket in Mountain Warehouse, but they didn’t have my size. So today we went back – after all the journey was free now, thanks to my travel card (which also allows Val to accompany me too, for free). So nothing would be wasted if it still wasn’t in stock.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, they did have my size this time but just as I was about to buy it, Val spotted that the filling was synthetic, not the down I had thought it was (and is in the Mountain Warehouse jacket I bought a couple of years ago and which this one was supposed to replace). A clear case of shrink- (or quality-) flation. This wasn’t what I wanted, so I abandoned the purchase just in the nick of time.

A quick run around the other outdoor sports shop in the town centre drew a blank – their “down” jackets were either the wrong size, far too hot, not “down” or too expensive. So I came away empty-handed today, but will have another look when next winter’s stock comes in in the Autumn.

As a consolation prize, we treated ourselves to tea and biscuits in Dubray Books, then dropped into the Nespresso shop to do some recycling before catching a timely DART back to Malahide.

On our return, Val just had time for a quick cup of tea before she set off back out again, to “K.O.A.” restaurant for a late-Christmas dinner with her Museum colleagues. I, on the other hand, went for a short stroll over Malahide’s “secret” hill then pulled together some tuna and soda bread for dinner. Simple but tasty and, hopefully, nutritious.

A good day, jacket disappointment notwithstanding.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


A fiery sky greeted us this morning. Despite the shepherd’s warning, the weather stayed good all day	*A morning spent on my deberes. We have just started learning the future tense*

Hellebores (Christmas roses) popping up in the flower beds outside the entrance to our block of flats. I think they are a couple of weeks later than they were last year	Here comes our train! Plenty of seats, nonstop to Dublin, and free – thanks to my OAP travel card. What’s not to like!

O’Connell Street was relatively quiet today, as were most of the shops we visited	Looking upstream from O’Connell Bridge

In “Article” – our favourite shop in the Powerscourt shopping centre