Ireland day 1289. Wednesday 09 April 2025- Shorts!

Today’s summary	Another beautiful sunny dry day. I walked along the coast to Howth and Val followed after me on a longer route over the hill and she did it by running (epic). We met up in Insomnia in Howth for refreshments then caught the train and bus back. Back at the flat, we listened to a podcast, finished off the chilli con carne and watched “Mad Men”.
Today’s weather	Dry and sunny all day. Light north easterly wind. Appx 13c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue 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): Coast walk to Howth in Shorts

Commentary

We both slept really well last night. I’m not sure exactly why. Perhaps it’s the sunny weather, or maybe the long walk round Phoenix Park. More likely though it might have been the gin and arbutus tonic that we enjoyed while watching tv last night. Anyway, whatever the reason, we awoke full of the joys of spring, and ready to make the most of the day.

We didn’t have any specific plans – and indeed we are trying to keep diaries a bit clearer at the moment, to give some recovery capacity after the traumas of last week. So we didn’t rush our morning cups of tea as we were mulling how best to use the daylight hours.

Eventually, after looking outside and seeing the glorious blue sky, we decided that we should go out and make the most of the weather to get a decent stretch of exercise in the sun. The best option seemed to be a walk to Howth – just the right length and with the sun on our faces. I elected to walk it, following the (flat) coast route whereas Val, who set off after me, did it the much harder way by adding in a loop of the Demesne first, as well as an ascent of Paddy’s Hill. And to cap it all she ran the whole thing. Amazing dedication.

The walk was good. Especially so as, for the first time in Ireland this year, I did it in my shorts! Everywhere, like yesterday, was looking pristine in green and blue. The tide co-operated so I was able to follow the shore most of the way – including round the Sutton golf club headland on the way to Burrow beach. I thoroughly enjoyed the leg-stretch and eventually made it to journey’s end at the Insomnia coffee shop in just under 2½ hours. Val arrived shortly after me, completing the journey fifteen minutes faster than me despite the longer route and the hill climb. Well done Val!

After a quick snack in the café we caught a DART then a 102 bus back to Malahide. I went into SuperValu to do some shopping and Val headed straight back to the flat. I had a successful shopping trip – especially after I discovered I had a €5 voucher which essentially meant I got a free packet of tea bags. One of life’s small pleasures. I also bumped into one of my friends from Spanish and we had a mutual grumble about the Subjunctive case.

As soon as Val and I were both back at the flat, I made a cup of tea which we enjoyed whilst munching on biscuits and listening to a podcast. Afterwards, Val reheated yesterday’s chilli con carne for dinner (which was even more tasty after a night in the fridge) and we washed it down with another decent slug of Arbutus gin and tonic. (Arbutus gin by the way comes from Canada and has a very pine-y aroma. It’s a bit unusual but very delicious).

We rounded off the evening in the usual way – with an episode of “Mad Man”. We’re on season 4 now and it still hasn’t got boring. Excellent script-writing.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Razor-clam debris on Portmarnock beach. I think it’s related to the fleet of tatty looking trawlers fishing close offshore. I hope it’s not doing permanent environmental damage	Late-season narcissi in Baldoyle

There’s a lot of building work going on at the shoreline of Burrow beach..	..not sure what it is exactly, but it seems to involve a lot of excavation by big diggers with caterpillar tracks

Journey’s end	Lunch! (Well part of it – by the time I took this I had already eaten the rest because I was so hungry)

Look at those legs. Aargh!