Dun Laoghaire
Recent highlights: Mom had lunch at the golf club on Thursday with Eddis and Thea, who kept mom well entertained with tales of travelling to Syria, Pakistan and other Stans. While they lunched, I played golf for an hour and 10 minutes--a real luxury as the course was closed last weekend and we'll be out of town this weekend.
Friday we hit the road after I booked a holiday for us in February. I was multi-tasking and didn't eat properly, big mistake. I thought it would be two hours to Dun Laoghaire, south of Dublin, but it was closer to three. As I got near my target--I got very turned around as there were several diversions and I couldn't get oriented. Google Maps was also confused. We stopped at the first restaurant we could park near; mom had fish & chips for lunch and I had a veggie burger. And a milkshake. And a Coke. Then we checked into our lovely room at Haddington House. The view from the window:
Mom sitting in the bay window.
While mom rested I did a recce of the town (as in reconnaissance) and got a lot of info from a helpful tourism officer. Also enjoyed walking past the marina:
I bet the above looks cool at night. I also came across a colourful wall mural, below.
When I got back to the room, it felt good to put my feet up. Mom's feet are fashionably draped with a Foxford blanket--from one of the oldest mills in Ireland. The two illuminated food trucks on the pier are a fish and chip van and a coffee van.
Saturday morning, the marina was looking lovely. I like the green ferry, which could be headed for the Isle of Man, Liverpool, Holyhead in Wales or Cherbourg in France. Dun Laoghaire is a busy port.
Mom enjoyed her pancakes at the hotel. She didn't eat all of that but a healthy portion.
And then off we went. She is using a rollator, which has a three-wheeled base and two handles--it lets her take some weight off her knees. She is able to go much farther than she would otherwise. First stop, the dlr Lexicon--a very modern library near our hotel. With a view like this, you wonder how anyone gets any reading done.
We saw three exhibits. One on Christianity in Morrocco, one a collection of black and white photos taken on the coast during lockdown (the sea in its many moods), and one a giant wooden sculpture that looks like a pine cone cut in half. On one side are the pointy peaks of a pine cone exterior and on the other are pockets storing seeds collected from all over the world--in an amazing array of shapes and sizes. Runner beans, opium pods, maize, horse chestnuts, bat nuts, flat parsley. The sculptress was inspired by the Norwegian seed bank where seeds are stored deep underground--I supppose in case we destroy the surface of the planet and need the raw material to start over.
From there we went to the train station and took the train to Greystones. We walked up the high street to the Happy Pear--mecca for foodies. It was started by two brothers, one of who sat at the table across from us with his daughter. His mother seated us.
I had a Persian pumpkin curry, which was sublime. Best meal I've had in a long time.
We had to kill an hour until the next train, so we had tea in a restaurant, then took the train back, sitting on the sea side and enjoying the views as we went through Bray, Killiney, Dalkey and Sandy Cove. Back in Dun Laoghaire, mom rolled her way across the marina until we returned to the hotel--0.56 miles round trip!! Plus two times the length of Greystones, plus the length and breadth of the library. I'd say she worked off those pancakes!
21 January