I came downstairs just after 9:30 today. KC was already up and said he hadn’t slept well. He’d woken up in the middle of the night with bad stomach pains. He managed to fall back asleep and they were gone the next time he woke up but he had a restless night. He should know better than to combine gin, wine, Bailey’s and whiskey in one night!
The weather reflects my mood regarding the fact that it’s our last day – gloomy. It’s raining again so we won’t be hiking up Cruach Mharthain . This has been such a people-centric trip that we really want to spend some time in Dingle today saying a proper good-bye to our friends.
There was some activity at the new shed next door and we saw Alec’s van so KC went over to spend some time with him. KC has been getting into woodworking lately and is fascinated with Alec’s skill. When we return next year, the new shed should be finished.
When KC came back in, there was so much fog that outside had been cancelled.
Fog obscuring the view:
Phil stopped by to pick up a book and confirmed our dinner date for tonight.
For lunch we had appenzeller and bread. It’s one of our favorite cheeses and, for some reason, we can no longer get it. All I can get is the antique version which we don’t like. I have really been bad diet-wise this trip … I hope the consequences aren’t too bad.
Around 1:30 the fog lifted and I went up to start packing. I wanted to enjoy the evening and I knew I wouldn’t if I had packing hanging over my head. Between the two of us, we managed to get both big suitcases to the point where all we had to add was the shoes we were wearing. We were very close to the weight limit on both of them so we would be wearing our heaviest clothes home.
Our flight leaves from Dublin at 10:30 Tuesday morning and our plan is to leave the cottage at 3:00 am which will get us to Dublin airport before 8:00. KC needs to get at least 3 hours sleep so we need to be home early. I won’t sleep, worrying about whether the alarm will wake us up, so I’ll finish updating the web page and make sure he gets up in time.
Fog lifting:
We had hoped to be in Dingle at 3:30 to give us enough time to say goodbye to everyone but it took longer to pack than I had anticipated and we didn’t get in until almost 4:30. KC dropped me at Dingle Music Shop and went to fill the car up. Thank goodness he remembered to do that – we know from experience that there are no filling stations open at the time of day we’re travelling.
Caitriona was there, nursing a cold, and called Michael to let him know we wanted one last hug. I bought the Chieftain’s CD The Long Black Veil which has Sting singing Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero - Sé mo laoch), that tune Méabh Begley sang that I liked so much, and another CD with the only known recording of Michael on the accordion An Tra by Marie Fielding, Tom Orr, and Donogh Hennessy!
I have, since then, listened to every version I could find of Mo Ghile Mear and have not found one that moved me the way Méabh’s did so I’m going to have to beg her to record it.
Here is a version of I found on YouTube that comes close to what Méabh’s sounds like, sung by Dheirbhile Ni Bhrolchain:
And here is an annimated version by Órla Fallon, one of the Celtic Women:
OK…back to the travelogue…
It was really hard for me to say goodbye this year. I actually broke down. Dara drove up just as we were leaving and I had to go through a second wrenching goodbye.
We walked up to Dingle Crystal to say goodbye to Sean. He offered to take us to see the ancient bridge by his house, but we didn’t have time, so we’ll save that for next year. Another difficult goodbye.
Fortunately, we had something to take my mind off all these goodbyes. We raced off to An Canteen to meet Phil and Alec.
We were the first ones in the restaurant and took the table by the window. I was disappointed that they didn’t have calamari on the menu today and was perusing my options when Niall came out and offered to do a ‘Chef’s Choice’ dinner for us. We all loved the idea although I suspect he was disappointed when I asked for no pork.
Phil and I split a Stonewell Irish Craft Cider, and it was much, much better than Bulmer’s. It actually tasted like apples and wasn’t too sweet. I wish it was available in the US…. Alec also had cider and KC had the Stonewell Porter.
Cider and Porter:
Our starter was a trio of tomato-basil soup, garlic toast, and spicy chicken wings. Now I know why those kids were raving about Niall’s wings.
For dinner, we had another trio: hake, salmon gravlax, and deep fried Dingle Bay prawns. I was happy – I was going to order the gravlax as my starter and the shrimp as my entrée.
For dessert, I had the tiramisu, KC had the chocolate brownie, and Phil and Alec shared the pear and apple tart. We both love the fact that Irish desserts are not overly sweet and these were no exception. Each one was served with a fruit garnish and a small scoop of ice-cream in a lace cookie. KC inhaled everything on his plate and helped me finish my ice cream. It was delicious but I was too full by the time I got to it.
Phil and Alec are so easy to talk to, the time just flew by. Phil explained that the burnt-looking area at the base of the volcano down the road was exactly that – burning the grass encourages it to grow greener, and it is done frequently in the spring, but it requires a permit and the perpetrator must stand by and manage the flames so they don’t drift towards the houses nearby.
Phil and Alec asked us what we liked about the area, something Michael has also been asking. We like everything – the sea, the weather, the hiking, the history, the ruins, the food, the shopping, the pubs, the music and especially the people. If any one of those things were missing, it wouldn’t have the same draw. But none of them are which is why we keep coming back.
A young couple and a group of three women came in while we were eating so we didn’t get to spend as much time with Brian and Niall as we had hoped to. We did learn that Niall had done a cooking show on the local TV station and had just been invited back to do 4 more. I asked for his autograph and we had a good laugh over his new-found celebrity. He will go far – he’s a very talented chef AND he has an engaging personality.
Niall on TV4 show ocuisine:
When we left, we agreed to meet Phil and Alec at the cottage to settle our bill and to pick up the big camera so that Phil and I could go over to the small cottages and take pictures before the sun went down. We did that, but I think they need to be taken with a fish eye lens, similar to the one used by the Irish Heritage Trust for their pix of the Gatehouse. I wasn’t able to get good pictures of some of the smaller rooms.
Suantra Cottages:
When Phil and I returned from our picture taking, Alec and KC were discussing economics. Alec is very astute so KC listens closely to whatever he has to say and he was offering advice on buying property.
We settled our bill.
It was after 9:00 now and they were worried that KC wouldn’t get enough sleep (as was I) so we said another difficult goodbye and promised we’d see them next year.
KC and I finished packing, moving a few things around to insure the cases were under the weight limit, and KC went to bed.
I took my carry-on downstairs to more easily pack the laptop when the time came and then tried to avoid falling asleep myself. Listening to music helped but I was fading fast and the time was passing so slowly! I had some walnuts and a glass of water, I wrote in the cottage’ guest book, I stubbed my toe going to the bathroom and even the pain didn’t wake me up. But I didn’t dare sleep.
I woke KC up at 2:30 am. He took a shower while I packed my laptop and closed the other two cases. We loaded the luggage into the car and were on the road at 3:15, later than we planned, but we have no idea how it got so late! The drive was uneventful, there was next to no traffic, and no roadworks. I had no intestinal distress and was awake most of the way. We got to the airport at 7:30, earlier than we expected to, but that turned out to be a good thing.
The route from Graigue to Dublin:
KC dropped me and the bags at the terminal and went to return the car. He met me ONE HOUR LATER! It should NOT take that long to return a rental car so we will NEVER EVER USE HERTZ AGAIN.
We checked in, went through security, and then spent half an hour in the Aer Lingus lounge. We delayed going through pre-customs because, once you do, there is no lounge or shopping. We breezed through pre-customs this year, thank goodness.
One thing I keep forgetting to mention in these travelogues is that after you go through pre-customs, YOU ARE PASSED THROUGH A SECOND SECURITY CHECK where you have to go through the whole rigmarole all over again: taking off your shoes, opening your laptop, etc… What is the purpose of this?????
We boarded 20 minutes later and I accepted the glass of champagne they offered. KC drank half of it.
I intended to sleep all the way home, and I did try to sleep, but my book was so good I read most of the time. The movie selections were the same uninteresting ones as on the way out.
The food, however, was much better on this leg. We both had the chateaubriand with green peppercorn sauce and it was perfectly cooked (medium) with a spicy flavorful sauce. The salad was fresh and delicious and my wine, the malbec, was served when I requested it. The only weak link was the crab cake. It tasted OK but it was cold and there wasn’t enough sauce. I forgot to take pictures.
Dinner Menu:
Unfortunately, I got a migraine right after lunch which didn’t go away until Friday morning.
We landed on time and our bags were the first two on the carrousel. The ride home was uneventful and although it was STILL raining there was no water damage in our basement, thank goodness. It was SO nice coming home to a tidy house.
KC had to leave Wednesday morning for NYC, so he spent the rest of the day preparing for that. I unpacked the big suitcases and scrounged up something for us to eat. So, within hours of our return home, we were back to our old routine.
The next day, Wednesday, I started working on the travelogue and didn’t finish it until May 13th, almost three weeks later. That is partially due to the fact that I had many other things on my plate, and partially due to the fact that I research every point I make and link to supporting websites.
The bloodtype and genotype diets are not diets to help you lose weight, they are designed to help you achieve optimal health. Optimum weight is typically a side effect. In a nutshell, just as the wrong type of blood administered in a transfusion will cause your blood to agglutinate (and ultimately kill you), so too do some foods agglutinate your blood and will just as assuredly kill you over time.
The bloodtype and genotype diets help you avoid those foods. If your body does not have to deal with the ravages these foods wreak on your health, it can concentrate on healing. If you’re only eating foods that your body can utilize, and you’re giving your body the building blocks it needs to do what it was designed to do, you will be healthy.
The advice on which foods agglutinate which blood types is based on hundreds of scientific studies. Ignore that advice at your peril. Saying the earth isn’t round, doesn’t make it flat if it is, in fact, round.
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Refund protocol: All the forms I filled out specified “no customs stamp, no refund” and I had seen no place in which to get a customs stamp so I wrote to their Chamber of Commerce and was directed to this WEBSITE (www.revenue.ie) where I discovered that (1) only those goods worth over €2000 needed a customs stamp, (2) there are drop boxes inside the terminal where you can place those envelopes to avoid having to send them in and (3) you can have your receipts notarized in the US if you are unable to get a custom’s stamp. All of this was good news. Keep in mind that it will take 2-3 MONTHS for your refund to be processed. I got mine two months after we returned.
