Kingdom Come

Took a trip to Co. Kerry last weekend aka "The Kingdom." It's a haul from Dublin (just getting out of Dublin during rush hour on the main roads would make ya cry.) When you get to Limerick, yer still only half way there... but finally, 6.5 hours later, Tommy-boy and I rolled into Dingle. We rented a house for the weekend with some friends and the place was completely sweet - with gorgeous views out the windows of mountain peaks and pastureland. Our first night in Dingle, we ended up in a pub which was also a hardware store called Foxxy Johns (I'm sure there's a story there...) It seems a lot of the pubs in Dingle lead a double life... not surprising considering there are 50 pubs in a village of a few thousand at most... Viva la tourism. Anyway, the pub-slash-hardware-store had a bar on one side and a counter on the other with a haphazard array of nails, screws and tools... The next night, after a day of sightseeing on the rugged coast and a big seafood feed, we again found ourselves in another local pub - but this time the pub doubled as a welly-shop. Boxes of wellys lined one of the walls along with pillows, raingear, mattress covers and a scale (for weighing the wellys?!). There was a big group of us as it was a birthday night out so we all plonked ourselves behind the welly counter on a long bench and got comfortable. :)

If any of you find yerselves on the remote southwestern shores of Irlanda, Defo stop in Dingle. I spent a few mornings wandering the village and in addition to the 50 pubs and the grocery store, the town is choc-a-bloc with galleries and craft shops and little cafes and bakeries and restaurants. (I certainly did my part to support the local economy. ;))

It was great to get out of Dublin for the weekend but the highpoint for me was surfing. It sounds a bit odd to be surfing in late October but if you have a good wetsuit, it's like wearing a seal, and probably just about as warm. ;) A fabulous friend (who organised the whole weekend and was a great tourguide) lent me her board and gave me my first surfing lesson. Despite the fact that I couldn't feel my feet after I left the water (it doesn't feel cold until you get out!), it was great times. I definitely want to give it another go...perhaps in the summertime though!

Local Colour

By my New England standards, Ireland is completely lacking in proper seasons... I'm used to sweltering in a bathing suit in July and freezing in a snowsuit in February... Ireland could have you wearing jeans in July and well, jeans in January. And February. And April. There are really only two discernable seasons in Ireland: light and dark. In the summer it's light out until nearly midnight and in the winter it only gets light at 9am and stays light for a few anemic hours before the sun disappears again for 15 hours.

And so, with the closing of the summer (that never really happened weather-wise), I am trying to suck every last little bit of juice out of the remaining light and sun of the year. Autumnal light is arguably the most beautiful light of the year in any part of the northern hemisphere and is particularly lovely here. I took a late afternoon stroll through the neighborhood where I work, (which is called Ringsend) enjoying the warmth and sun. Ringsend is quinessential, old skool, docklands, Dublin but it's also undergoing a bit of revitalization / gentrification (depending on who you ask) with lots of new construction mixing with the old. Click on the pic above to see my hood in all it's gritty, glory.