Shopping in Town of
May 2 – 12, 2010
- Updated June 14, 2010
Ten photos mainly
taken by Betty Nolan are posted at www.kodakgallery.com
in an album entitled “
By LEWIS NOLAN
May 9, 2010 –Sunday –
Shopping and Poking Around Dingle’s
We arose just before 8 a.m. to a rare but picture-perfect
Spring morning in coastal
(From left) Lewis and
Betty Nolan with Liz and Sean Daly at Dingle
Skies had zero clouds and were clear blue, forming a
beautiful frame to the green hillsides around
The tide was out and we could see some of the mud of shoreline banks. Assorted wild sea birds scurried around the waterline hunting for soft things to eat.
Eating for us came again at the delightful breakfast buffet offered guests at the Dingle Skellig. I had my usual pair of poached eggs, several slices of Irish bacon, a small banana, glass of tomato juice, two dried prunes and a few slices of freshly cut cantaloupe served with brown bread.
A typically friendly and nice hotel desk clerk named Grannia told us she knows Grannia
O’Connor, sister of publican Sean O’Connor of Ballydavid.
The O’Connor Grannia has been working in the Dingle
tourism office but is out now on maternity leave and expecting her third child,
we learned. It’s no wonder the Irish seem to greatly enjoy one another’s
company in this small town – they all are either related or know one another by
reputation. Plus, from what I’ve seen, the Irish are great readers of national
and local newspapers, unlike the dwindling circulation of such in the
After a mid-morning nap, we drove our rental KIA sports utility vehicle and parked for free adjacent to the town’s marina for pleasure boats. Much of the harbor is surrounded by nicely paved walkways marked by various monuments and statuary. Tied up in the older section of harbor are fishing boats in various states of disrepair and service. We saw a big one being unloaded of shipping boxes of processed shrimp in assorted sizes.
On this day we also saw the launch a fleet of tiny sailboats
skippered by young children. A regatta near the mouth of the harbor seemed to
be the occasion. A fairly new mooring facility had been built for yachting
tenants. One offered tour boat excursions at a reasonable price (40 Euros each)
from the port to the nearby
In good weather, passengers have distant views of the
One of the tourism signs in the harbor area identified a picturesque, tiny bird that darted about - with black-and-white feathers as a Pied Wagtail.
Betty and I walked through town to the now-familiar Dingle
Crystal shop and took some pictures along the way of St. Mary’s Cathedral and
several shops.. We again enjoyed a tasty lunch of fresh salad made by Dingle
Crystal co-proprietor Liz Daly and met her son and a nice young lady friend
visiting the shop. We invited Liz to join us at the Skellig
restaurant for dinner the next evening and to bring husband Sean if he returned
from family business in
Once back at our hotel, I opted to nap while Betty washed a couple of loads of clothes in a hotel washer-dryer installation. However, the coin-operated dryer didn’t work properly and a nice hotel employee offered to dry them in a hotel appliance as a service. While the Irish seem to work on their own clocks that are a mystery to time-sensitive Americans, we have found them to be generally very helpful and hospitable when approached as friends rather than servants.
I’m conscious of the health fact that my body seems to require significantly more nap time than it did just a few years ago – even after walking mile or more in fresh air. At yet another wonderful dinner, I hugely enjoyed perhaps the freshest cut of salmon I’ve ever had, served on a bed of spaghetti-like vegetables. Betty had a tasty piece of Hake fish, followed by a shared piece of sticky toffee pudding cake swimming in caramel sauce with fresh raspberries and strawberries.
After dinner, I continued reading W. E. B. Griffin’s noteworthy paperback novel about the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, “In Danger’s Path,” while Betty tended to folding and packing laundry done with the help of hotel staff.
(Continue With Part 8, Beautiful Sights near Slea Head) / (Return to Nolan Travels Home Page)