Back to the Auld Sod: A Rainy Weekend with Old Friends

Natalie and Chris — our friends from home — arrived Saturday afternoon. Great fun to see them here, so far away! They pulled up to our house as if it were just across town.

They’d been on a hiking tour in Dingle, across the Bay, for several days — logging 8-14 miles a day! We hung around a bit, got them settled, and then, in THE most inhospitable cold, windblown, and rainy weather, Fred took them to see the Lynch lots and ruins. I’d like to think I would be as genuinely interested in someone else’s roots as they were regarding Fred’s. They could not have been more gracious, nor more impressive troupers.

We came across two very friendly horses, whom we later found out were pets of someone who lets them roam on these fields all summer. We were a little unnerved as they approached us and then one “kissed” Natalie’s hand, which delighted her, until she then felt her entire hand inside the horse’s mouth. That’s when we began to back slowly away.

After this long trudge through the gnarly, uneven, slippery, grassy, rocky fields, we came back to the house for beer, wine, cheese, crackers, nuts, and grapes in our living room. (The fields, by the way, are about a 12-minute walk from the house, which informed where we booked the AirBNB.)

Dinner was at the Oratory in downtown Cahersiveen, a 20-minute drive — half on one-lane windy roads, and half on the “highway,” which is two-laned and much less stressful. The Oratory is a gourmet pizza place in a former church. When we arrived and mentioned our reservation, we were told we “couldn’t have it.” I was reminded of the Seinfield episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m_DeR_n72E

Turns out, the entire town had a power outage. (I had experienced a similar situation at lunch when everyone in my café had no cell service. The “3 Ireland” SIM company was down.) They said we could sit on a couch with a drink and wait a bit, which proved worthwhile because the lights soon came back and everyone was happy and carried on with the night. Pizzas were great — after which we headed to Mike Murt’s for “Trad” (traditional) music. We found it a little repetitive but engaging and authentic. A great first day with our friends all around.