Day Trippers

Since I pressed "send" on my work project Sunday night, I had some free time Monday as I waited for feedback — which I took advantage of.  So, off to Kenmare we went. I knew it was touristy but sort of felt like it... but then remembered why Fred and I tend to zig when others zag. I didn't get any sense of how the Irish Kenmare people live, except for the buskers and the people working in the shops selling souvenirs. Fred did some research at a cultural center they had there, and I did the loop, which I soon tired of, and then blogged outside from a coffee shop. I chatted with a guy who came up to me and asked if I do yoga. Not really... but I do pilates and I just sit cross-legged because it's comfortable. He can no longer sit that way due to a hip injury. I have rarely seen a man sit that way anyway, so no big loss, I say. 

Sitting there I overhead one woman say to another, "This menopause crap. It's shit!"

I don't think anyone has to water outdoor plants in this country.

After Kenmare, we headed to Sneem. Love that name. WHAT a colorful town. My mother read that they painted the houses all these different and bright colors so they could find their house in foggy weather.  We walked around town and had a drink in a pub.

From here we went to Waterville, the town on the coast where Charlie Chaplin used to go to get away from it all. VERY quiet now, but we were told different towns alternate between quiet and busy according to when they have summer swimming lessons. So maybe this was an off week. The beach was wide and long. A few hardy souls took a dip.

From there, on to Ballyskelligs where we looked for dinner but found only pubs with no food, and we really needed food at this point.  So we pushed on to Port Magee — a surefire/safe bet for a nice dinner on the water.

Funny they got everything wrong with my meal, but it was fine :)
Specifically, the size.

Scenes from around town.

This is Valentia — the island across the water from Port Magee.

Rolling right into the day, Tuesday, when we needed to stay close so I could work — responding to feedback from the weekend's work.    

The first "exciting" thing to happen was Fred saw Donie's father walking his dog in the morning, and we learned that he lives RIGHT around the corner from us :)  I rewatched the CNN interview with Donie's parents. Hilarious because the father's accent makes him almost indecipherable. Check it out. Scroll to the image that looks like the screengrab below.

https://www.fm104.ie/news/buzz/watch-donie-osullivans-parents-heartwarming-interview-following-frightening-frontline-reporting/

Then I went to my "office."

My first scone of the trip. 

Fred had walked to draw this morning but then needed a ride to the workhouse again. So I left the downtown, found him at his first location and brought him to the next. Came back and worked somewhere kind of dumb .... a different, third café with no wifi... then went back to pick him up at the cemetery near the workhouse.  The workhouse is usually completely abandoned, but today he had company!

Here's Fred drawing at the cemetery.

For dinner this night we stayed local. We actually went to the TRUMP pub, but learned they are NOT Trumpers after all :)  The food was GREAT. Fred had fish and chips and I had the same fish tacos Hannah had last week. Fred mentioned to the waiter that he's a Lynch from Roads orginally, and the guy said — He's from Roads! and pointed Eddie Clifford, whose mother is Jeremiah Lynch's sister. Jeremiah's the guy who lives in Kells and is a font of information about the history of the Roads Lynches... Alas, Fred never did meet him... 

Fred and Eddie Clifford

Just a guy.