Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Day 16





Day 16: A lazy morning evolved into a lazy ham and eggs lunch cooked here, and then a plan was hatched to tour Skibbereen, Ballydehob, Baltimore and Schull. Since the day was partially sunny and the rain was only coming intermittently down every hour or so, we made the pretty drive through the first two cities, decided there wasn’t much to stop for, and made our way to Baltimore.

Clare was having a bit if an aneurysm from being cooped up by the bad weather and long car trips, so we found a playground for her to climb and run and let out some of that pent up energy. Colin and Kari climbed the main street into town and sat at an outdoor pub overlooking the wind-whipped bay.

After Clare got her fill of swings and things we made our way up to join them and to people watch the afternoon away. There was a large St. Bernard named Cooper wandering the streets and he got a scratch from everybody as he wandered by. We found it amusing that the kids were calling out “Look, mommy, a Saint Burr-nerd.” I guess you say potato, I say pah-tah-to, and these kids saw a Burr-nerd where we would have seen a Ber-nard. Also amusing is that fact that they say tah-mah-to and yet also say potato normally. Aren’t they supposed to match pronunciations?

The wind was really whipping the bay, but that didn’t stop a large group of young teenagers from jumping into their respective “lasers” and heading out into the brownish churning whitecaps. Tiny sailboats were darting about the bay, and the seabirds where wheeling to stay up in the wind shears. After deciding we’d eat “dinch” or “linner” in Schull, we made the rest of the drive over to this little town.

We had a nice meal at the Bunratty Bar at the top of the street in Schull, with Kari putting away an impressive amount of a crab salad, Lisa polishing off a shrimp sandwich and chowder, Clare finishing her fish fingers, Colin devouring a double burger, and Tom plowing through a steak and onion sandwich.

Afterward we walked to Gwen’s handmade chocolate shop and bought a few pieces of decadence for dessert. Tom and Clare had ice cream cones, and as we walked down the street to meet up with Colin and Kari, I looked up to see a huge double rainbow bending over the tops of the buildings. Of course, catching a rainbow on film (or chip as it may be) isn’t easy, but after a few attempts, it was captured, and Laura would be very proud of the results, though sad she missed it.

We had parked our car near the playground in Schull, so Clare got a second round of running about while Colin watched the boats in the harbor, Kari and Lisa threw a stick for a patient and extremely attentive Border Collie, and Tom supervised Clare’s forays into the jungle gym.

We returned to the cottage and rested a while, enjoying the dappled early evening sunshine, but shivering at the cold coming in on the persistent wind. While Clare watched her Animal Rescue DVD and Milo and Otis movie, Colin and Kari and Tom and I sat around the kitchen table and talked over a smorgasbord of cheese and crackers, sour apples and chocolate, red wine and whiskey, and the obligatory baguette with pounds of butter.

That night a raging storm moved in, with rain falling horizontally due to the gale force winds smashing against the house. It felt like we were on a boat due to our bedroom’s position at the end of the L of the house, and the winds crashed against the plate glass windows at the foot of our bed throughout the entire night. We figured it would pass over, but still it raged on, louder and louder throughout the early hours of the morning. It sounded as though the roof might come off, and the fierce rattling was getting even fiercer. Somewhere around 3 am, as we were still awake from the racket, Tom said “I don’t think I could live in this weather”. Poor dear.

téigh in éag (means: to end!)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't want to miss the special day ....so Happy Birthday Clare ! Four years old on the 16th ...right? A special birthday in Ireland.
Sounds like you are having a great trip...bad weather and all. See you soon. Love Aunt Jackie