There is every chance my attempts to take in all the nightlife will be the death of me, and is probably cutting into my properly absorbing all the culture around me. Nine days left in this adventure, and not sure how long it'll take to rehydrate when this is all done.
Exhibit A, day two in Dingle. It was a gorgeous morning. The sun broke thru the clouds intermittently, and a stiff breeze pushed them across the sky. I woke up early enough to catch breakfast, starting the day right (if only on a couple hrs sleep). After some food and finally pulling myself together, I set out to explore Dingle in daylight.
Basically covered the circuit, looped the town, scouted out a chowder shop, then discovered this sort of cow path that runs east out of town, along the water. It must have been a couple miles, but I could see some kind of stone tower (there is always some kind of stone tower) on the point where the bay runs out to the Atlantic. It was so pretty with sea birds riding around on the breeze, and cows chilling out in the various fields it winds thru. Must admit, was running empty by then, but when it appeared that I could actually reach the tower I was committed.
It was a beautiful view of the bay, and the ground was actually dry enough to sit on for a bit. One of the dolphin tour boats was circling in the general direction of the mouth of the bay, so figured I'd see if I could get a Fungi sighting out of this walk as well. Fungi is a dolphin who has made the harbor home, and comes out to play with the various tour boats. He's so reliable, the tours have a money back guarantee . No sighting means a refund. It looked like this tour was having to work for it, but it paid off. I spotted Fungi! Sure it was just a glimpse at quite a distance, but totally counts. Basically hit all the key Dingle sights, and could head back for a nap.
Tried to enjoy the stellar view from my hotel a bit, but probably just dozed off. Then it was time to head back out for the entertainment part of the evening. Stopped in at a waterfront bar first, for dinner and determine if it was a place I wanted to hang out for some music. Enjoyed a mountain of local muscles in a delicious broth, but didn't see anything that made me want to stick around.
Next stop was a bar Rick Steve's is a big fan of for local music. Upon entry, was pretty clear it was one of the hardcore traditional spots Rick seems to be a fan of. The music is cool, but I kind of prefer the more folks song sing along stuff. More on the light fun side, vs "art". Hung out for the duration of a pint, chatted with a local old dude and a couple visiting from Jersey before striking out again.
Waked past this very fun looking courtyard attached to a bar brimming with people. However, it looked like the bar was thoroughly under siege, and no entertainment on tap. Decided to walk a little more, but had a solid fall back plan. There appeared to be a search light swinging across the sky, and could not figure out any place that would be large enough to warrant this. Not sure I ever actually found it's source.
Adam's looked like a very popular spot with music playing, but even in just the time I walked past it, it was looking like the clown car of bars. I had dinner there the day before, and have no idea where all those people were even going. Just kept pushing their way in.
Down and around the corner past the late night bar from the previous evenings (or was it really just early that morning?) kissing incident, discovered a place that wouldn't seem out of place in Austin, TX. A converted garage adjacent to a pub filled with sofas, picnic tables, light strands, and a stage featuring a really fun bluesy rock band. The outside bar had minimal line and Jameson's, and both the lead singer and the drummer were super cute. Success! Looked like it was filled up with either the local youngsters or maybe kids whose families vacation here every year. Some olds were hanging out too (I was not the oldest, a thing I find myself checking for more and more).
Their set wrapped up about midnight, and this is when I should have called it an evening. It was beginning to rain again, and walking past the late night club it was experiencing the clown car phenomenon now, I'm guessing it's the only late night license spot in town. Streams of people, all ages, were pouring into the doors on both sides of the building, so you can only imagine my better judgement took a holiday. I was planning to catch the 10:15AM bus out of town, with every intention of catching breakfast too. Midnight was not too early to call it a night, and yet...
Pushing my way into the shoulder to shoulder crowd thru the side door (I don't think Irish bars recognize anything as mundane as capacity limits), one of the first things to happen was a bro in plaid said I was the most beautiful woman, and asked if he could have a kiss. Seemed like a perfectly reasonable response to the compliment, so I obliged. No, I did not get his name. It was hard to hear him over the music, crowd and accent, so I opted to push my way up to the bar, for judgement inhibiting refreshments. Once I had that, ran into lover boy again, saying he thought we were in love, why'd I leave? After a little more chatting and jostling with the still unnamed dude and his friend, honestly got a vaguely creepy vibe, so drifted further into the meandering club.
Wandered past the dance floor (seriously hear the Rock me Momma like a Wagon Wheel song everywhere I go. Where did that even come from?) to the outside bar where I met a dude who worked as a chef in town. I'm sure I did get his name at some point, but hell if I can remember it. He seemed nice enough, maybe too nice. Into the realm of earnest, and that is just not my jam. Naturally, he the guy that stuck with me thru the rest of the evening. He took me upstairs to another dance floor (Maybe clown car is the wrong reference, and should go with the Tardis effect. They're bigger on the inside.). Danced a bit and then there was some kissing. I had a thought of ducking out, but he really insisted on walking me home. While I have no doubt this insistence was mostly tied to a hope of getting laid, there appeared to be some chivalry in the mix as well, making it harder to break away discretely.
I was ready to call it a night. Honestly, he was not a great kisser, so doing any more with him was not in the cards. However, I was a bit curious about what it's like to live and work in this little town, so followed him a bit out of pure curiosity. The rain had stopped when we broke out of the club, and he really wanted to grab cigarettes from his work. There were still hotel staff hanging at the bar, and I expect some of the hotel guests. It was a nice, old looking hotel, and we hung out for a drink there. Again, I said I was heading back to my hotel, and again he wanted to walk me there. The apparent belief that if he just remained in my orbit long enough, it would pay off was fascinating, if misguided. On the way up the hill, he really wanted to stop in to his apartment. Sure, I shouldn't be wandering around in the wee hours of the morning with strangers, but I kind of wanted to see how he lived. It was an apartment , family standard. Having seen it, I was more than ready to call this night over. I put my foot down on the escort plan. He was home, and should stay there. I knew exactly where I was going, and would go there alone. Good night, sir.
Naturally, I totally overslept my alarm in the morning, and had to leap out of bed, pull myself together, throw everything back in the bags in order to hustle it to the bus stop in time. Missed breakfast, lovely tea with a view, all the best laid plans. Was striking out on my most complicated travel day yet (bus to train to bus to bus) with a wicket hangover and a hydration level where my eyelids felt like they were sticking to my eyeballs. It's mornings like this when I remember I'm a middle aged woman who should totally know better.
Luckily, every leg of the trip came off exactly as planned. I made every connection, even the tricky one at Farranfore. The change from train to bus meant walking to a stop a few blocks down the road. I found the stop in front of the pharmacy, just as described. There was a sign, and shelter and pull off spot for the bus, so it clearly looked like the right place. However, I was meant to be traveling to Limerick, and it really looked like a bus to Limerick should be traveling in the opposite direction of where the stop was. Maybe they did some kind of loop around the mini town, I don't know. I was barely holding on, and certainly don't know all the ways of Irish transit. Of course, that means my bus can down the road on the opposite side of where I was waiting for it. Since it was a country road, it wasn't really any trouble to flag the driver and hustle over to the other side. The driver asked me why, if I was going to Galway was I standing on the wrong side of the road. Sure, why would I stand next to to the fully marked bus stop as opposed to on the opposite side of the road with no signage whatsoever? Clearly I'm the foolish one here. Tosser. Not today with this!
The Limerick station offered the ridiculously blessed sight of a massive Starbucks. I have been eating and drinking local for the trip so far, but I frickin' needed this! A grande latte and toasted ham and cheese sandwich began to lure me back to the land of the living.
Also, in the land of excellent for planning, my Galway hotel was within two blocks of the bus station. By 5:30 I rolling into my room, ready to collapse. It's no where near as nice as the last couple places I stayed, but I'd rank it above the Dublin hotel. Of course, any place with a bed and a door was good enough at that point. Totally writing Sunday off as a travel/recovery day, and letting myself off the hook for any tourist achievement points.
I did decide after a couple hrs of rest that I would need to seek out some food. Did a quick loop of the old town pedestrian area filled with shops and restaurants. It's really a lovely area, which I would come to appreciate more later, when not distracted by the rain, hunger and weariness. I was too late for the highly recommended chip shop, so found myself circling a bit aimlessly, knowing I needed to eat something, but not really in the mood to interact with anyone. Began to resent the whole need for sustenance at all.
Walking past Aire Square on the return loop, just looking for something to speak to me, when a couple guys, kids really, maybe early 20s, but could just as easily be teenagers, came walking up behind me talking about how much they love the rain asking if I like it too. I think this kid was taking a shot at picking me up. Saying to both me and his friend we should all grab a kebab and head back to his place. His friend replied that he wasn't going back with him because he was tired, so he just turned to recruit me only. There is almost no chance this kid doesn't live his parents, but of course now I really wanted a kebab. I resisted following them to the kebab shop, as I was in no mood, but now I needed another kebab shop. Hell, I was ready to settle for pizza.
Heaven sent, found a cafe on the next block with a widely varied menu, and they did have a kebab special. I hustled my to go order back to my hotel room, and it may be the most perfect kebab I've ever enjoyed. Found some Law & Order on the TV (it really can be found anytime anywhere. Miracle TV) and called it a night. I would get back on the tourist route on Monday.
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