Date: Saturday, 13 September 2008 5:09 AM
Hello all
At last the weather seems to have changed. Sitting here in a shop in the main (only?) street of Portumna I am looking at a relatively clear sky and we have great hopes that the rain has disappeared for a few days at least.
Mary and I have just had a great meal in a small restaurant here. The owner is a young Bangladeshi who is married to a Malaysian lady (from KL) who took our orders of Roast of the Day (Irish Lamb). The chef is an old-ish Irish guy and the meal was perfect, right down to the mint sauce which the Malaysian lady suggested should go with the lamb. To cap it all off, the chef produced perfect pappadums and Indian food for the Irish family at the next table and we washed our meal down with a pint of Smithwick's (Irish beer) for me and a glass of Chilean red for Mary. Ireland is truly becoming multi-cultural.
Portumna is is not a tourist place. We picked it off the map as a possible convenient overnight stop between Dingle and Clifden and, having checked in to the local B&B, operated by a Canadian guy, we first visited the local tourist hot spot, a stately castle, then decided that it was time for a Guinness at the Fisherman's Rest, just down the street from our B&B. What followed was a memorable session with the locals (all Irish) as we were welcomed and included in the conversation which switched rapidly between local and international affairs and was studded with bursts of laughter. At one stage the barman indicated to me that one of the group which whom we were engaged in conversation had bought a round of drinks for us. We had no opportunity to reciprocate as our benefactor was the designated driver of a small group and refused all offers of drinks. We've encountered this before in Ireland and it goes to show how convivial the locals are, especially when not overawed by hordes of tourists.
A few pics:
On the Dingle Peninsula we visited an Iron-age defensive position (about 2000 yrs old). The above pic is of the local land owner who sits in his tiny wooden shed collecting €3 per visitor for the privilege of crossing his land to see the fortification.
A view of me peeking through the entrance of the above structure.
Mary at the same location, which is right on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
Our car on the narrow road on the pass leading from Dingle to the north
Waterfall next to the road north of the pass in the previous pic. That's me in the bottom left corner
Thanks for reading...
Regards
Kev & Mary Long
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