And so like all good things.....

We've finished up our six week holiday here on the Dingle peninsula in  West Kerry and what an absolute joy it has been.
Whilst we are both heading back to exciting projects it is hard not to feel oh.... if only.

Whilst it might not be the best time of the year to give a sense of what a permanent life here would be like - best weather, lots to do, many people around to meet with - we were able to make that decision. The winter months will be different and when it rains it is challenging to find enough to keep busy.

And we were even able to test the Irish health system when I damaged my knee. Needing an MRI scan I got that within a week.  The knee has a tear in the cartilage and the usual wear and tear. So lots of exercises and weight loss should put off the need for surgery. All in all the service was excellent albeit it that I either had to pay for it (200Euros for MRI) or it was all free because of my E111 card.

Himself is back catching the 8.02 from BJ into town with all the delays and joys of that whilst I am "working from home in Dublin". Before we know it we'll be back into the swing of London life and enjoying it.

Slan Abhaile as they say in West Kerry

________________________________________________________________________________

Our local museums

We are blessed with two museums within a mile of the house thanks to the OPW. That's the Office of Public Works  to those who don't know.

This week is Irish Heritage Week, celebrating the history and culture of Ireland and as such he OPW have made all museums free entry.

So being the non sunshine day that it was we decided to do a little tour of our local museums. First up was the brilliant and beautiful Blasket Centre. This building is IMHO a joy and settles into the landscape perfectly. With a nod to the islands it commentates and celebrates as it looks out to them.

Having done a few trips to the Great Blasket this summer it was a timely visit as we learnt so much more about the people, the landscape, their lives and challenges. One can only stand back in admiration at these people.

What we did discover is that the islanders, not having a bull on the island, had to bring the cows across to the mainland on the rowing boats to be inseminated!

And being the day that it was the OPW had laid on some traditional Irish music as well as an Irish dancer. The music flowed through the museum and was a beautiful accompaniment to exhibition.

As is the way in Ireland the girl behind the till selling the tickets popped out for a moment to join the musicians and sing a song. And a punter joined the Irish dancer for a few minutes on the floor. He is the one with ordinary shoes!

We then headed back to the museum in Ballyferriter village. We've passed this museum on many occasions and even popped into the bookshop but never thought of venturing into the exhibition itself. I think that this could be described as a bit of a gem of a place, absolutely fascinating and although we are of course biased we thought it had a lot to offer.

And to the races, The Dingle Races that is

The Dingle Races is quite a big feature on the local calendar, that has been running for many years. Best described as the biggest horse and pony races in Ireland, which adheres to very different rules then horse racing you might experience on tracks like Kempton or Ascot.

Ourselves and two friends headed off to the races with the fifth in the party heading to Gallarus for drawing and soaking up the landscape.

We had seen signs for park and ride service and a bus service from the centre of town so were debating whether to avail of one of these options to avoid traffic but as we are becoming "natives" we decided it drive up to the venue.
And as is the way in Dingle we were able to drive straight in the middle of the race course, park up and walk over to the parade ring, all in about 5 minutes.

Often the word unique is used to described events and this definitely was unique and different. It is a three day event, with a variety of races including a ladies only and a donkey derby. There was also an impressive number of young boys and girls as jockeys, most we estimated under 10. After all this is where Jack Kennedy began his career at 9 years of age and he is now winning races in both Ireland and England, most recently at the Cheltenham festival.

One of the best moment was hearing the commentator say "and it's Pablo Escobar on the inside, just ahead of Bubba Watson"

And we had a winner, sheila bet on one horse called Best Times are Ahead.
Chosen for it's beauty and from my wide experiences of viewing horses.

Or maybe not, maybe chosen on the name and that I was standing beside the bookies stand showing a nice price for this horse.


The number 7 raced home to provide a eighteen euro profit. All spent on beverages, mainly double whiskies.
____________________________________________________________________________

An average evening in the local pub

By now you've probably guessed that my favourite pub in Ballyferriter is Murphy's or Tigh Ui Mhurch to give it the correct name. Tigh is the name for house and Mhurch well you can guess the rest.

Every Sunday and Tuesday evening they have a session of traditional Irish music whereas on Thursday and Sunday afternoon its more, well not traditional Irish.

On a recent Sunday evening we finished our dinner with friends who were staying and headed off down for the session. Led by "The Frenchies" this was a session we were very much looking forward to.
The tale goes that several decades ago a French Breton family,, with a love of music, came to Ballyferriter and the young girl fell in love with a local musician. They married and settled here and began playing music twice a week in Murphys. As the years went by their children began to join in and now it's a large gang of them playing.

Brilliantly talented not only do people stream in numbers to hear them, they also attracted a number of locals who can belt out a tune themselves.

This is the band, with Mum, Dad, grandfather and children.

English chap did a bit of Gilbert and Sullivan

And if you thought spoons were just for drinking soup with... think again.

And they even have their own groupies.

The lady second from the left got up and did a couple of jigs, finishing each off with a high kick - brilliant.




Super evening, a must do on when you visit Ballyferriter.

A day on the Dingle Peninsula

Another weekend and another round of visitors, more laughs, drives around the Dingle peninsula and this time we did the Conor Pass and over to Brandon Cove - a treat.

The Conor Pass is the  highest mountain pass in Ireland and provides the most dramatic and scenic way of entering or leaving Dingle. This narrow, twisting road runs between the town of Dingle and Kilmore Cross on the north side of the peninsula. Himself was driving today.. I did have a good excuse as I have injured my knee stopping me from driving :)

Don't be deceived by all the short wearing it was a bit of a chilly day, even in August. I know it happens occasionally in Dingle.

The view is impressive and if you are going to take this tour we'd advise doing the journey out from Dingle and it's up to the drivers coming into Dingle to pull over - in a few parts this is a single track road with a sheer drop down the mountain - just saying.

Brandon Cove and Bay is one of Ireland's best known surfing locations, we were not surfing. It is also known as the place that St Brendan set off from to discover America. I know he is suppose to have started this journey from many places, a bit like commuters from Beckenham on a Monday morning but we're believing this fairy tale.

This is a headland that's definitely worth a visit, along the way there are beautiful beaches, pubs and Brandon Harbour is worth a trip.

We made our way back towards Dingle, along the bottom of the coastline, avoiding the route back over the Conor Pass and had lunch in the South Pole Inn in Annascaul.

I know who'd have guessed, the South Pole Inn on the Dingle Peninsula. But there is logic in the madness... this is the home of Tom Crean, most or "only" famous as an Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer who was awarded the Albert Medal.

Tom Crean was a member of three major expeditions to Antarctica during what is known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, including Captain Scott's 1911–13 Terra Nova Expedition. This saw the race to reach the South Pole lost to Roald Amundsen and ended in the deaths of Scott and his polar party. During this expedition, Crean's 35 statute miles (56 km) solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans led to him receiving the Albert Medal for Lifesaving.

One surprising discovery was a photo of Endurance, a boat that is on display in Dulwich College and a display that I had only seen a few weeks previously during an author visit.

The pub is definitely worth a stop, the memorabilia is excellent, the food superb or at least the seafood chowder was and amazingly they had a choice of wines! Hey what more could you ask for.

When is a Fruitcake not a fruitcake...

Sometimes days come along when you laugh from one day to the next and a recent weekend with some "old" friends was one of those. The laughs began late on the Thursday evening, their arrival being slightly delayed by Ryanair and continued throughout the weekend.

In preparation for the visit of these friends himself had been cooking and baking. Cooking a Ballyferriter Bourguignon, making homemade sausage rolls & cooking breaded chicken for our Blasket Island picnic and baking

a fruitcake.

The weather on Friday morning meant the trip around the Slea Head drive was shrouded in fog and mist resulting in a somewhat different view that we'd be talking about. But it is the west of Ireland after all and you cannot plan on the weather behaving itself. This meant we had lots of time to check out the pubs of Dingle before our meal and music.

Into Dingle we headed for a first stop at Kennedy's for their regular Friday evening "Rush Hour Jazz". It is the most amazing pub and a must try for anyone visiting Dingle, however it was slightly packed on this Friday evening which meant we were standing in the corridor to the toilets. A space that got busier as the hour went on = the weak bladders of Dingle contributing to the flow so to speak.

But rest assured there were other choices, and we popped across the road to a newly reopened pub called McCarthy's. I am a little lost for words on this one, but will just say it was all a little weird. By now we were due for our dinner reservation at Ashe's restaurant. Warmly greeted by the owner all I can say about the meal was WOW. Expensive but amazing. The starters was fantastic and the main courses brilliant and everyone had super food - can't ask for more than that. http://www.ashesbar.ie/

We finished up in enough time to pop into The Mighty Session, yup another Dingle pub, for brilliant music from Niamh Barry and Meabh Begley. Niamh plays the fiddle and Meabh plays the accordion. Without reading from any music they played for over two hours, communicating by just the nod of a head or eye contact. https://www.facebook.com/The-Mighty-Session-453152138078290/

Saturday saw the sunshine out which was just as well as we had booked to take the ferry to the Blasket Islands. If you've never heard or know about the Blaskets it is hard to describe and the guests were setting off on this trip with just a little wonder as to why....

And we are pleased to say that the island didn't let us down.  A brilliant trip, tour of the old village and a picnic on the beach.

The picnic, was a success, the sausage rolls delicious, the breaded chicken scummy and the salad excellent. Then we got ready to round off the picnic with rose and fruitcake.
The fruitcake was perfectly moist although maybe slightly lacking in fruit.
As one friend said when replying to Peter's comment "oh it could do with more fruit", "is it suppose to be a fruitcake".

We managed to fit in a visit to Gallarus Oratory - a 6th Century building that was more impressive than it might sounds.

We met some friends as well...

And then we saw Fungie the dolphin

When we say to friends “oh we are heading to Dingle for a holiday/weekend” no one yet has said “oh are you going dolphin watching”.

This is understandable although somewhat surprising as Fungie, the Dingle Dolphin has been swimming in the bay for over 30 years & has his very own Wikipedia entry.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungie

He, yes, it is a he, is a common bottlenose dolphin who is known to live in very close contact with humans in Dingle. According to locals he was first seen in the harbour in 1983, and continues to seek out human contact over thirty years later. Dolphins have been known to live to 48 years of age. Fungie is a male fully grown bottlenose dolphin and he is named after the fisherman who first spotted him, Fungus.

Now at 34 years of age, Dingle tourism has about another 5/10 years before they need to find a replacement. And find a replacement for him they must. Fungie has almost single handily driven the tourism of Dingle for over 30 years. The other drivers of tourism to Dingle are both The Quiet Man and Ryan's Daughter.  (Both films were shot locally)

It was with some scepticism that we decided to book on the trip. It all seemed very touristy and was Fungie really there, we asked.

The key we discovered was to take a four and half year old and a one and half year old so that the anticipation and excitement is then contagious.

Booking ourselves onto the 10.30 ferry - essential to book with two small children in tow - we headed out to the Dingle Bay. Surrounded by tourist, English, French, German it was an entertaining trip in itself.
We were one of three boats chasing down Fungie. Being the friendly dolphin that he is we were only about 20 minutes out of the harbour when he first bounded up beside out boat.
And then it was a matter of just keeping an eye out for his appearances, of which there were many and which were accompanied by hugely enjoyable screams of many young children. 

Rounded off with a super fish and chip lunch in Anchor Down this was a brilliant Saturday.

It capped off a fantastic family weekend which included much ball playing in the garden, building sandcastles on the beach and a fun early evening meal in Murphy's pub in Ballyferriter with friends.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Is there a choice of white wine I ask?

Sheila writes...

Those of you who know me know I like a glass of wine, ideally a white wine. We’ve been lucky enough to find a house in Ballyferriter that is within walking distance of 3 pubs plus a hotel. Although if a longer walk is required, we can walk right by these pubs and head out the road for 2kms and find another pub. What joy.

These are my stories of trying to have a glass of nice white wine in our local pubs.

Feile na Bailtaine is the May bank holiday festival and the area is hopping with events showcasing all things cultural. We have scheduled a weekend visit to the house to go to as many events as we could, being the cultural vultures that we are. 

One of the events was taking place in the pub that’s 2km away from our house. We thought grand, we can walk there and back, have a couple of glasses of wine, listen to some music and enjoy ourselves.

We walk in and himself says to me “what would you like to drink?” I know you are saying why ask but sure there’s always the chance I might say bitter lemon. I reply saying a white wine, a phrase met with a reply from behind the bar “oh we’ve no wine”. Talk about stopping us in our tracks, oh he continues, "we’ve not had our delivery and since it’s now 9pm we are unlikely to get it". But it is a Friday of a bank holiday, there’s a festival on and you are holding one of the key events, why leave your delivery until the last minute… But I don't say all that, I say a vodka & tonic please.

Roll forward to the summer and we decide to pull ourselves away from our favourite pub in the village and check out the other two.

Pub A

In we go, up to the bar behind which are the two owners plus a young guy. And the conversation with the young guy goes like this…

Him “What can I get you”?
Me: “Do you have white wine”?
Him “Yes”
Me after a second or two “Is there a choice?”
Him “Yes”
Me after a further second or two “...and the choice is…”?
Him “Oh right, umm, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay”
Me “Grand, where’s the SB from”?
Him “No idea”
Me: “Any chance you could find out”?
Him “Oh right, sure… (a moment later) France”
Me “Ok I’ll have a glass of that then, thanks”

And I can tell you now that wine was never from France.

Pub B

Furthest pub away from us by about 10yds and one that advertised food. We thought we better try the food before we take anyone there for a meal. In we pop and they’d have just announced a new menu along the lines of:

Ø  Soup of the day

Ø  Burger of the day

Ø  Fish of the day

Ø  Salad of the day

On the specials board there is an option of fish cakes, which there always is and that's our choice. We asked to see the wine list. "Oh" says he, "there’s no wine list, we only have the one." "Right" says us, "what’s that? "A Sauvignon Blanc from Chile." Sigh, but after some deliberation we decide to go for it.
Fishcakes passable

Wine drinkable 

Overall = 5/10

and we're fairly sure that none of you will be going there for food or wine, maybe a pint and music.

Pub C

This is the place that’s making an effort in all senses of the word to provide good food and good service. Someone says hello to you when you walk in, they even make conversation with you.  

There are specials of the day that change and there is a decent choice on the main menu. They have a children’s menu and music most days. But most of all they have a wine list with a CHOICE OF WINES.

This unsurprisingly has become our favourite spot although we've not yet tried the hotel bar.  How hard can it be to have a small selection of wines on offer and print a wine list, clearly for some of the pubs in West Kerry that’s a little step too far.