Friday Sept 22/23

 This morning we woke to rain! Jan and Muriel had not slept well…..hearing the rain pounding down all night we were concerned about the mud. We knew a lot of todays hike would take us through fields and it had been raining heavily for a few days.  

After breakfast a driver took us to the drop off point….where we had stopped yesterday. The weather was a cool 14^which is perfect for walking.  It rained briefly quite hard, we stopped to put on pack covers and rain gear.  The path was quite good to begin with, it was narrow and there was the occasional vehicle.  Soon we were on paths that crossed fields and were also used by cows and sheep.  Because of the heavy rain there had been, it was muddy,wet, soft, and littered with cow pies!  These cow pies looked like black rocks and we had to be careful not to step on them!  None of us were 100% successful! 

There were many stiles to climb up and over, little creeks to cross but the rain was short lived which helped with our disposition.  We stopped in one field to sit and eat our packed lunch. We had a great view of the patchwork of farms below and the Atlantic Ocean.  

We arrived in Dingle at about 3:30 and followed the instructions to our hotel……which is a guest house with 6 rooms.  Just time to shower and and walk back into the town for our dinner reservation.  The restaurant, named Land to Sea is a Michelin starred restaurant.  They offer a starter menu, your choice of two courses for $35 euros.  We each chose a starter and we all had steak.  We finished up by sharing two desserts. 

Next we walked a few doors down to The Dingle Pub.  We had heard it was good for music. …..as are most if not all in Dingle.  The Dingle had a couple of bands that played traditional Irish pub music, which often has the patrons singing along. Very lively and on this night packed!  It was advertised that the local boy who had won many world titles for dancing, would be there.  The Dingle pub is own by his father. We were told it would be 10pm before he would perform.  It was only 7:30 when we arrived so we were going on the slow, drinking Guinness! 

We were lucky to find seats…..and met a young couple from Poland, an older couple from Dublin, and a family of siblings from different parts of America.  They all made for interesting and entertaining conversation. Meanwhile the pub continued to fill up with more and more people.  By this time we were well into the mood of the place. The band turned over….one left, another set up and the singing went on.  Then the long awaited dancer arrived and set up his platform very near us.  He was unbelievably talented! 

We stayed for his performance which was about half an hour and then we wished all our new friends goodbye.  We walked home just after midnight.   We have a rest day in Dingle tomorrow and will undoubtedly find more music in pubs.