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| This is the sun on its final ascent. |
“Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland”
“Even though he is considered their patron saint, Saint Patrick was not born in Ireland. According to research, he was born in Britain, and some believe that he was kidnapped as a teenager and brought to Ireland.”
This morning, before I had a chance to start the post, we decided to drive the hour-plus drive back toward Galway to the quaint town of Oughterard, which we’d noticed as we drove to Glinsce on the day we arrived on May 12, 2019.
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| Sunset from our holiday home overlooking Bertraghboy Bay, an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. |
Gosh, that seems like a long time ago. And yet, we’ve only been here for 40 days and nights. Undoubtedly, we haven’t been sightseeing as much as we’d prefer, but we’ve picked up the pace in the past week and have been getting out a little more often.
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| It is more of a beautiful sunset. |
We’re accumulating many photos we’ll share over the next many days, but after returning so late in the afternoon today, I realized I had little time to upload today’s post.
Subsequently, getting into details regarding our recent sightseeing trips wasn’t on today’s agenda with this late start. The afternoon is almost over, and after around 1500 hours, 3:00 pm to 1600 hours, 4:00 pm, I usually lose motivation to get it done or get into historical details.
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| Moments later, it was gone from view. |
I’m a morning person, and once mid-afternoon presents itself, I’ve always had trouble being creative and innovative. Since the onset of my recent recovery, I’ve had particular difficulty motivating myself in the latter part of the afternoon to get much of anything underway.
Laundry and preparing dinner is yet to be completed, and today, we’re researching and deciding if we’ll stay in a hotel in Dublin on our last night here, August 8. This way, travel day will be less stressful.
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| This particular style of the exterior of apartment buildings is often seen in European countries. |
Although we often have the expense of leaving our holiday home a day early and not getting a refund for the one-night from the owner/manager and in bearing the cost of the hotel and dining out, we’ve found this plan to be of particular appeal with the 3½ drive from Glinsce to Dublin.
While in Oughterard, we stopped at the dentist’s office to make appointments at 11:00 am to have our teeth cleaned on August 8 while going to Dublin. This saves us the long drive back to Oughterard between now and then, and we’ll have plenty of time that day.
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| Some of the apartment buildings and office suites have been built in the past 20 to 30 years. |
By the time we’re done, we’ll complete the remaining 2½ drive to Dublin. Tom will drop me at the hotel, which we’ll book today, and drive to the rental car location, quite a distance from the airport. Their shuttle will return him to the airport, and the hotel’s free shuttle will pick him up.
We’ll save one day’s rental on the car and taxi fare to and from the rental car facility and the hotel. By selecting a hotel offering a free shuttle and complimentary breakfast and WiFi, we save even more.
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| The old railway station in Clifden. |
Even arranging one night in a hotel requires a certain amount of planning, which is a vital part of our day-to-day lives. Thank goodness, neither of us minds spending time on these types of tasks.
Soon, we’ll wind down for the day, pour ourselves a libation, and get situated in our two comfy chairs facing the big window out to the sea, chatting over the day’s events and plans for the future. An hour later, we’ll switch to water and iced tea and prepare our dinner, rolling into a pleasant evening.
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| Storefront in Clifden off the main street. |
Today is the summer solstice, and here in Ireland, the sunrise is at 5:12 am and sets at 2212, 10:12 pm. There are seven hours the sun is not in the sky, leaving 19 hours of light due to light an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset.
Wherever you may live, enjoy this first day of summer!
Photo from one year ago today, June 21, 2018:
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| At night, Little Wart Face, later named “Little'” lies down for a nap, exhausted from eating pellets and his busy day. I miss him…For more, please click here. |