Ireland, Day 5
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| Sabrina and Wesley before their race. |
Left for Clontarf at 6:30 so Wesley and Sabrina could get registered for the Clontarf 5 mile (8k) race. Wesley was bummed that he was missing the July 4th Ray Barrus 5k so we signed him up before leaving the States for one in Ireland. Sabrina has been running with Wesley, too, so she decided to join in the 8k. The setting was a park at Clontarf, a harbor town near Dublin. There were blue skies and sun, enough to stay warm despite a nippy breeze.
Half-marathoners ran first, then the 5 mile. Wesley came in 12th and Sabrina 223, out of 706 who finished. Not bad for their first 5 mile. So proud of these kids! Wesley said it felt “weird” to run an 8k. He had a fun finish – as he sprinted, the announcer pointed out the “man who was flying to the finish.” It probably didn’t hurt that they were running today at nearly sea level and cool temps. and they’re used to high altitude and heat.
After the race, as if on cue, rainshowers came. Then 20 minutes later, sun. We hurried and went in two cars to Howth, a fun fishing town. At a little open-air market, we bought Turkish Delight, dates, and artisan bread. For lunch, we bought some food from a vendor cart: clam chowder, fish & chips, and fried prawns.
With our picnic lunch over, we drove to Newgrange, which is a cool ancient burial site that looks like a grassy space ship. Our taciturn but knowledgeable guide, Frank Seehy, pointed out that for such an “ancient” civilization, they were so advanced in terms of building and astronomy.
Once a year, Newgrange picks 20 random winners in a lottery to determine who’d get to experience the solstice coming in through the top of the front entrance. That would be so neat! Though he stressed there are no warranties against a misty day.
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| Trim Castle |
Next, we went to Trim Castle. The grounds were closed, but it was so cool enough to the kids that we will attempt another visit sometime next week. Compared to the other ruins we saw along the way in places, it looked pretty intact and well-maintained. And Mel Gibson filmed Braveheart here!
Along the castle street I saw more window boxes of flowers! And colorful doors!
Lastly today, my sister and I shopped for groceries at Lidl’s. It’s a charming store with helpful employees, but I couldn’t find a lot of staples that I take for granted in America, like tortilla chips, blue cheese dressing, and taco shells. But they have lots of chocolate and cheese. This country knows its priorities! Seriously, next time I go to Wal-Mart, I know I’ll be grateful for all the products I could buy.
After the late night grocery run, my awesome sister made chicken madras which is a very yummy dish with exotic spices, just a titch spicy.
Probably my most favorite thing about today is spending so much time with my sister (she drove her car in convoy because our car rental only has 5 seat belts and I rode with her). We laughed and reminisced about our high school days, then played a mutual favorite, the theme song from the Boy in the Bubble on repeat track over and over and over. We giggled and chatted and got caught up on a lot of mutual friends. On life.
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