Friday, March 8, 2024

We arrived at the house we’d rented in Bray a little confused why Genevieve wanted to stay here for the weekend. We were in a residential complex that backed onto a school, and our rental was nice but it seemed a bit far from everything. Still, we rallied and headed off to Tesco to get essentials for the trip like shampoo and conditioner and stuff for breakfast. It was a nice Tesco at least, full size. We made it back to the apartment and waited for the girls to arrive. By the time they got there we were too late (and too tired) for the reservation to the Guinea Pig Restaurant in Dalkey that Genevieve had made, so we went instead to a nice Italian restaurant up the road, then to a pub close by. You gotta love those ubiquitous Irish pubs. Always so nice and relaxed.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

 

Charlotte and I got up earlier than everyone else so we headed back out to Tesco to get some things we’d forgotten and also fancy coffee at Costa. Once everyone was up and ready to go we went down to the seaside. Wow, the weather was not cooperating at all! The wind was whipping the sea up such that there was foam everywhere and it looked like snow!

We had a nice lunch at a Pakistani restaurant called Daata along the water (didn’t sit outside!). After lunch we walked around Bray and then walked to the Killruddery house, getting there just as the craft market was closing, unfortunately. But their store was still open and I was able to get the Carignbyne cheese I’d liked so much in the past. There were all these signs saying you couldn’t walk through to where the front of the house was but we disregarded them all and are very glad we did. The house looks magnificent and the grounds are spectacular as well. And of course pigs and robins. We went back to our place and I did some research on the fascinating abandoned school we could see out of our kitchen window. The historic Bray Head House is supposed to be preserved and the 1950s school building torn down to make housing. Sounds like San Jose where they leave old buildings to deteriorate and then declare them not worth saving but whatever. That night we went to That’s Amore in Monkstown for some really good Italian food.

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