Hitting the Links

Today we drove west from Kinsale until we were as west as we could possibly be and not fall into the Atlantic Ocean - the Dingle peninsula, where we'll be for the next few days. It feels good to unpack a bit and stay a while. Driving has gotten into a regular rhythm - we find that we can each drive for about 2 hours or so before getting tired from all the concentrating, so we switch. We also bought batteries for Loretta's little iPod speakers and are enjoying Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in the car - fun. Also fun: views like this one, taken while we were driving in to Dingle Town.


After our arrival at Milestone Guesthouse (so named for a standing stone in their front yard that dates back to 2000 B.C.), we settled in and got an orientation from Barbara, who with her husband Michael runs the place. The orientation regarded both the little town here, and the famouse Dingle peninsula driving loop, which we'll do tomorrow. It included a hand-drawn map by Michael and comments like: "Pull into the second car pull-out, go see the stone huts, and a woman named Mary will come down to talk to you. It's her land, so give her a few euros before you walk around. You'll like her, she's a hoot".

After a nap, we wandered back down the road to the local Pitch and Putt, which was a new thing for me - brand new, since my former experience with golfing was at the Golden Tee in Castro Valley. A nice young woman took our €7 each, and her little brother came running in with a big smile and gave us each a putter and another club - wedge? chipper? Haha, I don't know (and Loretta's asleep, or I'd ask). We headed out to an incredibly scenic set of 18 little holes, and my golf education began. Good thing I was learning from a master:


Actually, our first shots off the tee on hole 1 were both so hilariously awful that the little boy, who was hanging out with a few friends and watching, said "Ach, ladies!" and gave us a bit of hard time. Then a few seconds later he came running up urgently with our score card, which he'd forgotten to give us, flashed a peace sign, and ran away. Funny kid.


We wound our way through the little course, as the weather went from delightfully sunny to cloudy with fat drops of rain, this being Ireland after all. Final score: Lo: 82 Erin: 92.