Well, my mother and I never did get to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and probably won't now, since I fly back the day after tomorrow. The weather hasn't been conducive to travel. No big deal, it keeps rising in ratings on IMDB, so I have no doubt it won't be long before I see it in London.
Meantime, I spent last night in Garretstown, at my friends' house. We really don't get to see each other often enough, but it's about a three-hour drive from my mother's place. Which was just terrific, considering the orange storm warning issued by the weather service! and the fact that it's right on the wind- and rain-battered south coast. Hey-ho, wouldn't be the first time.
So, I headed out yesterday afternoon. The weather was fine until I passed Limerick city, when I did run into some rain - but I made it safely to the Bull McCabe's pub on the outskirts of Cork city, where I was due to meet an ex-colleague of mine from IBM, who lives nearby. And it's on my road to Garretstown, via Kinsale - there is a quicker way, but it's one with many winding country roads and unmarked turns, and this way is just easier.
Unfortunately, the timing didn't work for me to get something to eat at the pub, as I did last time we met there. I was peckish after the long drive so far, and my friend in Garretstown had made a dinner reservation for us - but that was in another four hours. I satisfied myself with a packet of crisps. And met my ex-colleague - we exchanged gossip, and I assured her that I am still much happier where I am now. After an hour of convivial chat, we parted ways and I continued on my way.
Boy, had the weather deteriorated! Driving rain soaked the car park. And considering where I was headed, I was getting nervous. Anyway, I joined the line of traffic heading out of town - it was about rush hour. It's usually nice to have someone ahead of you when you're driving in bad weather - somewhat reassuring. And, despite a couple of wobbles in the wind and with the surface water on the road, I made it safely to Kinsale. Which was where the trouble started, with my road blocked by a Garda car. I couldn't see any obvious flooding, but the Garda directed me quite forcefully to the right, which was not the direction I wanted to go in. Especially when I saw that that street was quite badly flooded. O well, off I went - came through that and was completely lost, of course. As usual, in Kinsale. Really, you'd be well advised to take a map if you have to go through here at all - with all the narrow streets, some one-way, it can be a nightmare if you don't know it well.
I had the vague idea of following the car in front of me. Amazingly, it turned out to be exactly the right thing to do, and I came out on the road I had wanted to travel in the first place - further along. Great, I thought - and proceeded along it. Only to find another Garda setting up "Road Flooded" signs. And so it seemed that the road I needed to travel on to the bridge was flooded and impassable. I parked near something I could describe, and rang my friends for directions. Thank goodness for mobiles.. Anyway, the directions to get to the road to the bridge from the other side were a bit involved, and I needed to ring twice more before I was sure of my road. But I did finally make it! having added about 45 minutes to my journey. Of course, it turned out that the dinner reservation was in Jim Edwards. Which is in Kinsale.
And, naturally enough - but thankfully - the roads were open when we went back that way. And, I might add, dry as a cork. Ironic. There's not much parking right by the restaurant (where they also have a bar and guesthouse), but there is a large car park not far away, which is free in the evenings, so we parked there and walked. Down that street that had been so flooded before! and was now also as dry as a cork. Don't know how they manage that, but it's a neat trick. Anyway, we were a little early, but were seated immediately. The restaurant wasn't full anyway and we probably didn't need to book, but it had been full the last time we wanted to eat there, so my friend thought it was safer.
The decor is nautical, and service was generally very good. Handily, the set menu - available from 2.30pm for the rest of the day - suited us both fine. I had mushrooms to start, which, interestingly, were battered instead of the more usual breadcrumb coating. They were nice, but I wasn't massively impressed with the sauce that came with them, which added nothing. My companion had said that she should go for the fish cakes, which she loves, but ended up choosing the goat's cheese, which she always ends up having! We both had steak with pepper sauce. Mine was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was good. Ironically - considering my last steak meal, when I was unhappy with potato gratin being included - it was provided as a side here. And I even had some! but it does make a difference when you can decide how much to have. Mind you, there was far too much food, and I left quite a lot. For dessert, I ordered chocolate fudge cake (of course!) and my companion ordered the banoffi pie. Mind you, despite the excellent service for the rest of the meal, we really thought we weren't going to get desserts, they took so long to arrive.. but they eventually did. My cake had been heated, which I hate, just because it always means that my precious chocolate fudge melts off the cake and I end up having to chase it around the plate - but it was still good. This time, it was my companion's turn not to be able to finish her food - the banoffi defeated her. Both were served with a scoop of ice cream. Overall, not a spectacular meal, but I would be ok with eating there again. Interestingly, although we had wine, you could have a cocktail with the meal.. which we did consider.
I made it back safely to Clare today, despite being strongly buffeted by the wind in Garretstown, and considered myself lucky to have escaped the worst when I heard how badly Lahinch and Galway city had been affected by the storm.
In other news, I'm already thinking ahead to next week, when I'll be back in London - and for Monday night, I've booked Fortune's Fool, at the Old Vic.
No comments:
Post a Comment