After the drama described in the last blog post, the last two days of the Dingle Way were magical.

The trail was easy, well-marked and beautiful. We had a 17-mile day but so much of it was gentle. We walked on the beach and through villages.

In one, we passed a pub and thought about morning tea. We leave so early, about 7:30, that I’m starved by eleven o’clock. The pub was closed and wouldn’t open until 1pm. But a kind woman, who turned out to be an employee, asked

“Are you looking for the toilet?”

“Actually, we were hoping for some tea.”

“You sit in the courtyard and I’ll bring you some.”

“Maybe you have a piece of brown bread.” I sounded desperate but the Brown Irish soda bread is a wonderful snack. I also love it for breakfast.

She brought out tea for two, brown bread, butter and jam. With a little cheese from my pack, it became a great lunch, all for 5 euros. And I got her recipe.

She warned me that Irish whole wheat flour is much coarser and that I was going to have to add some multi-grain cereal to the mix. I can’t wait to try baking it at home.

The last morning on the trail, we were joined by Tony, a retired hike leader and guidebook writer. He gave us a lot of insight on his world. Tony, a secondary school teacher, in his former life, grew up and lived his whole life close to Castlegregory, where we spent our last night on the Dingle. Eventually, he left teaching and found a new vocation on the trail.

The Dingle Way is shaped like a lollipop. The start of the trail is at the stick end, in Tralee. After a day of walking, you’re at the circle part. We finished the circle and didn’t see the need to redo the stick. So we ended our trek in front of Ashe’s pub at about 11 AM. The pub was closed but we did take the obligatory pictures in front. We had tea at a gas station store, where we waited for our ride to the Tralee train station.

Then back to Dublin to reorganize. I need to do the laundry, re supply our lunch and snack inventory, look for a book to read and a Post office. There’s lots to do on this holiday.

Onto the Wicklow Way.

J