We got to Mass at St. John the Baptist Church last night where the youth choir sang beautifully. They even had a CD of their singing to sell after the service. The priest saying Mass was Father Robert Young (so insert your favorite "Father Knows Best" observation here).
This morning, we were just going to take a short stroll into downtown Kinsale to pick up a Sunday paper and come back and watch the All Ireland Football Championship on TV. But we didn't make it back until well after the game was over---which was just as well since Kerry, our favorite, lost to Tyrone.
But since the morning clouds were clearing off, we just kept walking past the news stand and strolled along the pier overlooking the yacht club's moorings. Pretty soon more stores and restaurants were opening. When we got to the far side of town in the area they call "World's End" we turned around and headed back because, well, how can you go any farther than the End of the World?
And, apparently, since it was such a calm day with only light breezes, a lot of sail boats started moving out for a sail. It was interesting to watch the crews prepare the boats and head out.
There were even a few friendly sailboat races going on. A couple we were talking to from Annapolis, Maryland, were explaining that it looked to them like a backwards race where you need to drop anchor at times to keep from going backwards in the light wind at the same time that the tide is going out.
Our attention was also pulled to the action down the street where little sailboats were rolling across the road toward the pier.
It turned out to be a class of young students taking "sailing lessons" at the Yacht Club's parking lot and then taking their "final exam" in Kinsale Harbour.
We didn't have a sailboat, but we did get on board the tour boat that gave us an hour cruise around the harbour as the captain gave us current information and the history of Kinsale.
We got to see more of Kinsale---this time from a harbour view.
We also got over to Charles Fort on the far side of the harbour which is currently being restored. It is listed as one of the best preserved "star" forts in Europe.
We also got fishing information about the boats that bring in "the catch of the day" to the area's seafood restaurants like "Man Friday" and "Fishy Fishy."
We only got to the mouth of the harbour on our tour boat, even though the Irish Sea looked just as calm as the harbour.
After our tour of the harbour, we went back to strolling through the streets of Kinsale doing the usual "window shopping." (And a small town with two very nice book stores is impressive, we think.)
Not counting the "Ol' Sea Dog" below, who wouldn't say a word, we've met a lot of nice people on our travels through Ireland. It was interesting comparing travel notes with the couple from Maryland this afternoon.
And when we went on to supper at our favorite pub in Kinsale, "Jim Edwards," we talked at length to a couple from Cork City at the next table who were out celebrating the wife's birthday. They gave us some tips on getting around Cork City after we had a thorough discussion of the world's economy and US politics.
And the food at "Jim Edwards" was so good that we forgot to take the time to take a picture of it. But we remembered to get out the camera by the time the dessert arrived---a "molten chocolate fudge cake with ice cream."
Maybe it wasn't just the hunger and the good food that made us forget to snap a picture. Could it just me more "senior moments" like this fellow we heard about?
It seems this older couple were having friends over for dinner, and after the meal the wives went to kitchen to do the dishes while the guys stayed and visited at the table.
"If you enjoyed this meal tonight," said the old man, "then you'd just love this restaurant the wife and I went to last night---but for the life of me, I can't think of the name of it."
"Oh, don't worry about it," said his friend, "we all have 'senior moments'."
"No, no, I'll get it figured out," said the old man, "what's the name of that red flower that has thorns on its branches?"
"Do you mean 'a rose'?" asked his friend.
"Yes, that's it," said the old man, "Hey, Rose, come out of the kitchen and tell us where that restaurant was that we went to last night." ;-).
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