It’s taken a pandemic for us to discover our own holiday treasures BRENDA POWER
WE’D spent the morning cycling for miles along a disused riverside train track that’s open solely to pedestrians and cyclists – the only danger came from the odd MAMIL (middle-aged man in lycra) who was too cool to use the bell on his bike as he overtook on the narrow path, or from little kids in multi-coloured helmets whizzing past us as if we were stationary.
A quick bowl of seafood chowder later, we went paddle-boarding in the harbour – looks dead easy, but my knees didn’t stop shaking for about 20 minutes after I was back on firm, dry land. And in the evening we strolled up a country road to a little fish restaurant standing alone on a hillside: fresh prawn scampi, huge portion of crab claws and chicken wings, wonderfully fresh and perfectly cooked calamari, and a bowl of Mediterranean seafood stew with sourdough bread that was big enough for two, three belly-buster meals for less than €100 with a carafe of decent rosé thrown in.
Purgatory
Walking back down the hill to the village in the balmy dusk, under an impossibly perfect golden harvest moon, we agreed that we might as well be in Greece, wandering home from the local taverna, or Spain, strolling back to our holiday apartment from a nearby tapas bar. In fact we were in Dunmore East for the bank holiday weekend, rediscovering the forgotten delights of an Irish summer, and wondering when it was, exactly, that ‘holidays’ came to mean ‘airports’ for a whole generation of Irish people?
When did the question, ‘Where are you going on your holidays?’ come to mean, ‘Which Italian/ Spanish/French/Greek resort will you be visiting for a fortnight of unmet expectations, unexpected expenses and unwise sunburn? In which continental hotspot will you be arguing with your family because the swimming pool in your villa is half the size it looked in the brochure, the beach is a stony purgatory more than 40 minutes’ hike away, everyone is sore and cranky and peeling, and the nearest restaurant only caters for English expats with nothing but jellied eels and Watney’s Red Barrel beer on the menu?’
If you couldn’t answer the question, ‘Did you get away over the summer?’ with at least one foreign destination, then you really didn’t have a holiday: Even posh friends with their own holiday homes in Kerry or Wexford or Mayo would mention their month in the country almost as an aside, after regaling you with their sojourn in Sorrento or their yoga retreat in Skyros.
So it has taken a global pandemic to open our eyes to the treasures we’ve had on our doorstep and rarely spared the time to enjoy. Ireland, after all, is a hugely popular international tourist destination for a reason. And it deserves better than to have us treat the prospect of a home holiday as a consolation prize.
You will, of course, hear offputting tales of hoteliers and restaurateurs in the most popular tourist spots using the pandemic as an opportunity to scalp their captive custom. But if you steer clear of the obvious destinations, settle for a lake or riverside town rather than a busy seaside resort, and shop around for last-minute bargains online, you really will have a holiday to match the best of your getaway memories from summers past.
First of all, don’t expect good weather, and you will almost always be pleasantly surprised. Even during a dull summer like this one, the sun breaks through most days and that’s your cue to get into the togs and down to the nearest body of water, out for a forest walk or off on the bikes for a spin.
Memories
Invest in a bike-carrier for the car, although bike hire is rarely more than €20 a day and you’ll be helping some enterprising locals back on their feet by hiring when you get there. Pack wellies and rain gear and don’t let a wet day be an excuse to sit indoors looking at screens, because then you might as well be at home. Promise an especially nice dinner, or a shopping trip as a reward, if that’s what it takes to get everyone on board for a walk in the rain.
Most of all, explore and embrace those unique features that brought more than 11million tourists here last year, and puts Ireland on countless holidaymakers’ wish lists worldwide. Most of the pubs might be closed, but the rest have stepped up and are offering proper meals at good prices. Take a walking tour, buy a cheap fishing rod and catch your supper, go horseriding, rent a kayak, visit a haunted house, take a falconry lesson – the country’s tourism sector is putting its best foot forward right now.
Cleverly deciding not to waste this crisis, the smart ones are determined to give you holiday memories you’ll want to relive in those years to come when Covid-19, with any luck, is itself just a memory.