13 June 2011

Blue skies, blue sea, and a touch of colour

The view from the full-length window at the Beach House, overlooking the beach and the sea at Bray, Co Wicklow, this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)

Patrick Comerford

After yesterday’s rain, today’s sunshine was welcome indeed.

And the sunshine improved as the hours passed.

This evening four of us went for dinner in the Beach House in Bray. Once again, we were given a table at the long windows looking down to the beach and out the sea.

And what a setting ... the Beach House has one of the most unrivalled settings for a restaurant in this part of Ireland. The blue and white interior decor was a perfect match for this evening’s blues and whites in the sky and in the sea.

Sunshine brings out the best in people in Ireland. The promenade was crowded with people going for an evening walk, in ones and twos, in family groups, walking briskly, ambling lazily, pushing babies in buggies.

Out in the water, two crews were out rowing; one man was braving the water for a brisk swim; two small dogs enjoyed bouncing in and out.

After coffee, two of us crossed the road for an ice cream in the artisan gelateria beside the former Palazzo restaurant, with a sign proclaiming “gelato artigianale” – artisan ice cream.

A red veteran Alfa Romeo parched outside added a touch of colour. Although, this evening’s blues and whites certainly lifted any lingering blues after yesterday’s rain.

A touch of colour on Strand Road, Bray, this evening, with the Beach House in the background (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)



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