On a Clear Day in Bray

I followed an old man down to the sea the other day. Old man, not as in some crusty oldish guy wearing cargo shorts and an ugly t-shirt, but an old man, as in he wore a cable-knit sweater, corduroy pants and loafers and looked out longingly into the water. And the sea, not as in a big lake or a large river, but the sea, the Irish Sea.

But I wasn’t in Ireland. I was somewhere where blue and yellow overwhelm, not the green and gray that I know Ireland to be.

 

I currently have three pairs of shoes: dress shoes, boots and gym shoes (or 'trainers', as they're called here).  Walking along Shankill beach on the way to Bray can be quite the task if you're not wearing proper shoes-- it's not a sandy beach.  Rocks abound, rocks of all sizes, colors, shapes.  I thought I'd found emeralds at one point only to conclude, regretfully, they were wannabe agates. 

Certain stretches along the way felt imaginary.  I was often the only person on the shore for what felt like miles (or 'kilometers', as they're called here).  It was difficult not to stop and take a picture of everything, anything and to not pick up every interesting looking stone (all of them).  

It was a long walk.  

Walking only on beds of rocks quickly becomes annoying, beautiful surroundings or not.  Still, a couple kilometers in and Philip Glass came on and I happened upon the most beautiful mossy rocks I'd ever seen.

Electric green x 3.  They hurt my eyes.  It was a dazzling few moments.

And THEN.  The QUEEN of all mossy rocks on Bray Beach: 

...

I'd hoped to see some dolphins along the way, knowing how they're often spotted along Killiney Beach, just a couple kilometers north of Shankill.  Instead, I stumbled across a swan sanctuary.

One must remember when in Bray Harbor: swans have no road sense! 

Though I did learn that swans do have dog sense.  Couldn't get my camera out in time, but a stray dog chased a swan that had just emerged from the water, back in.  Quite the site: the swan was about 4 x larger than the dog.

All told: 5km of electric colors, massive mossy rocks, swan sanctuaries and sun on my face: so much better than the throwaway afternoon I thought it would be.