Beautiful day for a walk up Dalkey Hill, one of Dublin's jewels - PHOTOS

In the distance is Dalkey Island, one of the great views from the top of Killiney Hill,
Killiney, County Dublin.

I don't do "impulse buys" as a rule, but "impulse walks" are another thing entirely. I was driving through Dalkey, Co Dublin at lunchtime and I suddenly decided I'd rather walk up Dalkey Hill than sit eating while I read.

Great decision.

The weather overnight in Ireland was horrendous. Many areas were flooded. We're lucky because our house is on the side of a hill so all I had to endure was getting soaked walking the ten feet to the car and driving on roads with an awful lot of water.

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When I went out at 7am I thought the car was going to be washed away at times there was so much water on the road. By noon it was as if it hadn't rained at all.

Obelisk on Killiney Hill built in 1741

I know that's not unusual in America in the summer. Sudden downpours can vanish in seconds when the hot sun returns. It's a lot less common here. I don't know that I've ever seen it dry out faster.

The sky was a beautiful mixture of puffy clouds and bright blue. There was a fairly strong breeze, but the temperature was around 70 - perfect. I couldn't resist. I headed for Dalkey Hill.

Of course, it's not just Dalkey Hill. There are two hills side by side. If you walk up Dalkey Hill the chances are you'll come down Killiney Hill. You have to get the whole panorama.

I know I've said this before, but Dublin and its surrounds are blessed with many tremendous walks. Dalkey/Killiney Hill is one of them. There's a reason why Bono, the Edge, Maeve Binchy, Neil Jordan and others choose to live there. The views are spectacular.

The last place I lived in America before moving to Ireland was Guttenberg, NJ. My wife and I used to regularly walk along the boulevard along the top of the cliffs from where we had a great view of Manhattan. It was tremendous too, but to be honest I prefer the views from the top of Dalkey Hill.

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but it bears repeating: if you find yourself in Dublin an impulsive decision to head to Dalkey on the train or in the car will be richly rewarded if the weather is even half way decent. On a day like today there is no better place on Earth.

From the top of Killiney Hill looking over Killiney Bay

Sunburn warnings in Ireland - more amusing than useful

Ireland's weather has been miserable for weeks.
Sunday we got a sunburn warning.
{Photo from Google images}

Late Saturday night Ireland's national weather service, Met Eireann, issued the following warning: "Sunburn index for Sunday. High countrywide." As soon as I read that I re-read Met Eireann's forecast for Sunday and I smiled.

The forecast for Sunday called for "a bright day with sunny spells. Many places dry, but there will be some well scattered showers. Highs 16-19 or possibly 20C." You can read that as 'Highs 61-66 or possibly 68.' We got a sunburn warning for a day where the temperature wasn't expected to reach 70F. Nor were we expecting hours of unbroken sun. We were going to have "sunny spells."

Now I know sunburn is a serious business and we all have to be "sun aware," but I couldn't help thinking that only in Ireland would you get a sun warning for a day with such a forecast.

The day unfolded almost exactly as Met Eireann forecast. We had "sunny spells." We also had lengthy cloudy spells, a brief shower and our temperature probably reached 65F. I didn't spend all day outside, but while I was out I thought it was very pleasant, but at no time did it occur to me that I might be at risk of a serious sunburn.
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The thought that my pasty white face and arms (I wore shortsleeves) might acquire a slightly pinker hue was about all I imagined, although at one point while I was out walking the wind kicked up and I thought I might get a bit of windburn.

Don't get me wrong. I don't blame Met Eireann for cautioning us. Ever since we had a great week in late March the weather has been so cool, damp and dark that people around here are starting to resemble the mole people from "Beneath the Planet of the Apes." And Met Eireann knows only too well that at the first hint of sun many Irish people strip down to the bear minimum in order to soak up as much sun as they can, safely or not. 'No problem, just use a little sunscreen,' is all Met Eireann is saying.

Which reminds me, when did sunscreen become medicine? Until I read the story of young Violet Michener of Tacoma, WA and the sunburn she got on a field day with her school I never knew that sunscreen was medicine.

All states, other than California, bar the use of sunscreen in school by children because "the creams are considered an over-the-counter drug." What? Is there really any sense to this? Do sunscreens pose such a threat or is this just more over-bearing statist nonsense?

It's not against the law in Ireland, which is a good thing because if school kids are having a day out and it's sunny there's a good chance that it could be the children's first sighting of the sun in weeks. Unlike when I was growing up in upstate New York, kids here often don't get gradually browner as spring turns to summer.

Summer can be delayed by weeks and then just erupt, as it seems to have done today. Even Met Eireann was caught off guard. They forgot to issue a sunburn warning last night.

Ireland could use more snow magic this Christmas

Satellite picture of Ireland – Dec 2010

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time most of Ireland was covered in snow and ice. The country slipped and skidded and shivered through the coldest December in half a century.

It was cold, but different. Kind of exciting. This December's been boringly normal.

So far all we've had is the usual chilly, damp and, especially, windy weather that is typical of an Irish winter. This despite the fact that during the fall we had dire warnings of a repeat – more frigid weather was going to make a mess of our airports, roads and sidewalks. Getting around was going to be a chore again come winter time.

The difference this year was that everyone was ready for another terrible blast of ice and snow.

Local governments drew up action plans and bought in enough sand and salt to see them through a winter worse than last. Hats and gloves were in every store, supermarkets and hardware stores were urging us all to get our bags of salt and snow shovels to be ready for the onslaught of another vicious winter. Toy stores were ready with loads of sleds, hoping to convince kids to trade up from the plastic trays and politicians' signs that made do as sleds last December.
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So far the salt, shovels and sleds have been mostly left in storage. There has been some snow in the north and for a couple of hours last week excited Irish tweets were describing 1cm (0.4”) of snow on the ground across a large chunk of the midlands, but the #sneachta (Irish/Gaelic for snow) tweets petered out as quickly as the snow did. It was a desperate attempt to rekindle some of last year's magic.

Snow made a mess of Dublin's roads
but it looked great.

That's the funny thing. The snow was magical. Yes it was disastrous economically - the constantly closed airport kept exports home and tourists away, the impassable roads kept people from getting to work or the stores to shop - but the snow had a magical effect on last Christmas.

As a lot of people found out when last year's snowy Christmas arrived, not being able to go anywhere actually made Christmas better, more relaxing. It's a sentiment I've heard a number of times the past few days. I suspect that there's more to it than just the bit about Christmas being more relaxing. A lot of people - adults as well as children - really liked the snow. Not just shirkers, happy to use the snow as an excuse not to turn up at work. The snow made for a nice change.

Ireland looked fantastic last December. The beauty of the snow-covered Irish landscape, urban as well as rural, relieved the gloom caused by the country's money problems.

Many Irish people would love to have the snow back this year, only with a functioning transport system and shoveled sidewalks so that old people wouldn't again be trapped at home for weeks. This December Ireland is dull and dark.

What last year's snow hid that this year's weather cannot is that far fewer people are lighting up their houses with colored lights and Santas and snowmen and the like. Too expensive to buy or light up, I suppose. Some town centers are going without Christmas lighting this year due to teh cost.

There are houses around us that used to be lit up like Times Square that are now pitch black. From some you can see the faint glow of a television coming through the blinds. From others not even that.

This was true last year too, but the assumption - hope is probably better - was that the cold and the ice stopped people decorating outside. Now it can't be denied - the dismal economy has made our Christmas darker. We could use some natural decoration.