weekend clare

 having a friend call, particularly when your new to a town, and a little bit on your own,  lifts the heart, in a nutshell i had my first out of towners visit me, in dear old ennis town, and they were not disappointed. Eyes moist with tears, it's guey i know to be emotive, the feeling so many parents feel when a loved one comes home from afar, an emotion too often felt these days with so many forced to emigrate just to live, i had that feeling when my pals came to visit, i'm human after all. My little friend mr moo, his brother, mum and too pals decided that i needed cheering up, and came at the earliest possibility to visit me, and without further adieu we headed out for dinner. Ennis is a bit of a foodies town, well they claim this title, one of Irelands fab foodie places.
Renowned for music, irish of course, a wide assortment of food places, and old buildings, Ennis has this reputation, but when did you  get to know the neighbour looking over the wall, very poorly actually. it's why spin doctors get away with so much. the weather, gee, i forgot to mention the weather, feck, i must have thought i was in spain for a moment, the weather by the way was great. Lets get to the story. The irish are famous for talking about the weather, famous for drinking too, i'm Irish i know this already. get to the story, hurry up, okay, for god's sake will you be patient a minute. just kicked the dog. stick to the story.
we meandered up and down the street, criss crossing the statue of Big Dan many times, ( Daniel O'Connell) before our feet gave up and our tummies gave out. There, over there i said, well it looked like a bar with a restaurant, they had a menu outside, said they served food, but it had a stairs that went all the way to heaven, well if your hips are arthritic, you'll know about it, ( anyone over 50 who climbs those stairs deserves a discount), i'll call it the 39 step restaurant, anyway we made it up, not knowing if there would be  even room for us all, it was a busy saturday night. sorry granny but the hips mightn't make it up the long flight, there it was, a large open plan multi floor, actually, one large floor with a further stairs on the return, full mostly of chatty diners, and it smelt good. We were quickly seated, and served within a reasonable time, even if the menu was limited,  importantly, the food was great, and looked as good as it tasted. Mr Moo, my little friend, busied himself with some drawing, children love to do, children are not supposed to be patient, adults are supposed to be patient, we'll learn one day.
overall, eating out in small town Ennis, there was heart aplenty. i have written this on the cuff before you start giving out and complaining. and there are some bits i'd like to add, like the Guy the girls met in the elevator, the old man who kept telling us how bright Mr Moo looked, and lots more, but we got our heads down safely when it mattered. The Girls promised me they'd return, without the little baggage, for another weekend in clare, but as first impressions go, this is beginning to look real good. as i said to a friend of mine, as Bob Dylan would say, it was all good, and it's going to be all good, if we keep going positively in the direction we are heading. to the stairway to heaven, does this guy ever give up, do children need example, of course they do.