Laid-back holiday Monday

The weather behaved itself nicely for June Holiday Monday, but I didn't get a chance to get out and about until after 2.00 pm. St Anne's Park seemed like a good bet for a breath of fresh air. also, I've decided to drop in there regularly in hopes of catching the Rose Garden in full bloom (not to be today, though, since still only a small proportion of the bushes are decked in their finery -- but the scents were nice). I went on from the main rose garden to the enclosure where the miniature roses are. I was blipping some pond life when I was approached by a guy who bemoaned what he felt was the run-down appearance of the park compared to how he remembered it as a kid and wondered if the maintenance staff had been reduced due to cutbacks. I half agreed, but did point out what a wonderful amenity the park as a whole still is. As I was leaving the walled garden a group of young children were intrigued when I stopped to blip an strangely abandoned dolly (I don't know if it was connected with them).

Frustrated in my roses quest, I left the park and headed for Dollymount, crossing the causeway with the intention of walking the beach. I took a wrong turn and ended up in St Anne's golf club by mistake, somewhere I've never been before. It was actually quite chilly up on the members' terrace, and the sky clouded over surprisingly quickly as I stood there, so I left, driving on to Raheny with a vague plan to grab something to eat. I didn't fancy the idea of pub grub in the Station House pub, and was actually heading for home when I came across the Molinho restaurant. The place was almost empty, but still the staff went through their check-the-bookings routine before showing me to a corner table. Soup, main course with side order of mushrooms, a glass of wine and a cup of coffee was rather over-priced at 41.50 euro, I thought -- but the main course of lemon sole with tiger prawns in a nice lemon butter sauce was very good.