World Cultures

Pretty terrible weather for the beginning of the Festival of World Cultures in Dún Laoghaire, so watched a bit of the Olympics before braving the elements and then dashed from place to place, catching shelter wherever possible. Even with the wet weather there was a bit of atmosphere around. There was a mad-cap gang of French brass players, a 15-year-old playing Indian ragas on piano, the Gastropub opting out of the festival and doing their own trad weekend instead (bad form). It sounded as if what was on offer in the Purty Kitchen might be interesting, but they were using the downstairs pub area rather than the upstairs music lounge and it was all a bit too packed for comfort.

By this stage it was getting on and tummies were rumbling. The restaurant strip in Monkstown seemed like a good bet, but one of the newer places looked a bit offputting and another was unsure about having a table free any time soon, so we settled for a Chinese meal instead -- okay, but nothing special, really. Despite everything and the worst the weather threw into the works, it was actually an enjoyable and nicely varied day.