TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2019

A playdate with fungie and a walk around dingle

Today was a free day in Dingle, so we all split up to do our own thing. I enjoyed a lazy morning, then met a few people from the tour to do a uniquely Dingle activity: a boat tour in search of Fungie the Dolphin. According to local culture, Fungie —named as a derivation of “fun guy”— was abandoned as a baby in Dingle Harbour, and the town has adopted him as their unofficial mascot. He is now about 36 (dolphins usually live between 30-50 years, I know you’re thinking it), and has an uncanny and adorable relationship with the boats in the harbour, particularly one man in a little boat who is clearly his friend and calls out to him like a puppy. The Dolphin Boat Tours all promise your money back if you don’t get to see Fungie, but apparently that never happens.

I counted four separate dolphin tour companies, and there are probably more! While scouting out Fungie is the main draw, the boat tours also offer a really nice view of the Dingle Harbour scenery… and an added animal bonus in a hilariously friendly seagull named Stephen who clearly hangs out regularly with Fungie’s human boater friend.

I was trying to take a picture of the Yankee fan (!) in the boat and his seagull friend Stephen… and Fungie photobombed it.

This is what happens when you try to take a panorama in a boat that’s bouncing 😄

After leaving Fungie, we all split up to explore the town on our own. I walked through some of the Dingle souvenir shops (so much wool!) and an adorable little music store before heading back to the hotel to relax.

Little hidden sculpture around the corner from our hotel

Sitting in bed and watching the cows go by. Just like home in Manhattan.

In the afternoon I scheduled a much-needed massage at the spa at the hotel. There’s a quiet little “Relaxation Suite” that overlooks a beautiful view of the hills of Dingle, and lounging in that chair in pure silence before and after the massage was honestly the most peaceful I’ve felt in ages.

The second two photos are from the hotel website… I happily didn’t have my phone with me!

Our entertainment tonight was a family who showed off some serious concertina action, as well as a lot of Irish dance, demonstrating the difference between jigs and reels, and blowing us all away with the sheer speed of the movement. (We weren’t supposed to take video, so you’ll have to take my word for it.)

A bit blurry, but a nice memory of being out in Dingle with Jeff, Tricia, and Chris

After the performance, a handful of us went out to find some more live music in town… not hard in Dingle where literally every pub has live music every night. We went to a couple of different pubs before ending up at Neligan’s Bar, enjoying the local jam session from the back for a while before venturing closer to the circle of musicians.

At this point I gathered up the nerve to sing something… and by gathered up the nerve, I mean that Jeff told one of the locals that I was a singer, who silenced the whole place so I had absolutely no choice, haha. I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest and out the door, but I’m proud of myself for pulling out a few a cappella verses of the most vaguely Irish song I know. Tricia followed up with some Gordon Lightfoot (accompanied by the local musicians who spontaneously joined in!) and just like that the band-aid was ripped off. Proud of us!

We don't have video of our singing, but the setting is below… I have no clue what the guy on the left was talking about, but the joke was clearly a good one. 😄