waiting in Dublin

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building, chnages, Dublin, photography, photos, waiting, waiting in Dublin

Yesterday i spent the day waiting for things to happen – a phone call, a meeting, at an appointment, on the bus, and in the end on a friend, who never showed. Waiting in Dublin isn’t uncommon – after all we are a land of queuing – but yesterday my waiting just wasn’t really rewarded.

As I sat in the cafe, waiting for my friend to show, I sipped a double espresso and watched strangers arrive in groups of twos and threes, one eye on my book one one the door I couldn’t help but feel hopeful every-time the door pinged open.  After a few chapters my cup was empty and I decided it was time to go. I swung my bag over my shoulder and began the walk home.

Currently Dublin is one big building site, the roads are waiting for the Luas to be finally finished, empty plots lie in wait for workmen to build houses on them, old building hold up signs of notification waiting for renovations to begin. It feels  as if the whole city is waiting on the brink of some sort of new beginning.

So while I walked through a waiting Dublin I couldn’t help but smile and think how well I fit in.

while waiting for some coffee I took a trip around the world

an empty lot waiting for some workmen

a window waiting to be done up

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a gentle gesture

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Dublin, feeling grateful, home, homeless, homelessness, homelessness crises, Ireland, sleeping rough

Late yesterday evening, when I arrived back home after lecturing, a wave of emotions rushed over me as soon as I passed through my own front door. It was a mixture of gratitude and grief for a couple of strangers I had met while walking to the bus on my way back from work.

It all began when, for reasons unknown to me, I decided to take a different route to the bus stop than I usually do. As I walked down Grafton street, just before ten at night, it dawned on me that I hadn’t been there it quite some time and the amount of homeless sleeping in doorways filled me with sadness.

Of course I have been reading the news and am aware of the problem of the increase of homeless people that Ireland, Dublin in particular, has been facing. And I know that the number of women and children sleeping rough has gone up dramatically over the last two years, but somehow the contrast of brightly lit shops and people lying on cardboard in the the doorways was something I just hadn’t seen in a while and it pained me.

Walking passed the sleeping figures I felt powerless and saddened, really not knowing what to do. As I approached the most expensive shop in Dublin, luxury brands and high-end design adorning its windows, things I sometimes covet but can never afford, I saw two figures huddled together in the doorway next to it. As I came closer I could see how a man had curled his body inwards, protectively around the sleeping woman beside him and in a moment of intimacy he lifted his hand to tenderly tuck her tightly in to her worn and tatty sleeping bag and stroked her cheek with such a gentle gesture that I felt I was invading a very private moment.

That gesture of love and caring hit me hard in the chest and I knew I couldn’t just walk by. Not wanting to disturb them too much I did the only thing I could and offered to buy them something warm to eat. His face lit up and he asked for a burger, she was deep in dreamland and he didn’t want to wake her.

Knowing that my gesture was only small I felt humbled by his gratitude and on the bus ride home his gentle gesture wouldn’t leave my thoughts. Once home I couldn’t but feel grateful for the four walls I live in, even though the rent has gone up putting financial strain on me. I felt thankful for the privacy my home provides me, that I have food in the fridge and a bed to sleep in. Closing my eyes that night I kept thinking of the couple sleeping huddled together in the doorway and hoped that at least their obvious love for each other could provide some comfort – until hopefully they too could find a home to feel safe in.

feeling grateful for my home

sunny Sunday afternoon

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Clontarf, coffee and pastry, Dublin, Fairview, front door, home, perfect day, sunny Sunday

The arrival of summer time  was accompanied by a beautiful sunny day. The sky was blue, cloudless, and while it may have looked a little warmer from inside the house than the strong wind let it actually be, it was still a perfect spring day.

Because I didn’t want to waste it by staying indoors I got on my bike and went for a cycle to Clontarf. And I wasn’t the only one!

As I rode through Fairview park multitudes were playing football and even more were populating the playgrounds. Mums and Dads sat on benches and blankets, some with picnics others with bags of deliciously smelling chips.  On the promenade the picture didn’t change, it just got a little busier.

Bikes, prams, in-liners, scooters, tricycles and pedestrians – with and without dogs of all shapes and sizes – made their way along the seafront, chatter and laughter, some shouts and barks filling the air with life.

I had thought I’d find a spot in one of the beachfront cafes to enjoy the sun and a cup of coffee while I read but if the promenade was busy the eateries were bursting. So instead of stopping and sitting for a while I decided to make my way back home and sit outside my own front door. Enjoying the wind in my back and the sun on my face I took a quick pit-stop in a local shop (some yogurt, bread and milk for my breakfast was required) and bought myself a small pastry for less than half what it would have cost at a cafe.

Once perched on my bench, a book in my hand I couldn’t help but think that I had made the right decision. After all sometimes you find happiness right on your doorstep!

my Sunday treat: a freshly brewed double espresso and an apple pastry

lost hour

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clocks go forward, Dublin, Ireland, lost hour, summer-time, timekeeping

At one o’clock this morning summer time arrived and made us all skip an hour to make the evenings longer and brighter. And while this may sound like a great idea as someone who tends to be always ten minutes late losing an hour can cause all sorts of havoc with my timekeeping.

Of course I wake up much later as my body clock has no idea that summer has come and just as I finish breakfast I realise lunch isn’t too far off – which means I’ll skip it.  So as I sit and correct the sun outside my door beckons me out and I know I won’t be able to resist, meaning I won’t get everything done today – the lost hour at night claiming time during the day.

I know of course in a day or two things will be back to normal and the lost hour will disappear until we regain it again in October, that one hour of extra sleep we all enjoy so much when the days grow darker and colder. But until then I play catch up on myself and  abandon my desk to enjoy a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon.

summer time tells me it’s one hour later than yesterday

weather talks

Tags

Dublin, Ireland, photo photography, rain, strangers, talk, weather

After more than 24 hours of rain, wet socks, frizzy hair, and damp clothes it’s great to see a little bit of blue poking out between the clouds. Especially since the last two nights have been long and sleepless as the tattoo of heavy rain beating against my window has kept me awake for most of the night.

But no matter how miserable the weather proves to be the thing I enjoy most is the amount of strangers who strike up conversations by stating this obvious fact. On both bus rides to and fro from work – I declined to walk as the weather was just too wet – my seat companion told me in no uncertain terms that we were having  ‘shocking weather’ while their umbrellas dripped puddles onto my already wet shoes. Knowing the rules of the game I, of course,  answered the only way one can: with a pinched smile, a nod, a sigh, and a ‘I know, isn’t awful!’

Our shared commiseration about something we cannot change opened up the floodgates (couldn’t resist the pun) to stories of a few strangers lives. I heard all about the disasters of the paper shopping bags Pennys uses ‘sure they just rip, now me shopping is drowned’  and the splashing cars, bikes and buses soaking ‘me legs’.

While I nodded along to the lamentations I remembered a statistic I read a good while ago. It it it said that Irish people, on average, talk about the weather at least twice a day and 25% of the population even go so far as to talk about the sun and rain four times daily.

I suppose this means that with the ever changing of weather in Ireland at least no one will ever be stumped for conversation and weather talks will stay an easy way to connect.

leaf puddle in my backyard

 

Paddy’s Day in my PJs

Tags

Dublin, Ireland, St Paddy's Day, St Patrick, St Patrick's Day, St Patrick's Day parade

In good old Irish tradition the skies are grey over Dublin on St Patrick’s Day, but at least it isn’t raining anymore. And while tourists and kids are craning their necks and getting their eyes poked out by umbrella spokes trying to catch a glimpse of the Paddy’s Day parade, I am at home lounging around in my PJs.

As a kid my parents took my sister and me down to O’Connell Street and I do vaguely remember wet days, marching bands, small floats and cold feet. But those were the pre-boom era parades, now they have gone a little bit over the top with samba-dancers turning blue while shaking their hips to samba beats in the Irish weather and international marching bands putting on a display.

Nowadays I like to stay home, enjoy a day off and enjoy just being home. But a pair of shamrock socks are my little nod to Saint Patrick.

St Paddy’s Day socks

going sock-less

Tags

Dublin, fashion, photography, photos, shoes, sock-less, spring, sun, weather

Over the past few days spring has fully sprung in Dublin, the sun has been shining, the trees have been blooming and everything is waking up from the long winter sleep. With the temperatures rising I have decided to let the weather ‘knock my socks off’ (couldn’t resist this awful pun) and relegate my socks to the back of the drawer and go sock-less again. So over the last three days my feet have been bare in my shoes and I have enjoyed the freedom of unhindered wiggling of toes.

Now I only hope that my socklessness state can continue until much later this year and who knows, maybe by offering up an extra few patches of exposed skin to the sun my vitamin D intake will skyrocket. Additionally I won’t need to spend time sorting my socks – I like them in pairs – and I’ll even save some (even if only small) space in the washing machine.

So maybe I should look around and see what else I could dispel and discover what I may gain by doing so.

standing in a spot of sun

staying away and stepping back

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Dublin, Henry Miller, Ireland, new beingings, photography, photos, quote, stepping away

Trying to figure a few things out often means spending time away from what you usually do. By changing your routine you free up time and can tackle all those questions that swirl around in your mind. By stepping away you can step back and take a new look at what the issues are. But no matter how far away you step, eventually, you need to step back into your ‘normality’, whatever that may be.

And while it is sometime hard to step back into your routine, one step at a time seems to be the best way, even if the progress is slow at least it means you are moving forward. And if you set yourself some goals (or write long to do lists) they seem to guide you like the light of a lighthouse in the distance.

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Henry Miller

It’s not this time of the year without

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Dublin, It’s not this time of the year without, lights, photography, photos, Weekly Photo Challenge, WPC: It’s not this time of the year without

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but for me ’tis also the season of lights. So while the days grew shorter and the darkness settles in earlier and earlier lights light up the city and turns it into a magical place.

Dublin by night, a rare wind still one at that

#Huaweisnapys fails to inspire

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#Huawiesnapys, Dublin, Huawei, Instagram Awards, Ireland, photography, Sprink Breaks, Vouge Williams

After the wonderful Irish Blog Awards back in September I had high hopes for the #Huaweisnapys (Independent Awards for the Instagram Community) last night. Sadly the event didn’t live up to its promise as it was all a bit of a let down.

Luckily I won some free tickets so I wasn’t put out for having to pay in and not get much out of it but for all of those who did, even the shortlisted Instagrammers had to pay in, I can’t help but feel a little annoyed.

The award ceremony was cold, no attempt was made to engage with those in the room – most of whom were bloggers, snapchatters, integrammers – and was mainly advertising how great the Huawei phone is. The massive screen in the Mansion House wasn’t utilized to benefit those who were shortlisted and the Instagram photos that won never really got a chance to be seen. But Huawei was everywhere, blocking everything else with it’s blockbuster-eque grandiosity. And it really wouldn’t have been difficult to have a live tweet run down the side of the screen, have a few competitions to keep people engaged, and basically just be generous with space and time to allow those who won to shine – after all the event was meant to be all about them.

The MC of the night was Irish actress/comedian Deirdre O’Kane who tried her best to get a bit of atmosphere going, but the mood was off from the get go. This didn’t really change thorough the awards, and the choice of having Vouge Williams DJ (not my taste in music but I was told she did a good job) before the Spring Breaks came on didn’t help either as many just left once the awards were handed out. By the time the band- and I presume they were meant to be the highlight of the night – came on the evening had petered out, more than half had left. While they did their best to get people up and dancing room was to empty by then to really lift the spirits.

Another thing that was a bit curios was how stingy Huawei was with the free drink. Of course there was no expectation of a free bar (which seemingly the VIPs – and who they were I do not know as the Instegrammers sat in the main room and not on the balcony- did have) but it would have been nice if they had provided at least one glass of bubbly for each guest – instead every now and then only a few trays made it out into the main room, maybe enough for a third of the audience, causing odd surges of activity and lots of unhappy, left-out looks on many of the audiences faces.

And while of course you can’t expect a goodie bag it would have been nice to get one, especially since the event was sponsored by so many big names and Huawei kept banging on about how much their market shares have grown and how well they are doing. Maybe that was why so many left so early with a dissatisfied look on their faces.

Over all the #Huaweisnapys really just felt like a massive marketing event for a product that may be great but showed little to no interest in connecting with those in the room – in my books a failed event that didn’t showcase how great many Instagram photos are and was more interested promoting product instead of talent.

the intermission entertainment was a stunning light show

the best bit of the night 80s music with Spring Breaks