My Dublin Life

I promised that I would post some pictures of the St Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin but the parade is so dynamic, still pictures don't really do it justice -- the variety, the colour and all the excitement on the streets. Now they're saying that 650,000 people came!

Check out this video on YouTube. Whoever put it up has done a real nice job of editing, so you get a good idea of the different elements on show!

I thought, after all the excitement, I'd be too broke and too tired to want to much this weekend, but in fact, as most of the events on were free, I'm not that broke. And as for tired? Well, pshaw. I've got Sunday morning to sleep in. There still seem to be lots of visitors to Dublin and the atmosphere outside is pretty lively. I've been invited for a hike around Howth Head on Saturday, and my thinking is that all that healthy outdoors stuff gives me free license to kick up my heels a bit... what do you think?

I've just come back to the apartment for a little break in the revelry and to pick up a jacket for this evening, and to tell anyone out there to book their tickets for next year! There's such an atmosphere of goodwill and friendliness on the streets right now, and the parade was magnificent. There were giant statues -- I don't know what the technical names is -- and people in costume, and pipe bands and it was all the most curious mixture of staid and sexy, absurd and gorgeous! My greengrocer gave me a tip; he said to make my way to Clanbrassil Street at the end. That's where the parade ends, and where the performers take off their costumes and pack them away. I saw everything up close, because there aren't many onlookers there. Fabulous. I've got some pictures on my camera that I'll put up here soon, but no time now coz I've got some friends waiting anxiously outside the door and we're going to have fun!

I'm perched on my windowledge with a cup of coffee on the radiator and my laptop on my knee, peering out at the river Liffey. It's only 10.30, but there's already a lot of people wandering about, and a general air of expectation. The sun is not "splitting the stones" as some people had predicted, but it's quite warm, and I think it's going to be a fantastic day. I'm gonna get dressed now, find a way to attach my (real, live) shamrock to my label and head out. I'm meeting some friends, and we're going to kick the day off with a big, greasy Irish Breakfast. Because whatever you do on St Patrick's Day DOESN'T COUNT!!!

What a great saint, absolving sins even as they happen ;-)

All over the world, cultures celebrate spring, and Ireland is no exception. Of course, St Patrick's Day is also about the man himself, Ireland's patron saint, and all the legends about him but it is also about Irish people hanging up their winter coats (OK, even if it still is a bit chilly) and celebrating spring. It's been more or less like a party everywhere since Friday and while I guess some of the locals might be a bit used to it or even jaundiced, it is nice to see so many people having a good time. There seem to be lots and lots of Spanish and Italian tourists nattily dressed in winter gear wandering (and wondering) about town in a state of bemused excitement. With their usual touch for the surreal, the Irish have been holding odd but great events. Like the Flash Tea Party, in Merrion Square, attended by yours truly and a couple of friends. Great stuff, as the Irish say. Tomorrow, I'm going to a mass ceili in Stephen's Green.



Here's a picture I took of the fountain in Stephen's Green a week or two ago. The smart money is on at least some of the revellers ending up IN the fountain! Hopefully, it won't be me.

I've just realised, anxiously, that I don't actually HAVE any green clothes. Maybe it won't matter? My greengrocer is selling live shamrock plants so I guess I'll buy one of those and carry it about, or pin a bit to my lapel. Well, it is all exciting and I actually wish I had someone visiting from back home right now so that I could be more unashamed about how worked up I'm getting!! With my Irish buddies, I have to be all like, "Oh yeah, might wander out, see if there's anything going on..." while in actual fact, I am pretty sure I will hardly be able to sleep with excitement!! Not to mention all the noise drifting up from the street :-)

And then of course there's the noble Irish tradition of being able to eat or drink in abundance whatever you gave up for lent. Apparently, most Irish people still give stuff up, even if they're not religious. Well, I didn't give up anything. But I think I'll eat and drink too much anyway, seeing as how it's the thing to do 'n all!!

Because there's a lot going on, I've had to prioritise and choose what I think I'll like best. But if anyone is reading this and making last-minute plans there are some great sports events in Croke Park. I've seen Gaelic Games before, and even as someone who's not that sporty (ice-skating aside) they are pretty damn exciting -- and they date all the way back to the Iron Age, which is quite something.

If you're in Dublin, watch out for an overexcited Newfoundlander in black with a large, green shamrock plant safety-pinned to her coat. That's me. And if you're going for a pint, I'll have whatever you are having.

Dubliners often think of County Wicklow as their playground and, while I guess this must be annoying to people from Wicklow at times, I'm no exception. Whenever you find yourself on the top of the slightest hill in generally-flat Dublin there are the Wicklow Mountains, right to the south. I love the view from the Rathmines Bridge with the city buildings and the mountains as a backdrop. When you've access to a car, as I sometimes do, and it's not the commuters' rush hour, you can reach the wild mountains from the city centre in less than half an hour.

All of this is a long-winded introduction to something I read in the paper this morning.

This weekend, there's what has got to be the coolest festival EVER, and it's on in Wicklow; it's a festival of silent and "lost" films, and it's going to be held in a big, old, stately home. I am desperately trying to figure out a way to get to it, because it just sounds fabulous. I hate to say it, but I'm even sorry I accepted an invitation to the rugby match, because this is so much more my thing.



It's called the "Kilruddery Film Festival". Check it out. It looks so amazing.

I'm going to be taken to a ball game!

It's true that this is not necessarily my sort of thing, but what the hey. The sun has been shining, and I'm prepared to have a great time. Bepe had two tickets to the match, but his friend has had to fly back to Italy to attend a family funeral, and as all his other sports-enthusiast friends are working, well, he's invited me.

Sure, I thought about trying to sell the ticket on ebay. Just kidding. It was really very sweet of him to invite me. So Rugby Match here I come. I've been looking at the Six Nations website to see if I can figure out what it's all about, and the short answer is that I can't. However, from my, ah, research, I have gleaned the following information:

1) Unlike soccer players, rugby players are rarely very good-looking, but there are a few exceptions;
2) There are people called "dangermen". I don't know what they do;
3) There's a rather cute player on the Welsh team called Leigh Halfpenny, which is one of the best names I've ever heard of. Of course, I want Ireland to win, but I'd also like to see some action from Leigh. No, wait. I don't mean that the way it sounds.

Anyway, it's so nice of Bepe to invite me when I'm sure I'm the last person he'd really like to go with as I'm totally ignorant about sport in general and rugby in particular.



It's so lovely weatherwise at the moment, I'm eating lunch outside most days. I took this picture on my phone today, of crocuses in Stephen's Green. I love these little guys; they look like candles and just seem so optimistic somehow. And flashy, without being pretentious. All-round good guys of the flower world.

Ooh and tonight I am taking the nice lady who organised my weekend job out for a glass of wine at the Ely Wine Bar, just to say "thanks". Someone recommended that place here, so I'm looking forward to trying it out ... and hoping she doesn't order the most expensive thing on the menu :-)

And I've been in a fabulous mood all week. Until today. I was walking through the front gate at college when I found myself unable to avoid bumping into my ex-boyfriend. I don't care if he thinks now that he wasn't "really" going out with me. He behaved like he was, he talked like he was and y'know what they say: If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...

Anyways, turns out he is engaged. And get this: "You must come to the afters of the wedding," he says. (In Ireland, "the afters" is the bit when the band plays, after the meal).

Excuse my language but WTF? Why would I want to do something like that? I don't know what I ever saw in that guy. PhD or no PhD, he must be stupid. And between you and me, his PhD topic is one of the WORST I have EVER heard of. Honestly.



The weather is beautiful. It's bright and sunny. It's also doing that funny spring thing of being alternately warm and cold, depending on whether the sun is behind a cloud or not. I took this picture to show someone with bare arms walking just behind a lady in an overcoat, but sadly the bare-arm guy isn't very visible. Still, you get the gist. A lot of the locals are rushing about in short sleeves, but it's not really quite warm enough for that. Still, it's so lovely seeing everything in the parks come to life. I am amazed every year by how apparently dead sticks suddenly produce green leaves and flower buds. Here's hoping the sun will be shining next week on St Patrick's Day.



Another shot of Dublin in the sun. I love the way there's always -- literally always -- a seagull overhead. There are times when I almost forget we're on the sea, because I live downtown and the city centre is focused around the river. But the sea is never more than short, brisk cycle away!

So I received some advice about a wine bar to visit, the Ely Wine Bar. On first glance, it looks lovely but maybe a little too grown up for me? Then I remembered that I bumped into that nice lady who gave me some research advice and introduced me to her friend who now hires me to watch her kids ... and I thought, what the heck. I'm gonna call her right now and see if she's free one evening this week. Things are going pretty well with those kids and the 70 yoyos (as my greengrocer refers to Euros) don't hurt, either ;-)