Ireland day 1522. Friday 28 November 2025- Dublining

Today’s summary	First thing, had a video call with Val in Canada then drove over to Lucan for a morning meeting. Back in the flat again by noon so had a coffee and then caught a train to Dublin. Lunch at the National Gallery and afterwards went to some of the shops in the Grafton Street area. In the evening, had a call with family in Oxfordshire, UK, made a roast beef salad for dinner and read some of the book I’d bought myself in Dublin.
Today’s weather	Heavy rain in the morning, cleared up later with some sun. Strong westerly wind. Appx 9c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Dublin wander and shop

Commentary

With Val being away in Canada at the moment, my life is slipping into a bit of a routine. First thing, as I am waking up and Val is just about to go to bed, we have a quick video call to catch up on all the news on both sides of the Atlantic. She reports that all is going well in Vancouver though currently it is raining in a very dublinesque fashion.

As soon as Val and I had finished chatting, I grabbed a quick breakfast then drove over to Lucan for a quick morning meeting. It went straightforwardly though the motorway on the way there was a bit slow on account of the torrential rain and spray. I was back in the flat afterwards shortly after noon.

I made myself a quick coffee then decided to go into Dublin for the afternoon. So I caught a convenient Dart and was in town by about 2 o’clock. Actually my main motive for making the journey was the quest for food. I had decided once again to duck the challenge of making a cooked meal today, so I walked straight from Pearse station up to the National Gallery and got myself a bowl of soup and a pastry to keep me going until the evening.

I did also want to take a look at the shops, so as soon as I’d finished eating I headed off to Dawson Street, to Hodges and Figgett bookshop, where I bought myself some new reading matter for the winter evenings. I also made a halfhearted effort to try and find some new waterproof overtrousers to replace the ones which leaked so spectacularly yesterday. But on a quick cursory search I didn’t find any that I liked, and as my heart wasn’t really in it, I decided to postpone that delight for another day.

After a genial meander around the posh shops of Exchequer street, I called it a day and made my way back to Malahide courtesy of a Dart from Pearse station. Once back, I had a good phone chat with family in back in Oxfordshire, UK for an hour or so. Then I made myself a roast beef salad for dinner. Finally I rounded off the evening by leafing through a few pages of my new book. It promises to be a good read.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The glories of Pearse station this lunchtime. It’s my favourite of Dublin’s mainline stations, actually	Ascetic lunch at the national gallery

Hodges and Figgis, Dublin’s best bookshop (in my opinion), in Dawson Street, of course	Ivy Asia – also in Dawson Street. Definitely we will have to try it out one day. Though our last few experiences at Ivy restaurants have been disappointing

I love the fact that you have to exit from the Powerscourt shopping centre via a flower shop. It’s quirky and brilliant	Looking down St Andrews Street past the (abandoned) church towards Molly Malone. there are usual buskers here and today they were – I have to say, I’m afraid – particularly awful

Grafton Street this afternoon, just as it was beginning to get dark. Looking quite festive, as well as very busy