Ireland day 0143. Friday 18 February 2022- Eunice

Today’s summary	Went for my usual run round the castle demesne this morning – hard work in the strong winds brought by Storm Eustace. Went into Dublin in the afternoon – Val bought some new boots and I got a new down jacket
Today’s weather	Strong winds and feeling cool. Heavy rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Occasional glimpses of sun but mostly overcast. About 4C

Today’s overview location (the red cross in a circle shows where Val and I are at the moment)		Close-up location (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Eunice run

Commentary

Well I could hardly call the blog anything else could I, given the amount of hysteria which has gripped the media in Ireland and the UK about this particular weather event? Actually while it’s been quite windy and cold here in the Dublin area, if it hadn’t been called a “weatherbomb” and given a name, I don’t think anyone would really have thought that it was anything other than a fairly normal winter’s day. Though I do of course know that quite large areas of the UK and Ireland are without power this evening, and have had much worse conditions, so maybe we just got off lightly.

Undeterred by the cold weather, and coming from Yorkshire, I pulled on my shorts straight after breakfast and headed out into the teeth of the gale to go for a quick run around the castle demesne. I did actually quite enjoy it – despite it being colder than I would have liked – and was pleased to get round in a decent time. Actually the squelchy muddy slippery conditions underfoot were as much an impediment to progress as the wind.

Once back at the flat and glowing like a nuclear reactor, I had a shower then joined Val for an early lunch. Then, frighteningly, we decided to head into Dublin for that most alarming of outings – a Shopping Trip.

Normally I avoid these events by claiming to feel ill or because I have to cut my toenails. But there was no denying that the down jacket I bought in Mountain Warehouse four years ago was looking very much the worse for wear and needed replacing before Val took matters into her own hands and threw it way. And perhaps more importantly, Val’s boots had started leaking – which is not a good thing in Ireland – and a new pair was urgently required.

Unusually for a Shopping Trip, in my experience, we both successfully managed to find what we were looking for. Val found a pretty decent and comfortable pair of Meindl boots in Great Outdoors (featured in the banner image at the top of this blog) and I managed to track down an exact replacement for my jacket from the Dublin branch of Mountain Warehouse. In fact it was in the sale so when I added in the Dublin Walking Club discount, it came to €63 which I was pretty pleased about. It was actually quite a lot less than I had paid for the original jacket in Falmouth four years ago. I should also thank the people at DWC who negotiated these discounts, by the way. With the money than I saved on my coat and that Val saved on her boots, I think we just about covered our membership fees in one afternoon.

At that point, and while we were still on a high, it started to throw it down with sleety rain outside the shop so we decided to cut our losses and head for home while we were still ahead. So a quick scurry down Abbey Street saw us back at Connolly station before the heavens had time to soak us completely (this is becoming a bit of a regular occurrence), and safely on a DART back to Malahide. By the way, although I have previously moaned about the draughtiness of the DART trains, they do have rather nice under-seat heaters, so you always arrive at your destination with a warm bottom, even if the rest of you is freezing to death.

So now it’s dinner time – Val has cooked up a rather exotic vegetarian tofu and ginger stir-fry and it looks delicious. Plus there’s a nice bottle of wine to uncork (well unscrew), so I am going to sign off now, with no further delay.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Not ideal conditions for a run this morning – so quite pleased to get round at under 7min/km, given the circumstances	At Tara Street DART station. It’s actually a bit bleak – especially on the windswept platforms up on the bridge

Heading towards the shops down Townsend Street	In College Green looking over to the Bank of Ireland from outside the front gate of Trinity College

One of the many side streets branching off Grafton Street – Dublin’s smartest shopping area	Inside the Powerscourt Centre – home of numerous boutique-y knitting and jewellery shops. Just my thing (!) – but it had a nice atmosphere and was a welcome refuge from the sleety wind outside. It’s built in the Georgian former home of Lord and Lady Powerscourt – which itself was originally constructed in the mid-1700s and was used by the Powerscourts to entertain guests during the parliamentary session – all pre-Act of Union.

Lots of new development going on in Dublin. There are no really high-rise buildings here at the moment – the tallest is Capital Dock at 79 metres (260 ft) – though the council is planning to allow more buildings of around, or slightly above, this height. This particular soaring construction is at the corner of Townsend and Hawkins streets