Ireland day 0355. Sunday 18 September 2022- Lunch!

Ireland day 0355. Sunday 18 September 2022- Lunch!
Today’s summary Val and I had a day with no commitments for once so took advantage of the hiatus in activities to go out for lunch in Dublin.   A very relaxing and un-pressured sort of a day
Today’s weather Dry and bright.   Plenty of sun.   Light westerly wind.   About 16C
Today’s overview location
(The blue mark shows the location of our route)
Close-up location
(The green 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 lunch and Grafton Street and Connolly
Commentary

Checking back through our diaries recently, practically every day for the last six weeks, either Val or I or both of us have been busy.   Val with her work, me with club walks, both of us with travelling to Canada or the UK.   So today we decided to clear some space in the calendar, and make time for just the two of us to go out for a relaxing lunch in Dublin.

It turned out to be a good decision.   After a leisurely morning with tea and breakfast in bed, we eventually stirred and took the bus into Dublin.   The route of the H2 is a fantastic ride, right down the coast with fantastic views across the Velvet Strand, Howth Head and Bull Island along the way.   It was a sunny blue-sky sort of a day today so the ride made a particularly enjoyable start to our day out.   We were rapidly deposited in Abbey Street from where we took the green line Luas over the Liffey to St Stephens Green and our intended lunchtime destination.

It’s funny but fashions and impressions of places change over the months.   When we first arrived in Dublin, we used to like going to Fegan’s Café over in Four Courts for lunch, but after a couple of disappointing experiences we’ve recently changed our preferences.   So today we were headed for the café underneath the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) – known as the Commons.   We’ve visited the museum and eaten in the café a couple of times before and always found both excellent.   Today was no exception and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast blaa (see earlier blogs if you can’t remember what these Irish delicacies are) with coffee and Guinness cake to finish off.   An excellent way to celebrate our day off.

Not content with an enjoyable lunch, though, we decided to head off through St Stephens Green, admiring the flower beds and pond (pictured above) along the way then on, down to Grafton Street where Val wanted to do some shopping.   I always find the prospect of department stores and the women’s cosmetics sections in particular a bit daunting so was delighted to be invited to wait outside while Val went in to complete her purchases.

She came out seemingly hours later equipped with lots of highly technical looking items of make-up that were far too complicated for a man to understand.   So, satisfied with our day out on several counts, we decided to quit while we were ahead.   A short walk across town took us to Connolly, where the diesel to Drogheda was obligingly waiting in Platform 3.  Despite falling asleep on the train and almost missing our station, we did manage to get off safely in Malahide and made it back to the flat in time to complete our day off with a relaxing evening and a glass of decent red wine.

I think we both thoroughly enjoyed our lazy day today, and made a mental note to make time to have more of them again in the future.

 

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

The Green Line Luas connects to the H2 bus stop in Dublin city centre and whizzes you straight down to St Stephens Green – home of the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) and the Commons Café in the basement underneath, which was our destination for lunch The Val at the entrance to the Commons café – a very relaxing spot
Last time we were here it was a Mediterranean-warm day and we sat outside for lunch.   Today, though, it was much cooler so we retreated indoors and admired the small garden out at the back through the windows Val putting her best foot forward in St Stephens Green and wishing that she had (like me) worn shorts
Peculiar fountain in St Stephens Green.   I think the brown sausagey things are supposed to be ceramic bullrushes but for me I’m afraid it doesn’t quite work. Val wanted to drop into Brown Thomas – a posh department store in Grafton Street – to buy some make-up.   Thankfully I was despatched outside for half an hour to ensure I didn’t become an annoying distraction.
We took the H2 down the coast into town.   If you are quick off the mark you can get the front seats upstairs and for just €2 you get the best view in Dublin
Interactive map

(Elevations corrected at  GPS Visualizer: Assign DEM elevation data to coordinates )

Total distance: 3202 m
Max elevation: 23 m
Min elevation: 4 m
Total climbing: 64 m
Total descent: -75 m
Total time: 00:56:43
Download file: In Dublin compressed corrected.gpx

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