Ireland day 0800. Thursday 08 December 2023- Richmond *

Ireland day 0800. Thursday 08 December 2023- Richmond

Today’s summary	Went to the Richmond conference centre in Dublin for a workshop. Val was at work in the evening. Watched the final episode of “Succession” and I prepared for my hospital visit tomorrow
Today’s weather	Heavy rain all morning, drying up later to leave a clear afternoon. Strong easterly wind. Appx 11c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where I walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

It’s ages since I went to a proper business workshop, so when I got the opportunity to join a “Customer Experience Day” today, I jumped at the chance. Especially as it was a miserable cold wet morning, which wouldn’t have been the best for exploring, even if I’d had the chance. Val was enjoying her final day of relaxation, before re-starting her Wonderlights shift tonight, so I left her finishing off the last of the Christmas cards while I dashed over to the station to catch the train into Dublin.

An additional reason for wanting to go to the workshop today was that it was being held in the “Richmond” conference centre. I hadn’t heard of it before so I wanted the opportunity to have a snoop around.

Once I’d battled there through the Christmas crowds and heavy rain, I found it to be an attractive place, with good facilities for a relatively small gathering like today. It’s a red brick building, once the site of four hospitals, and was only converted to its present purpose as recently as 2016. It sports exotic-looking pavilions at the end of either wing, which led to rumours that this building was actually designed to be installed in the Khyber Pass, but that the plans had got mixed up (probably not true but an intriguing possibility nevertheless). You can see it in the banner image at the top of this blog.

The workshop was worthwhile and I met lots of interesting people, so I’m glad I braved the rain and went out. Once it was over, at about 6pm, I made my way back to Malahide and found that before she went out to work, Val had made me a fantastic dinner of steak and chips. To fortify me, allegedly, for my operation tomorrow. Speaking of which, I better get my things together now, as I have to be in the hospital for 7am tomorrow and don’t want to have to get up too ridiculously early to do the packing. And, of course, we also have the final episode of “Succession” to watch as soon as Val gets home.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Malahide station on a rainy December morning – ideal commuting weather!	Smithfield – it’s got lots of potential but always feels a bit soul-less to me

Just how many red signals do you need? (at Connolly station this evening)



Lough Avalla steak for dinner. Val decided I needed building up before my operation and it was delicious!