Ireland day 0914. Saturday 30 March 2024- Phoenix Revived *

Ireland day 0914. Saturday 30 March 2024- Phoenix Revived

Today’s summary	Val and I took the train and Luas into Dublin and did a clockwise circular walk round Phoenix Park. Cold and showery but some bright sun. A good day out though the journeys to and from Malahide seemed to take ages.
Today’s weather	Sunshine and showers. Strong southerly wind. Appx 10c but felt colder when the sun wasn’t shining.

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Phoenix revisited with Val

Commentary

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

The weather has been very unpredictable recently so we have decided spend the Easter weekend in and around Dublin. Plus the fact Val was working yesterday and tomorrow, and the car has its NCT tomorrow too.

So today we woke up quite early, had a cup of tea, and Val got up and did some cooking while I practiced my Spanish and made packed lunches.

Once that was done, and we’d had a cup of coffee, we headed for the station and took the DART into town. It’s been a day of slow public transport today – we had to wait a long time for the DART, then a long time for a LUAS to take us to Heuston, then the same on the way back. Perhaps even longer. Though we generally managed to find somewhere out of the weather to wait, so didn’t get too cold.

Our objective today was to complete a clockwise circular walk round Phoenix Park, starting and finishing at Heuston station.

It’s one of our favourite excursions, incorporating many highlights including Kilmainham Hospital, the War Memorial Gardens, the Liffey towpath, Chapelizod, Farmleigh, the Zoo and of course Phoenix Park itself.

We thoroughly enjoyed the walk. Lots of fresh air, which seemed particularly well washed clean after all the rain and wind. We found a sheltered spot in the War Memorial Gardens to have our sandwiches, and then further on paid a call on the Farmleigh Café for a late afternoon cup of tea. From the café was a relatively straightforward walk back to the Chesterfield Road entrance, alongside the northern perimeter wall.

The Park was looking lovely – fresh vibrant greens, lots of early spring flowers, and even a large herd of deer to decorate the horizon.

After our slow journey back to Malahide, we spent the evening enjoying Val’s latest Lebanese cuisine (highly recommended, especially with a nice glass of Malbec) and watching a Roald Dahl mini-movie on Netflix.

Another great day. Spring is on its way!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


In the Kilmainham Hospital Courtyard	Chapelizod looking charming in the sun

If you look carefully, you can just about make out the herd of deer in the woods	Massive polypore – one of many – steadily digesting the stump of a large felled tree up in the park

Candid shot in the Farmleigh café	Tulips at their perfect best in the People’s Garden

Here we are, about to head off into the Furzy Glen