Ireland day 1008. Tuesday 02 July 2024- Spontaneity

Today’s summary	After a few hours sorting out some paperwork this morning, the rest of the day we spent in Dublin. Had lunch part 1 at “Panem” café then Val went to do some shopping in the Grafton Street area while I went to the Chester Beattie museum and did a video call from the roof garden. Had lunch part 2 in St Stephen’s Green. Went to see “The Sugar Wife” play at the Abbey theatre in the evening.
Today’s weather	Overcast and quite mild. Mostly dry but a little occasional light drizzle. Light westerly wind. Appx 17c

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

Commentary

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

Val had been intending to meet up with a friend in Dublin today but unfortunately the friend had to cancel at the last minute. A bit of a shame, but it did mean we had an unexpected free day together, which was a bonus.

First thing, though, there was some admin that needed to be dealt with in the flat. But as soon as this was finished, we decided to go into Dublin to enjoy our spontaneous day.

We were spontaneous right from the outset, actually. We just missed a DART from Malahide so instead of hanging around for the next one, we walked down to James’ Terrace and caught the H2 bus. It turned out to be a slow ride into town – waiting for the train would probably have been quicker – but it’s always enjoyable if you get the front seat upstairs (which of course we did).

We duly arrived at Abbey Street and in our second spontaneous decision of the day, we went in and booked tickets for a performance this evening. Once we’d done that, it was over to the Panem café for a light lunch (part 1) of coffee and pastries. (Panem wasn’t quite as nice as the last time we had visited, we both felt)

By mid afternoon, we went our own ways briefly. Val headed off to “Article” near Grafton Street, to spend a gift voucher she had been given for a her recent birthday. I, meanwhile made my way to the roof garden of the Chester Beattie gallery where I found a peaceful corner to dial into my monthly video call with my friend in Houston.

We met up again in Brown Thomas and paused briefly to gawp at the astonishing prices of even the simplest objects. We walked from there up Grafton Street to St Stephen’s Green where we enjoyed part 2 of our lunch. This time it was some roast red peppers which Val had prepared à la Delia and which we had brought in with us. Needless to say, they were delicious.

A quick walk back across town saw us back at the Abbey in good time to enjoy a couple of glasses of sparkling refreshment before tonight’s play – “The Sugar Wife” – started.

We really enjoyed the play. It discussed the morals of philanthropy based on fortunes of dubious origin (in this case a Dublin sugar refiner) and was very thought provoking.

A quick walk to Connolly saw us on the DART and back at the flat by 10pm. All in all a totally enjoyably spontaneous day.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The wheels on the (no. H2) bus go round-and-round..	Low tide Liffey reveals all sorts of interesting hidden secrets

Dame street – linking Molly Malone to the Castle – fabulously grungey, if you like that sort of thing.	Fabulously grungey art in Dame Street

Round the back of Dublin Castle – adjacent to the Dubh Linn garden and the Chester Beattie gallery – where I did my videoconference from the roof garden	Curtain up! The show is about to begin in the Abbey theatre tonight

Val’s birthday present (the tray) proudly on show and being put to good use with the pre-theatre drinks this evening!