Ireland day 1103. Saturday 05 October 2024- Tolka Stroll

Today’s summary	Took the train into Connolly and had intended to walk to the Botanics via the Royal Canal Greenway. But it’s still being repaired around Croke Park so we went a bit further north and followed the Tolka river instead. Had lunch in the garden café then a quick look round the greenhouses. Caught the no 4 bus back to O’Connell Street and then the H2 to Malahide. Finished off the dhal curry for dinner and watched a Netflix documentary about Artificial intelligence
Today’s weather	Overcast and windy but dry. Strong southerly wind. Appx 16c

Today’s overview location (The grey 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): Tolka to the Botanics from Connolly

Commentary

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

We hadn’t been to the Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin for our while, and as it’s an uplifting place – especially when the greenhouses are warm and the weather outside is turning colder – we decided we better go back and pay another visit today.

So after the obligatory tea-in-bed-under-the-pretext-of-deep-relaxation, we pulled our things together and caught the next DART out of Malahide down to Connolly. From the station, we had intended to seek out the Royal Canal Greenway, and follow it west to the where it hits the Phibsborough Road, and then up from there to the Botanics. But we soon discovered that the Greenway was still closed for repairs – the section near Croke Park is apparently in danger of falling into the canal so needs extensive remedial work. We followed parallel running parallel instead, and eventually ended up alongside the Tolka River, in Griffith Park

It’s quite an interesting seeing this side of Dublin – it doesn’t feel as smart as the south side, but there is definitely plenty going on. Nevertheless, the park was an oasis of calm towards the end of our route, and from there it wasn’t long before we were going through the wrought iron gates into the Botanics themselves.

My first priority was the café, of course, and we had a very enjoyable lunch despite the recent “modernisation” it has evidently just enjoyed. After lunch, we had a quick look at the exhibition upstairs then made a bee-line for the greenhouses, which are always the star attraction on a day like today when it’s not so nice outside. They were lovely, as always, so we spent the best part of an hour having a good nosey around.

Once we’d finished, we caught a no 4 bus to O’Connell Street and and paid a brief visit to Mountain Warehouse to see if they had any down jackets, to replace my current one which is in danger of falling to bits. But we couldn’t find one that felt like it would be both good at keeping me warm and not ridiculously expensive, so we came away empty handed.

As we walked back to Connolly along Abbey Street, we passed by the bus stop just as an H2 running direct to Malahide pulled in. So rather than subjecting ourselves to a cold wait of indeterminate duration in the Baltic vicissitudes of Platform 6, we jumped on board and were back at the flat in next-to-no time.

For dinner, we enjoyed the last of the dhal curry while we watched a Bill Gates Netflix documentary on Artificial Intelligence, which I think we both enjoyed rather less than the curry.

Well that’s enough rambling for now. We’re looking forward to an early night and then another relatively low-key day tomorrow, as we continue our steady programme of recharging the batteries.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The Archbishop of Dublin lives in this magnificent (hidden) mansion in Drumcondra. It’s set in huge grounds and as far as I can tell it’s all totally off-limits to the general public.	The Tolka River, running through Griffith Park

Approaching the main entrance to the gardens, on Botanic Road	Upstairs in the Visitor Centre there is a big exhibition centre. I wasn’t that interested in today’s display, but I do like the panoramic view from up there

*Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) in bloom in the curvilinear range. I’ve noticed the plant on previous visits, but never seen it in flower before.*	Outside the Curvilinear Range – a large temperate greenhouse which features plants from Mediterranean regions all round the world. Probably my favourite type of climate

This is good news. There are two magnificent greenhouses – the Waterlily House and the Cactus House – at the Botanic Gardens which are abandoned and rapidly falling into a state of ruin. It seems that plans are afoot to repair them – there’s no timeline yet but at least the first step to getting planning permission has been taken.