Ireland day 1387. Wednesday 16 July 2025- Easy Dublin

Today’s summary	Went into Dublin on the bus with Val to try and get some socks (succeeded) and some new trainers (failed). Had lunch at the National Gallery then had a good look at books in Hodges & Figgis, and at deluxe food in Fallon & Byrne. Came back in the Dart from Pearse then had stir fry from F&B for dinner with Tour De France on Netflix as accompaniment.
Today’s weather	Cloudy with some sunny intervals but dry. Moderate south easterly wind. Appx 18c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue 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): Easy Dublin

Commentary

Even when you are supposed to be trying to chill about more and do a bit less, there are still tasks of daily life that keep on demanding your attention. Today it was the turn of feet. As I was cutting my toenails this morning (I know how to live) I concluded that I needed some fresh socks and also ideally some new training shoes to go with them.

So, given that Val wanted to get a couple of items from a bookshop, it was clear that a shopping trip to Dublin was called for. Which meant that as soon as Val had been on her run, and I’d made breakfast, we were on our way to the bus stop to catch the H2 into town. By the way, we chose the bus rather than the train as it was quite a sunny morning, and the view from the upper deck – especially round Portmarnock and Sutton beaches – is spectacular. We weren’t disappointed.

Once we had got off the bus and escaped the general grottiness of Abbey Street, and once we’d dropped into the theatre to check the future programme, we walked over to O’Connell Street to start shopping. Our first port of call was Decathlon, where I managed to get some socks. I had hoped also to get some more shorts like the ones I’d bought there earlier in the year. I really like them but – predictably- they are no longer available. I really must remember that if I ever find clothing that I like and which fits and doesn’t actually look hideous, I should buy six of whatever the item is. Because inevitably when I come to buy a replacement, it will be discontinued.

By this time it was lunchtime and we were hungry. So we walked over to the National Gallery and got lunch in the café. It was delicious and the heritage tomatoes were especially good.

From there we walked down Nassau Street to Dawson Street (my favourite, of course) and dropped into Hodges & Figgis bookshop so Val could buy her book. While she was browsing, I had a good look through the travel section and indulged my fantasies about visits to exotic destinations.

Next on our list was Fallon & Byrne food hall, where we ogled the expensive delicacies on sale but constrained our purchases to a ready meal and a rather exotic but more affordable packet of crisps.

Last on our hit list of shops was Cotswold, on Trinity Street, just round the corner from Molly Malone. I had wanted to get a new pair of “On Cloud” trainers because they are reasonably comfortable, quite robust and – importantly for Ireland – waterproof. They did have a couple of pairs that I liked but at over €180 each, I decided I needed to lie down and think about it for a bit before splashing out quite so extravagantly. But I better not wait too long as inflation here, like everywhere else, is rampant and it will probably only get worse as the effects of tariffs, etc., take hold.

So we left Cotswold empty handed but at least not quite as empty-walleted as we could have been. We strolled back to Pearse and caught a well timed Dart back to Malahide with only a minimal wait. We were back in the flat just before 6, where for me at least the first priority was to make us both some much needed cups of tea.

For dinner, Val made a delicious beef stir fry, from some pre-prepared ingredients we had picked up at Fallon & Byrne. We’re going to enjoy it while watching the Tour de France documentary on Netflix. Tonight it’s the gravel trail section and it promises “absolute carnage”. Fabulous.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Arriving in Dublin – the view from the upper deck of the H2, with The Spire in the centre distance	As we were passing through Trinity College, we dropped in at the International Clay Conference. Really interesting, especially if Zeolites are your thing

Lunch at the National Gallery – complete with delicious Heritage Tomato salad	Probably (in my view at any rate) Dublin’s best bookshop

Browsing the aisles. I could spend hours just in the travel section	Pearse station as our Malahide-bound Dart rolls in. It looks cold and grey, and it is (although this is actually Dublin’s least inhospitable station)

Gigantic Heritage Tomatoes at Fallon & Byrne – with prices to match. Heritage Tomatoes have turned out to be a bit of a thing today, it seems