It was a beautiful day in Dublin so we got up and headed in to town on the Luas. We planned on getting coffee and wandering down Grafton Street with it but then decided to go to Stephens Green park and sit on the grass with our coffee. Ciaran went to Butlers while I went to Insomnia (I brought my keep cup) and then we met in the park.
Afterwards we did take the stroll as planned down Grafton Street and landed on College Green which was car free for the second week running.
The atmosphere was great in the area with a relaxed vibe as everyone walked the streets on the plaza.
Check out #streetsareforpeople on twitter for more pics.
From College Green we went on to Temple Bar and found that All City was open. Ciaran took the opportunity to go in for a browse and pick up some spray paint and oil sticks.
And then after Temple Bar we walked to South Williams Street where we took Bones for a pint in Grogans!
By this time we were getting ready for lunch so we decided to go get some wings in Wishbone on Montague Street. So Bones went back on the lead and off we went walking again.
It was such a nice day that we took our wings in to Stephens Green and sat on a bench and enjoyed them there. We could hear music from the band stand which was very cool!
And finally after all of that it was home on the luas. Fun for sure and car free College Green was very enjoyable. A great day all in all!
Whew I got up to loads yesterday!
I was up early and we headed off to Deansgrange to visit a church. A church you say!
Yes! This 1970's wonder designed by John L. Griffith who seemingly was the brother of the parish priest of the time.
It's the Holy Family Parish Church at Kill O'the Grange and it's a whopper of a brick building.
Very impressive altogether and worth a visit. It was locked so had to take the picture of the internals through a window. I'd like to go back and see the inside sometime in the future.
After our Church visit, Ciaran had to go on a site visit so I went home and did some social media work for his website and on his return we took Bones to Pot Bellied Pig, Rathmines for brunch. I had their full Irish (the Hog) for the first time and was really impressed. Excellent quality ingredients cooked perfectly. Annoyingly I forgot to ask them to leave off the toast as I don't eat bread. Gah, I hate food waste.
After brunch, Ciaran headed off to play Padel in Bushy Park, while I got on my bike and cycled in to town to experience a "Car Free" South William Street.
This one street had been closed off to car traffic for the day (access was given to anyone with a disabled parking badge and cars could still exit the Brown Thomas car park) by some civic activists including the Dublin Commuters Coalition, Irish Pedestrian Network and the Dublin Cycling Campaign.
Wow it was blissful given that this is a terrible street when cars are on it as it is woefully small, with inadequate pathways for pedestrians - in particular those with buggies or using wheelchairs.
It was great to see the street being fully used with loads of people socialising on the street, families hanging out and people spilling out from Grogans drinking pints of Guinness on the roadway. It's definitely one road that could be pedestrianised quickly and would be such a great improvement for the city.
I hope that People Power can get this done!
Check this pic out - Dublin is so small. My sister in the States was sent this pic by a friend asking if this was me! You can't do anything in this town without being spotted.... :-)
And then I found a picture of myself on social media coverage of the Streets are for People actions. Too funny seeing myself caught on film all unaware!
After my cycle home, I had a short turn around time before I headed back towards the city on the Luas. This time it was to Iveagh Gardens to see Burt Bacharach.
This was my first time as this venue and I thought it was brilliant. Capacity is about 5,000 and it has a nice bar set up with lots of food stalls to get something to eat at.
The bar had beer, wine and mixed Gin drinks in a can (this is a somewhat odd single liquor offering, but how and ever...) so I went for a glass of prosecco which was rather nice in the setting!
We had a great night at the concert, it was mild and didn't rain. We were able to get very close to the stage and had a great view of the show along with the sound being very good. Burt Bacharach is an absolute legend, 91 yrs old and still going strong. All of his hits had me singing along and I was still singing them in my head as we took the Luas home.
A great day and an even better night!
As the song goes
"Dublin can be heaven, with coffee at a eleven and a stroll around Stephens Green......"
With the pedestrianising of more streets there can be more strolling around this heavenly city - let's keep the action going!
For further info about South William Street being given over to pedestrians, check out #Streetsareforpeople on Twitter.
