Garden visits!

 Today I visited gardens in Rathmines!

It was part of the "Rathmines Open Gardens" which is held to raise money for different charities and this year is for Harold's Cross Hospice.

The last time I did these garden tours was probably about 5 years ago and the weather was glorious. Today the weather was not so glorious and I got caught in the rain while visiting the gardens. I planned to visit three gardens but in the end I just went to two.

They were two beautiful gardens and in the second the host had laid on the most beautiful cake and tea spread with bone china tea cups and saucers. So beautiful.  The first garden had a great view of the Rathmines dome which was certainly an interesting sight.

Here's pics that I took in both of the gardens. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed visiting them!

Garden 1

Garden 2

 

Flying visit to Spain

Last weekend was a bank holiday and I had booked a flight to see Ciaran in Spain.

It was a flying visit and I think I was in Malaga for a total of 36 hours. I had a great time but far far too short with my arrival on Saturday night being nearly at 11.30pm. And although I was too late for dinner I was greeted by Ciaran with a glass of cava and a slice of cheesecake which was a really nice thing!

On Saturday morning we walked to the beach and had a swim in a little cove. I really enjoyed this and found it so invigorating and made me completely forget that I had been in Ireland less than 12 hours before.

Later for dinner we ate in Araboka which we had been wanting to try for a long time - perhaps since we had lived in Malaga during the pandemic! 

Food was great and the setting was gorgeous and I took the opportunity to wear my vintage Dolce & Gabbana dress.

Of interest about this dress is that Amy Winehouse wore it (not this actual one!) on stage in 2007.  Here's a photo of Amy on stage wearing the dress which is very cool....

And then after a swim on Sunday morning my flying visit to Spain started to come to an end with the need to get to the airport for about 2pm. I was sad to leave but it won't be long before Ciaran is back in Ireland and then I get back to Malaga in July, so all is good!

Ciaran took a break from working in the studio while I was there which was so nice of him (I'll repay the favour when he is next in Dublin!) and we spent the whole time I was there together.

Here's a video of him working in the studio in Madrid so you can get an idea of what he's doing 

A weekend of Culture and Fun!

 I had the busiest and best weekend!

It started with a train ride directly from work in to Dublin City where I headed to Merrion Square Park to attend a Dublin Literary Award event. The winner of the award, Mark Crummey author of "The Adversary" was giving a public talk with a book signing after. Wow, what a great guy, a truly natural storyteller and I'm really looking forward to reading his award winning book. Nominations for books are submitted by libraries all over the world and if a translated book wins, the prize money gets split between the author and the translator which is interesting. 

After this event it was time to meet Ciaran on the Luas on his way home from the airport where we planned to get home and cook dinner and have a chilled evening. Which is what we did!

The next day was where it got really busy! 

The first thing we did was cycle in to town where Ciaran had an appointment to get his eyes tested in Specsavers on Sawson Street. Then it was a quick cycle home to Ranelagh (we cycled the great new bike lanes in the village) where Ciaran met a friend for coffee. A neighbour then dropped in a Rhubarb Tart for Ciaran (nice!) so he popped in to see her when he returned from coffee.

Next it was back in to the city, this time on the bus, where we headed to the IFI in Temple Bar to see the Eileen Grey 1027 film. It was a great atmosphere in Temple Bar and I really enjoyed walking through it to get to the cinema.

After the cinema we walked over the Liffey and headed to Capel Street to go to All Bar Chicken to get wings for a late lunch. These were great, so tasty and a good atmosphere in the restaurant - just good informal food. 

The rain was really coming down at this point but we didn't mind so much because it was not too cold. And so it was another walk back to Grafton Street where we bought a gift for the birthday boy in Brown Thomas. 

After out little shopping trip, it was on to another mode of transport when we caught the Luas home to Ranelagh and then had a little walk back to the house.

A change of clothes, brought us back a few decades, where we kitted ourselves out for a Seventies themed birthday party for Gerry's big day. 

Well what a fun party, we had the best time.  We were home by about 2am but we were too hyper to sleep so we chatted to probably about 3am. 

Sunday I was up earlyish (about 8am) and we headed to Gerry's to give him his birthday present. Then it was back in to town where we hung out on Grafton Street for a bit before going to Bunsen for lunch before Ciaran caught the bus back to the airport.

And for me after Ciaran went to the airport, I went on the bus from O'Connell Street to Rathmines where I bought a cinema ticket to see the new Mission Impossible Movie and I settled in for a nice 3 hours of enjoying Tom Cruise in his latest (and I think last) Mission Impossible blockbuster.

Wow, what a great weekend. I crammed in so much and yet I wasn't one bit tired heading back to work on Monday, in fact I was invigorated by all that I got up to!

Travel recap!

 I'm planning on getting back in to blogging after an extended break where I was travelling so much I was too busy to blog.

Here's a recap of all of the places I visited over the past time while I was on a career break from work:

Spain - Malaga, Madrid, Granada, Seville

Morocco - Marakesh

Mexico - Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Ajijic, Chapala

Guatemala - Guatemala City, Antigua

Colombia - Bogota, Cartegena 

All such great places with the most amazing sights. Antigua in Guatemala was one of my favourites and I think it was possibly the most beautiful place I have visited in the whole world.

Here's a few pics which capture the spirit of our travels

We sent postcards from most of the places we visited - with many of them arriving months after we had left the place where they were sent from 

On the streets of Bogota, Colombia across the road from the Bottero Museum

Beautiful Cartegena, Colombia

A stunning view from a restaurant in Antigua, Guatemala

The incredible Belles Artes in Mexico City

And now it is back to reality with me here in Ireland back at the day job while PIGSY is creating art in an art residency in Spain.

Look forward to some future blogs outlining what we are both getting up to!

And in the meanwhile, you can check out this awesome video of a rooftop PIGSY art exhibition in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico

Mexico to Madrid

 Well it has been a trip!

After spending 5 months in Mexico I am now in Madrid via Malaga. The 23 hour door to door trip from Ajijic (car to Gudalajara airport, flight to Mexico City, flight to Malaga, taxi to the ciudad) left us in a fairly jet lagged state - we may still be recovering even though it is nearly 2 weeks ago. 

Here's the bones of a post that I made on Facebook just as I left Mexico and I think it highlights a lot of what I loved about my travels.

My time in Mexico has been the most incredible adventure and I will miss it so much. From the hecticness of Mexico City and Guadalajara to the sleepiness of Ajijic with its mountain and lake views, to the welcoming greeting of "Bienvenidos" everywhere we went.

The food has been great and I doubt I will ever eat any better tamales, tacos or my fave, the deeply decadent dark spicey mole. And to think I had my first ever Margarita at Garibaldi Plaza watching a mariachi band while now I've acquired a taste for slowly sipping a reposado tequila after dinner!

Which leads me to all of the dinners and events we've enjoyed with the most truly wonderful people we have met including talented musicians, singers, artists, playwrights, actors, writers, architects, residency directors and residency staff along with other friends that we've encountered along the way. They will all stay in my memories and I hope we will meet again.

Mexico is a place like none other I have visited and it's perhaps the sounds that will stick with me the longest. The sound of the cowboys returning from work as their horses trot along the cobbled streets of Ajijic, while they hold their reins in one hand and a well deserved beer in the other. Or being woken in Mexico City to the ringing of a hand bell to alert residents that the garbage truck is following behind and they need to put their rubbish out. Or in the different towns we went to having a constant sing song soundtrack of trucks blaring out what service they are offering "Estufa....limpiadora" - reminiscent perhaps of the ice cream truck in 1980s Ireland but selling literally everything from cheese, to water or fresh berries from the local farm or of course as above a service to have your oven cleaned!

I got a kick out of the simple things like paying a few pesos to go on a short bus trip. Bus journeys were always fun adventures where a musician or juggler might board to entertain passengers -someone had their rabbit on board one time!

And then there was the nighttime views of stars that always grounded me and reminded me that no matter where I was or how far away from home & friends I was that we can all look up at the stars and know that we are always connected across the miles that separate us.