Commemorating Fr Pat Noise!

Well I had heard about the hoax plaque commemorating Fr Pat Noise for a few years, and today I actually stopped on O'Connell Bridge and had a good look at it, as well as taking a picture.

What is this hoax plaque you might ask?!

Well the story goes way back to the late 1990's where an installation was commissioned by Dublin City Council. It was a digital clock screen that was placed in the River Liffey and it was going to count down to the Millenium.

Unfortunately the clock did not do well in the river water and became covered in algae and other material. In Dublin, there is a history of naming our public installations and statues (you might know the Molly Malone statue, otherwise known as "The tart with the cart") and the clock garnered the unfortunate name "The time in the slime".

The clock didn't last long and was removed by DCC, before it got to the Millenium, leaving a hole in the bridge where the controls of the clock had been.

So what happened next is that a few years later in 2024 a plaque commemorating "Fr Pat Noise" was placed in this empty hole. Placed by who is the big mystery!!

When it was brought to Dublin City Council's attention, they promptly removed the plaque. 

And well, you can imagine what happened next......yes another plaque arrived in place!

The second plaque got a reprieve and it has been there for about 20 years, brightening the days of Dubliners when they find the plaque and look in to who Fr Pat Noise was.

You can see the plaque in my photo below and read more in detail about the saga here

Spidey Sunday!

So Sunday....

I got a lot done between packing for China and also doing a few other chores, as well as buying a few things needed for work this week. All done in Rathmines, where I also went to the cinema to see the new Spiderman movie.

The movie was shown in one of the Maxx screens which is always a good experience. Seemingly Irish people go to the cinema a lot, some figures say we are the highest cinema goers in Europe. I wouldn't disagree after seeing the full cinema today for the earliest showing of Spiderman and with perhaps 5 more showings of it later!

Honestly it's been nice to take it easy this Sunday because I've had a lot of socialising over the past 3 weekends so I am enjoying just chilling this weekend.

Tomorrow I will get in to town early where I need to buy a small gift for someone and I also want to see if I can get a light pair of PJ's to wear in Shanghai. If I can't find something suitable here I will buy them when I arrive to China.

The other thing I will do in preparation for my trip is start to go to bed earlier and set my alarm for earlier than usual. By the time I get on the plane next weekend, I hope to be getting up perhaps an hour or two earlier than usual......this is all being done to try and counter the effects of jet lag. Will it help? I don't know, but it is worth giving it a try!

Bank Holiday in Dublin!

Friday started off great when I found a postcard from PIGSY in my letterbox. Check this out - it's the third one that he has sent me from China and I think this is my favourite.

And after work I headed to Dublin City to meet up with the I Bike Dublin Crew for a Critical Mass cycle or BikeBop as it is known also. I was slightly delayed getting on the train so I skipped the first part of the cycle and headed to Dame Street to join in with them when they got to here. It was a great cycle and it felt particularly poignant to cycle down Drury Street as Glen Hansards "Falling Slowly" blared out of the big speakers on the leaders cargo bike.

On Saturday I got up early and headed to Yoga in YogaYard for a 9.30am class that was gifted to me by my twin sister - thanks Amy! 

I was close to missing it, having slept through my alarm and waking up at 8.40am but I promptly got up, slung my gear in my bag and cycled quickly to Ringsend. It was so worth it because there was only 4 of us in the class so it was as good as a private class. 

And then afterwards I went on the train to Dalkey where I browsed the Charity Shop and bought a dress that I had seen yesterday and regretted not buying. I also saw these skates and considered buying them for a hot second. But considering I haven't skated for a long time (see here) I put them back on the shelf for someone else to buy!

I then took the train to town and pottered around as well as getting some Chinese Yuan in preparation for my upcoming trip. Exciting!

I exchanged my euro in the Westmoreland Street branch of No1Currency and I highly recommend them. They are very efficient and friendly and centrally located in Dublin city. For my last trip to Mexico they helped out with my pesos and I was happy to return to them for my yuans.