Happy Arthur’s Day

Catherine and I each year celebrate Arthur’s Day with at pint at 17:59 (or as close as we can get) since Guinness was founded 1759. This year we had to celebrate a bit early and went to a secret little pub, Fallons, for some of the best Guinness in all of Dublin. The pub is one of the last that clean their own draught pipes and since so many customers order Guinness only, it tastes the purest and best. Catherine’s sister owns a pub, hence that little gem of knowledge. It was great to have one last Dublin celebration of Arthur’s Day!

My Fancy Architecture Project

The Celtic Tiger ran away a long time ago, which is why as an architect, most of the projects I have worked on over the last 5 years have been put on hold, completely disregarded, or have been tied up in planning appeals for years. The one beast of a project I have been working on, which has been highly controversial, finally made it through planning after countless redesigns, changes, additions, alterations and clarifications. The links below best explain the history, with the RTE (the national news station) showing it on the 6 O’clock news! Ben may have had his project show up in fancy magazines, but mine was on the news! Not sure if or when it will be built, I am not going to speculate there, but there is satisfaction in knowing that I made something through planning and it has potential of being built!

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0916/dunnes.html

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0917/1224304267437.html

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0916/dunne-business.html

http://www.newstalk.ie/2011/news/permission-granted-for-re-development-of-ballsbridge-site-in-dublin/

Strange Anomaly #73

One early Saturday morning, Ben and I trekked across town to go to our old breakfast place, Hobarts, in Ranelagh, because it has an amasing full Irish breakfast. As we were walking, we dodged the many 'sidewalk pizzas' left by the throngs of drunk people who wandered the streets the night before and got sick. As we walked, a young family walked towards us, and the smallest of the group, who was maybe three years old, slipped in one of the sidewalk pizzas, getting vomit all over herself. I would not have wanted to be her mother as we all stared in horror at the small child. Just one of the strange dangers of Dublin.

As a side note:
I do not do these strange anomalies to point out bad things about Ireland. I do love Ireland, they are just things that seem strange coming from an American.

Last Country Pub

There are several pubs within Dublin County (that are on the outskirts of Dublin City) that I had already been to, except for one. The Blue Light. One of the women I work with, Sylvia, I have been teaching her all about Mexican food. Yummy things like enchiladas, burritos, empanadas, and more. For my parting gift she decided to take me on a trip outside of the city since she drives and knows I love experiences. Plus I would have no room in my suitcase to bring anything home with me. We had our fingers crossed for sunny weather even though it had rained all week, and sure enough, the clouds parted and we were able to have a nice pint out on the terrace overlooking Dublin and the Irish Sea. The pub is great with cozy fireplaces, live traditional music being played, good beer and great craic. The pub is a great old man pub, but there were still was a good mix of younger folk, families and the locals. It was too warm to snuggle in front of a fireplace, but I wish that I could have been able to make the trek up there in the snow since it would have been perfect. It is a bit hidden, so no tourist, and I was glad that I was able to squeeze it in. Since Sylvia was driving she was unable to drink, so after enjoying the view as the sun was setting, we headed back into town, ditched the car, and continued our tradition of eating a wide range of Mexican food, good beer and unforgettable chats!