Calm and serene

RIGHT I have semi-calmed down after my last post and I stress semi. However I plod or should I say blog on and am going to give you a little taster of St Stephen’s Green on a sunny lunchtime.



Firstly apologies to all you Dubs, living in Dublin and others who are already very familiar with this beautiful park and have no interest in seeing it again.



But for the rest of you, you are in for a delight.

Based right in the heart of Dublin city centre, well almost if you take O Connell Street to be the absolute centre, St Stephen's Green is a well-used fantastic spot of urban greenery and nature.



It's celebrating its 125th birthday and I have been wanting to do it justice and capture it for one of my flickr sets. (If you are not a member do join its free and a wonderful site to store pics, share pics and learn about photography.)

However, back to the park; years ago there were even chickens and roosters roaming about, don’t know what happened to them, I haven’t seen them in a while.

I did see this lot though, wouldn’t you know it, its tourists, sure if you can't act like a complete buck eejit in a foreign city with yer pals, when can you? And act like buck eejits they did.


You do the hokey cokey….

There was a band, a three-piece set-up, belting out all the Irish favourites to the crowd who were assembled in the sunshine listening.
(Check out the man at the side, more on him in a mo...)



And there was a bodhran player. (pronounced boar-ron)



The bodhran player, not this one of course, figuratively speaking, can strike fear into the most courageous session musician. They can make or break a lively tune with one clumsy ham-fisted over-enthusiastic beat.

Generally they aren’t welcome in tradition music sessions unless of course they have already proved themselves to be wildly competent.

Some people choose to spend the lunchtime in their own company watching the music,



while others choose to cuddle up to someone lovely…



Others prefered to just stand watching everyone else (a bit like me I suppose).



Only joking, this man was just standing away from where the crowd were gathered and it made for a nice shot, I thought anyway.

There’s many different wee nokes and crannies in the park, paths to follow…



and bridges to cross…



OKAY OKAY I’m cheating there, I took that last week in the park during a wet, very wet, lunchtime and you will still find people milling about and around this beautiful spot.

And I did take pix of pigeons cos I know how Doris loves them!…! But I feel that flying rats have had enough good press on these pages so here’s the not the pigeon shot…



Here's a couple of my favourite pix of the park.









And just because I have ended writing this post in a good humour, here’s something else I took today just to illustrate a point.

I want someone to explain to all the very welcome but nonetheless annoying Spanish students, please don’t block pavements, entrances, buses, Luas trams, roads, etc, etc, cos you are getting completely and utterly in the way.

Spanish students are great, they are most welcome, but could someone explain why oh why they ALL, all of them, all over the years I have been here and seen them every summer, why do they block everything, pavements, doorways, public transport?

When you can’t get by on a pavement, the gang of kids you will see will be handsome, tan and chattering away loudly, really loudly, and Spanish.


you can't see him but there's a wee pasty-faced short Irish bloke trying desperately to get out of the museum

I suppose even on a sunny day, you just can’t have everything.

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