A Dublin Perspective

I remember hearing someone ask the question: if someone had completed a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and it was hanging in their hallway, but there was one piece missing in the middle, would you focus on the scene the puzzle created, or would you focus on the missing piece?

I think it speaks to the human condition that most of us would focus on the missing piece, unless otherwise challenged. Our default setting is problem detection and analysis. 

But just because that is the default setting, doesn't mean it has to remain that way. 

You can choose to accept the default settings of your life, or you can choose to customise it. It might not be as easy as updating your ring tone, or changing your background picture, but with time and attention, and intention, you can choose how you view your life, and how you do your life.

We have had a really tough 6 months in our new home in a lot of ways. This has meant it has sometimes been challenging to enjoy our new home. We have spent a lot of time getting used to living in a big city rather than a small town, getting used to living in a smaller space, the differences in professional expectations here, in prices and value for money here, job insecurity, no safety net and all the other pitfalls of immigrant life.  

I remember my English teacher saying that one of the things he enjoyed most about having children was the chance to see the world afresh again. I had a great opportunity to challenge my perception this morning, to see Dublin through fresh eyes. (Thankfully, it didn't involve having children.)

Jared had to go into work today, and so I found myself at a loss of what to fill my day with. I went to St Stephen's Green, to read or perhaps write a bit. 

Somewhere near the middle of St Stephen's Green

Conveniently, Best Friend was free and we were chatting. So I headed home so we could video chat. Instead of giving her 30 mins of radio silence while I was walking, I decided to pepper her with photos on the way.

From the bridge in St Stephen's Green

 And with each photo something strange happened. 

The pond in St Stephen's Green - West End

In stark contrast to the normal road-rage-which-has-turned-into-footpath-rage, I saw Dublin through fresh eyes, and instead of throngs of commuters and tourists, I saw the steady, ever-present buildings that hug the streets, and whisper to a history which I'm just beginning to appreciate. 

I started at St Stephen's Green, a beautiful park in the centre of Dublin, and I moved up Grafton street, passing the horse and carts that I'm sure I'll ride with someone when they come visit at some point. 

At the entrance to Grafton Street

St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre

Instead of waiting for cars at the traffic lights, and looking for the opportune time to Jay-walk, I focused on the gargantuan glass structure that is St Stephen's Green Shopping centre. 

Even though it was 9am on a Saturday morning, and the city was yawning awake, it was a calm, clear, beautiful day and displayed Dublin in all of its quaint glory. 

I looked for things that Best Friend would appreciate - and I found quite a few.

A pretty dress I'd like to buy

I allowed myself to look into the shop windows on Grafton Street and admire the wares on offer, an indulgence which I have foregone for too long as there's no spending money at present, so why would I even look?

The Molly Malone Statue lives a little further around this corner on Suffolk Street.

Pretty sure this is a new shop because I do not remember passing this one before....

Best Friend and I had been talking about how we miss shopping together, so I ensured that there was a good selection of shops in my photo tour to whet an appetite for future shopping excursions.

Did you know that Butler's Chocolate is in only 4 countries in the world - Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh?

I passed the first Butlers Chocolate shop, which I don't think is in it's original location, but it's pretty close. 

I went beyond Grafton Street passed Trinity College, home to the Book of Kells and a really cool 300 year old library, and the Bank of Ireland building which used to be the Irish Parliament building. 

Fun fact: there used to be a tax on glass because it was really expensive to make. This is where the phrase 'daylight robbery' comes from. To avoid this expense when they build the Irish Parliament, they just walled up where the windows should be instead. 

From there I went up Westmoreland Street, and instead of the usual throng of commuters, it was just buildings. I was reminded of my delightful time at the National Wax Museum 'meeting' historical Irish figures.

But I'm confronted by the fact I walk past this stuff every day, and I spend more time internally raging at the slow walkers in front of me, weaving through the mass of people constantly thronging Westmoreland Street, awaiting buses, or trying to avoid broken paving stones so I do not trip and fall on my face. 

Did you know that Temple Bar is an area, and also a specific bar - The Temple Bar - and is named for a sandbar owned by the Temple family where boats used to land and unload to trade at the nearby merchant's arch? It is not, as I originally thought, a place where the Irish go to worship alcohol ;)

I snapped  the River Liffey on O'Connell Bridge from a picturesque vantage, and photographed the statue of its namesake, and trooped towards the GPO and the Spire, and several of the notable statues along the spine of O'Connell Street. 

O'Connell Street Lower

Sir John Gray is credited with getting a functional water supply to Dublin City and surrounding suburbs.

Jim Larkin features in a very interesting series called 'Strumpet City' - a story of terrible working class conditions in Dublin at the turn of the 20th Century, and how the Irish working class basically brought the city to a halt by protesting.

General Post Office - O'Connell Street. This building was the home of the IRA headquarters for a time before the 1916 Easter Rising and was also the scene for a lot of the fighting during that 9 day stand off. 

I haven't noticed the GPO building for awhile, as I often am more focused on the homeless people who often use it for shelter, and it punches me in the heart every time I see some poor soul sleeping on the streets, and walk past feeling powerless to do anything on a human or system level to change the circumstances that has created this reality for them. 

But today, I walked past the GPO, and crossed the road to gain a better vantage point for admiring the building. 

I bragged about having a movie theatre about 300 m from our apartment.

From there, I proceeded to Parnell Square, named after Charles Parnell who was instrumental in the home rule bill getting carried through Parliament. This is the final intersection before my street.

I showed Best Friend the Pho shop where I'd like to take her someday.

Parnell Street Pho Viet

The Parnell Luas Stop where you can catch the tram to basically our front door. 

We, instead of a corner dairy, have a corner liquor store. 

It sells a lot of New Zealand wines and particularly Oyster Bay, so I frequent this place quite often on the way home.

We live in a mini China-town, so there's also a bunch of really great Asian food shops close by. 

Moore St and 3 different supermarkets are also just around the corner, and today I experimented with buying fruit and veg from the Moore Street Markets.

I mentioned the James Joyce centre, just across the road from our building. 

I showed her the Georgian style buildings that line my street, and all the while I am having an almost outer-body experience thinking 'these pictures are beautiful'. 

This morning, I had a reminder that I live in a beautiful, ancient city, full of architecture and stories. I was reminded of how lucky I am that I can walk the length of the city centre in about 30 mins. 

I am also amazed by how quickly you can take things for granted, how easy it is to adjust to the new normal of living over the other side of the world, in a new place, and start to already wish you were somewhere else or ache for the other normalcy of home.

There's beauty everywhere, you just have to look for it - and that's a mere 30 min walk across town.

(I expect lots of visitors, now that you have a road map to my place. Don't forget to bring a bottle of wine from the Off-License on the corner!)