Yesterday evening one of the smoke alarms begins to chirp intermittently, and after some trial and error I determine it’s the one in my bedroom. The new shoe storage bench from IKEA turns serves as a good substitute for a step stool. There are three plastic tabs holding the smoke alarm in place, and I carefully use a flat head screwdriver to pry each one open until the assembly is freed from the ceiling. Once the 9 volt battery is removed, the maddening chirp is mercifully silenced.
Today the need to get a replacement battery is motivation enough to get out of the apartment. It’s been raining this morning, so I wear my waterproof coat, but the weather clears up (as it often does) so I feel conspicuous compared with the locals wearing ordinary jackets for the relatively warm day in the 50s F / lower 10s C. The Centra convenience store around the corner is selling a Duracell 9 volt battery for €9+, which is obviously way overpriced. I stop by a hardware shop down South George Street and find the same Duracell one for €6.50, which still seems expensive compared to U.S. prices, although buying 9 volt batteries is a rare occasion and I’m not going to run around looking for a cheaper one. Since I’m already heading southward, I decide to take a walk down towards Rathmines and back to get my steps in for the day.
The main stretch of Rathmines with its landmark “Four-Faced Liar” clock tower that never displays the right time:
As I’m approaching Rathmines centre, I pass by a sandwich place called Hush that is taking orders through a front window. There are a few people already in front, and the menu looks irresistible. I’ve built up an appetite from walking, so I decide to stop for lunch. I go for the Rocket Man — five spice pulled pork with Asian slaw and mayo — and luckily find a small plaza in front of a community center just a few steps away that has some benches where I can sit down and eat. The sandwich reminds me very much of a Vietnamese banh mi but instead of a crusty french roll it’s served on a delectably crunchy bread grilled with a panini press. It’s probably the best sandwich I’ve had in Dublin yet!
As I’m strolling to and from Rathmines I try to take note of all the different names for what to me is the same street. It starts as South Great George’s Street in Temple Bar, then turns into Aungier Street, then Redmond Hill for a short block/intersection, then Wexford Street, Camden Street Lower, Richmond Street South and finally Rathmines Road Lower. There aren’t always street signs on the corners of buildings, although there are some namesake businesses along the way as clues. This corridor of Dublin is gentrified with many ethnic and gourmet food establishments, but there are still some derelict buildings and other random storefronts for charity thrift shops (which are ubiquitous in the city), antique stores, old school shoe repair shops, and even small casinos.
The headquarters of Concern Worldwide is located on the stretch of Camden Street — this is the humanitarian relief organisation where I applied for a job last week:
This skinny building between two split streets caught my eye, and in front of it there’s another one of the painted-over electrical boxes turned street art that I mentioned in a previous post:
It takes all of 30 minutes to get back to Temple Bar, and I notice there is a gentle downward slope heading towards the Liffey River that makes it go a little faster than walking southward to Rathmines. Here’s a map showing the various street names along my route:
Until next time….
