It’s the warmest day since my arrival to Dublin, with mostly clear blue skies and highs in the mid 50s F / mid 10s C. My walking buddy CJ and I plan an outing for the afternoon in search of some food trucks that rotate through different locations in the city during the week. On Tuesday, they’re supposed to be at place called Elmwood Park, way down in the southeast edge of Dublin near the Donnybrook neighbourhood.
View from O’Connell Bridge where I meet CJ to catch a bus:
O’Connell Bridge and Spire:
Elmwood Park turns out to be a business park with very modern but empty office buildings that have the similar feel as a high tech Silicon Valley campus. Due to the lockdown, it’s a ghost town with only a few sparse people walking through it. There’s no sign of any food trucks, which isn’t surprising given that no one is around. The food truck organisers hadn’t made a note on their website, since obviously the office workers who would normally be their customers aren’t there. Oh well, now we know!
The Elmwood Park office buildings:
We take the disappointment in stride with a spirit of adventure. There’s not much else in the immediate vicinity, just the major road that runs alongside the shoreline, so we end up grabbing a sandwich at a nearby Centra convenience store / Texaco petrol station across the street. Conveniently there are a few picnic tables with a fantastic view of the Dublin Bay:
The decommissioned red and white chimneys and modern power plant located on the Poolbeg peninsula:
We start heading inland in the direction of the Donnybrook neighbourhood, passing by St. Vincent’s Hospital (the largest private hospital in Dublin), and the Our Lady Queen of Peace church that features an unusual round tower styled in an ancient Irish style; when I looked it up, I was surprised it only dates back to the 1940s (not all churches here are old):
As we approach Donnybrook, we pass by the RTÉ public broadcast studios:
A skinny dwelling built alongside the stone wall:
The Donnybrook sign and an interesting pub in the small village centre:
On the long walk back to city centre, we stop by St. Stephens Green to sit and enjoy the nice weather for a little bit longer. Lots of people are out, mostly a younger crowd since students had just been let out of school, but I also saw a very elderly man being pushed through the park in a wheelchair… I assume he had been vaccinated and probably hadn’t been outside in quite some time.
A garda officer was in the park and asked some people not to sit in a grassy area around the central fountain, but otherwise seemed to let everyone alone:
Around 5:00pm, we make our way from the park down Grafton Street, stopping in briefly to Bewley’s Orientation Cafe for coffees. Many people are carrying lidded clear plastic cups containing beer from nearby pubs serving “pints to go,” which is still officially discouraged but not enforceable under any law.
A couple of blocks from my building, we unexpectedly spot a drag queen in front of The George (the biggest gay bar in Dublin, which like other bars/pubs, have been closed for more than a year now). Was she dressed up just for fun, or perhaps a private performance?!
Our one-way walk amounted to almost 11,000 steps… a map for reference:
Tomorrow’s forecast calls for more warm weather. It should come as no surprise that St. Patrick’s Day is an official national holiday in Ireland with most businesses and schools closed, although this year there is no parade and officials are urging people to stay home and follow public health guidelines. It’s reported that 2,500 gardaí/police will be deployed for the anti-lockdown protests that are planned. I may sneak out to have a look around for a bit, but I don’t plan on being in the middle of any crazy crowds.
Until next time….
