This is apparently my 300th blog post, which averages out to about four posts a week since I moved to Ireland in October 2020, thanks to the almost daily posts during my first six months here. Nowadays, I’m writing about 2-3 posts per week. Life has become more mundane ever since I started working six months ago, so there has been less to write about, but I still find the blog to be an enjoyable hobby that enhances my appreciation for life in Ireland.
That said, the weather has been wet and blustery over the past few days, so I have had less motivation to get out an explore. On Friday, I met up with my friend N. over drinks at PantiBar. The place was absolutely packed! COVID almost seems like a distant memory, except that people still wear masks in shops and on public transportation. I stayed in for most of the day on Saturday, inspired to get out only to pick up some ingredients to make fancy “toastie” grilled cheese sandwiches — rye sourdough bread generously slathered with a spread of chive, butter, mayo and a hint of mustard and filled with two kinds of mature Irish cheddar cheese, pickled red onions, and crispy bacon, crisped to a perfect crunch in the air fryer, of course.
On Sunday, I met up with my friend CJ for brunch then a visit to the National Gallery of Ireland. It was the last weekend for an exhibit of works by Jack Butler Yeats, brother of famed Irish poet W.B. Yeats, and one of Ireland’s great modern painters of the early twentieth century. His style of painting evolved from romantic, to expressionist, then to modernist over his long career as an artist, and he continued to paint into his 70s. The exhibit was fairly sizeable, filling four galleries, and the various themes of his work where interesting — landscapes, Dublin street life, horses, the circus, swimmers. Yeats relied on memories from decades earlier in life for many of his works. We didn’t spent a lot of time in the rest of the museum, although I very much enjoyed the stained glass works of Harry Clark, who was influenced by both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements. His colourful pieces were displayed in a dark exhibition room and lit up from behind, which was quite a contrast to the stuffy rooms filled with more traditional artworks from the 1600s-1800s.
After the museum, CJ and I escaped from an afternoon shower into O’Donoghues — a pub closely associated with Irish traditional music and was where the popular Irish folk group, The Dubliners, began performing in the early 1960s. Old photographs of various musicians covered the dark brown walls on the inside, the seats were low-to-the ground stools and benches around cosy tables, and outside in the courtyard a gathering of men were playing instruments and singing songs. It’s probably the most authentic, Irish pub experience I’ve had since living here… in large part due to the many months of COVID lockdowns. I didn’t take any photos out of respect for the other patrons, and besides, it would have been too much of a “tourist” thing to do.
Until next time….
