Today restaurants reopened both outdoor and indoor seating without many restrictions at all (pubs and bars not serving food are still closed). I’m not in a particular rush to dine in a crowded restaurant, but I did get out for a coffee with a friend and enjoyed sitting inside, especially given the drizzly weather today. Dublin is in full swing holiday mode. The lights and decorations really make...

Last evening, I met up with my friend D for a surprise activity. First he met me at Spranger’s Yard (my apartment building), then we got some takeout from a very good kebab place in Temple Bar called Zaytoons, which I had been to on a previous visit to Dublin but hadn’t revisited since my arrival in October. Kebabs and middle eastern food are actually a popular cuisine here;...

I inadvertently missed the cutoff for publishing yesterday’s post, which seems to be around 10:00pm Dublin time. I had written it earlier in the day but failed to click “publish” so it was still in draft mode. So I guess anyone who has subscribed to the blog via email will receive two posts today in one blast. The building fire alarm went off last night at 2:30am...