Waiting for my surf buddies to come pick me up this morning.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Killiney hill
The top
Dalkey, Howth and Sandycove
Dalkey island
Bray bay
I headed down to the DART station cruising down from Killiney hill. When I was about to buy my ticket, a voice let me know on the speakers that "No bikes are allowed on DART". WTF!!!!!!!!!
I had to cycle back to Dublin!! Of course, the weather changed in a couple of minutes: it started to rain (while the sun was still out). But Ireland being Ireland, the rain stopped a couple of minutes later, and, although the ride back home was a bit painful (my legs are not used to this much cycling!), the atmosphere was clean and crisp and the sun shone incredibly beautiful through dark clouds :D
Dalkey on a cruiser
A pub
I'm sitting in a pub in Dalkey. I came in at around 1:15 and it was quite empty, but it had a nice atmosphere. From what I've gathered since I moved here, most pubs are closed in the morning (though the one in Cliffoney was open on Sunday morning when I was there, I thought probably because there is no cafe or other restaurant to go to --interestingly enough, though, they don't serve coffee in the morning!)
The pub has a good amount of natural light on both ends of the big room even when the sun is covered by clouds. The central part has been nicely splattered with those small bulbs that consume lots of energy and look cool --those are above the tables running along the long bar.
There was a couple stitting by the windows, and another couple further into the pub. I first sat at a table near a guy who was eating soup, just cuz I liked the lights on the tables in that area. I waited for awhile and since noone came to take my order, I got up to use the restroom. I then discovered another part of the pub --three steps higher, there is another area with more side tables and a pool. It gets loads of natural light, and since it's sunny, I decided to move.
Mmmm, I like my new location. My chowder order didn't seem to come, but it was all good because I was relaxed drinking my turkish-pressed coffee. Several members of the staff apologized for the delay and offered me a free drink to make up for the wait. I ordered a tea and the chowder came.. mmmm delicious! Not thick, full a yummy seafood and smoked salmon! I really enjoyed that and the tea :D
Today being Saturday, there are a bunch of men drinking pints by the bar.
Great Vibe
The lady who served me at the pub was super nice, and so were the other staff.
After paying, I went outside and sat at the picnic tables on the street to pick up the cafe next door's connection. The server joked about it. Then a few men from the area addressed me. I told the one guy that I may be moving into that area and asked him where I could find out about flat openings, but he couldn't help. A minute after he went back into the pub to join his lads, a young fella came out and offered help, because the old man had talked about me --and he couldn't really help me, but it was nice to talk to a younger local XD
Everyone else that I talked to or crossed paths with in Dalkey seemed really nice. Like in Santa Cruz (California), if you look at people's eyes when you walk down the street, you'll end up smiling to or greeting everyone.
I'm sitting in a pub in Dalkey. I came in at around 1:15 and it was quite empty, but it had a nice atmosphere. From what I've gathered since I moved here, most pubs are closed in the morning (though the one in Cliffoney was open on Sunday morning when I was there, I thought probably because there is no cafe or other restaurant to go to --interestingly enough, though, they don't serve coffee in the morning!)
The pub has a good amount of natural light on both ends of the big room even when the sun is covered by clouds. The central part has been nicely splattered with those small bulbs that consume lots of energy and look cool --those are above the tables running along the long bar.
There was a couple stitting by the windows, and another couple further into the pub. I first sat at a table near a guy who was eating soup, just cuz I liked the lights on the tables in that area. I waited for awhile and since noone came to take my order, I got up to use the restroom. I then discovered another part of the pub --three steps higher, there is another area with more side tables and a pool. It gets loads of natural light, and since it's sunny, I decided to move.
Mmmm, I like my new location. My chowder order didn't seem to come, but it was all good because I was relaxed drinking my turkish-pressed coffee. Several members of the staff apologized for the delay and offered me a free drink to make up for the wait. I ordered a tea and the chowder came.. mmmm delicious! Not thick, full a yummy seafood and smoked salmon! I really enjoyed that and the tea :D
Today being Saturday, there are a bunch of men drinking pints by the bar.
Great Vibe
The lady who served me at the pub was super nice, and so were the other staff.
After paying, I went outside and sat at the picnic tables on the street to pick up the cafe next door's connection. The server joked about it. Then a few men from the area addressed me. I told the one guy that I may be moving into that area and asked him where I could find out about flat openings, but he couldn't help. A minute after he went back into the pub to join his lads, a young fella came out and offered help, because the old man had talked about me --and he couldn't really help me, but it was nice to talk to a younger local XD
Everyone else that I talked to or crossed paths with in Dalkey seemed really nice. Like in Santa Cruz (California), if you look at people's eyes when you walk down the street, you'll end up smiling to or greeting everyone.
Ringsend to Dalkey by bike
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Strandhill on Saturday
This weekend I went surfing with three fantastic guys. They've been surfing here for a long time and they do most of their surf trips in camper vans. What a blast!
On Saturday we surfed Strandhill with strong rip currents and lumpy waves, but if you manage to catch a wave, it was fun! I was surfing with no booties so after catching one really fun wave I went back in --I couldn't feel my feet. My wave was nice and long, kinda fat but with power, and I loved my new fish!! It was a left (my back side), and I was able to cut back without any effort, and to go down the line choosing whether to be at the bottom or the upper part of the wall. I bought a new pair of booties (on top of the two new pairs I had in Dublin!)
On Sat. afternoon and Sunday we surfed Easky. It was nice and mellow. Today I got stoked, catching quite a few waves and manouvreing my little fish with no problem. Oh my god, my surfing level would be so much better if I'd used a similar board years ago!! Anyway, what is done is done, and now it only remains to train outside of the water during the week, and rip it on the weekends :P
Today, the wind was offshore and the waves waist to shoulder high on the average sets. The second session of both days I was exhausted and could barely stand on my board by the end of the session (I've hardly exercised in the last 5 weeks!). Other than surfing, I had a great time hanging out with the guys in their vans and in the local pubs :D
More photos on my Flickr page.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Changes on the blog
Between yesterday and today, I've made some changes on this blog:
- I've changed its design and layout, using the new Template Designer (español), launched on Blogger in Draft this week.
- Both the post field and the right column are wider - that allows me to use larger pictures in the posts, and some more text in author's description and the interesting links.
- The color combination now turns around different shades of blues, rather than greens.
- I changed the font of the title and the author's descriptions, and I made the publication date smaller than the one that comes as a default for this template.
- I've added a Google Translate gadget so that my family and friends can read the blog in their own language --I have to admit that the automatic translation into Catalan is still quite poor, but hopefully with our feedback Google will continue to improve it.
- I've added another links list, Check it out, and, generally speaking, I'm planning on adding more info on the column.
I hope that work will eventually (sooner rather than later!) be less time-consuming and I'll do both more leisurely activities worth relating here, and will feel like posting more regularly than up until now.
Hiking in Howth
Last week I went to Howth and I hiked inland on the peninsula, rather than taking the trail that goes around it. From DART, I went West and took the road to the Golf Club. I continued pretty much straight on, leaving the golf courses and facilities behind me. I was amazed by the variety of bird songs I heard, and by the views one can see from the top of the two hills I climbed.
Big waves
 | C-SKINS presents - Fergal Smith - February Seen on one of the blogs I follow. Crazy, huh? |
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