My Irish Eyes are Smiling!

I can express how exciting it is to be in Ireland. It is so thrilling to be somewhere where the speak English again! I also just adore the accent. I feel like it is especially exciting being in Ireland because it’s like one step closer to home. A lot of UK chains are here so it felt like we were back where we started and it just felt nice to see familiar things. I’m going to have an even stronger feeling when I get home in three weeks. It is funny because I wanted to come over to see different things and get away from the norm but now after 8 months I can’t wait to go back to the states and see all the massive chains where I know exactly where to find what ever it is I need.

It is super cold here. Well it isn’t that cold but in Portugal it was pretty hot so coming from there was quite the change. I also wasn’t appropriately dressed for the weather which mustn’t have helped. It is super nice for running. Just last week I was wearing shorts and a tank top and now I’m back to pants and long sleeves. This morning I ran through Herbert Park which is literally right out the door of our hotel. It’s a decent size park which is nice. I then ran downtown and the sidewalks are way better for running here as well!! There aren’t as many stoplights and people getting in my way. I made it to Stephen’s Green, which is another park, not to be confused with my dad hahaha.

Today Adrienne and I took a bus downtown, walked through the Temple Bar area, and then went to the National Gallery, which had a great collection of European paintings. We lasted a little over two hours in there before we reached our art capacity for the day. There were lots of great landscape paintings and also some portraits I really liked. I like looking at the clothing and try to get ideas from them. One painting by Steven Van Der Meulen I was so intrigued by. It was of Thomas Burke wearing this armor that was so different and fashionable as far as armor goes. I sketched it so I can maybe use it for a clothing idea in the future.

On my way back to the hotel I was having fun snapping shots of doors along the walk. I think I liked them so much because of the bright colors and the arched windows above. They are called Georgian Doors and Dublin is known for them.