Happy St. Patrick's day

Happy St. Patrick's day 

The Grand Canal Dublin walk - beautiful summer day tips

Summer day tips - what to do on a hot summer afternoon.
I haven't been here for a while, but there we go! Back on-line, full of ideas, lots of pictures taken, so plenty of things to document and to share.
Summer in Dublin is warm again so I decided to give you some of my half a day trips tips.
I have lived in the South side for a long time and I consider  the Grand Canal as a great location. Many people enjoy this area and it is surrounded by great beer gardens where you can refresh yourself. You can either walk or cycle along. Decide yourself where you want to start.  

The Grand Canal, Portobello Dublin

I like to start the walk on Luas station Suir Road. This is the link to my map. It is easily accessible from city centre of Dublin by Luas, or Bus. One of the city bikes stations is nearby the Hilton hotel so that you can even rent a bike and there are plenty of city bike stations on the way. When you start at Suir Road just follow the Canal. There is a nice path leading by full of dog walkers and joggers. The walk is very easy so you can also take children.

Kayaking on the canal

Little newborns

Rent a kayak or feed the ducklings, swans and other birds. When feeding the birds make sure you only give them proper food. The Kayaks are to be rented in Portobello harbor or on Grand Canal dock and they are around €10 per hour. Just check before you go. It's great fun.

Now list of some great beer gardens and fine dining places for refreshment.  Portobello is in the middle of the walk so let's start here.  The Locks brasserie and The Table restaurant  located just on the harbor offer great meal and wine selections. Both restaurants are very close to each other with different menu offers seem to be quite busy. 

Just while crossing the Portobello bridge  you get to Portobello pub, just turn left and walk along the road to 3. The Bernard Shaw pub and sit in great beer garden and have a great pizza in there. Best coffee around during the day. 

The Barge  is a place to stop just down the road. Get back to the canal and continue walking towards the Charlemont bridge. The Barge is great in the summer, the area outside is constantly jammed with people so it has a great ambiance and they serve great pints of the local "black gold" in there. 

The Grand Canal Dock

After a little refreshment continue walking along the canal and enjoy the rest of your walk towards The Grand Canal Dock.  Lower Baggot street leads you towards Ballsbridge, where you can just enjoy the architecture around and continue walking through the heart of Dublin. The Grand Canal Dock is a great location to explore with the great bridges and the other docklands around. Many festivals take place in the Docklands every year. The Board Gais theatre offers great plays and shows. Perfect place for night photographs as well.

Full moon in the Grand Canal 

Beautiful piece of natural art, Dublin Ballsbridge

Happy Easter everybody!

Happy & peaceful Easter everybody 

DIY - St. Patrick's earrings

Happy St. Patrick's day everybody!

As I am so excited about my first St. Patrick's day off I decided to make these earrings. 

This is a small tutorial for these earrings to make at home. 

What will you need 

Beads of three colors or just green looks great as well. 

Pliers, wire and earring hooks.

Cut two pieces of wire about 25 centimeters long and make a knot at one end.

Twist one ending of the wire into the shape of the first shamrock leaf. 

Make sure you have some loose wire left to be able to twist the wire around. 

Make a second shamrock leaf. 

And the third one with some beads left for the hanger.

Add hangers and enjoy! 

Merry Christmas to everybody

Christmas time for me means to be with the ones I love and I wish the same to everybody. Have a good one! 

Havel's Place in Dublin

Today I'd like to tell you about my new favorite place in Dublin. As I am Czech and I live in Dublin, 

the international day of human rights made my day today. I was so proud to be part of opening the first Havel's place in Europe - Dublin, st. Patrick's park, Dublin Ireland.

Havel's Place, St. Patrick's park, Dublin

Since today if you enter the St. Patrick's park by the cathedral you get to see two benches which are designed to bring people into conversation and discussion. It is dedicated to the memory and legacy of Václav Havel was my hero. I grew up in the 80.ties and 90.ties in a new democracy forming state the Czech republic and work of Vaclav Havel was always very fascinating for me. I was inspired by his life, importance and his kindness. The person who never gave up his fight for freedom and resisted even though he had the chance to leave. I am fully aware of the difference between the life I have and my parents had. No freedom of traveling or speech and the propaganda all together caused to make people think less and be afraid of the war and believe in the great ideology.
One day as a proud Czech I will tell my children about people like Vaclav Havel. I will also tell them about how Ireland helped me realize what I have. That's why I am delighted to write about such and important event.

Sign

The fact that Havel's Place will be opened in my beloved Dublin where I have lived in the last five years made me really excited.
Havel's Place is a bench for two people to bring them in a discussion. The seats are really cosy and the table is decorated with Vaclav Havel's word "Truth and love will win against lies and hate one day".  The glass hearts are typical for Mr. Havel, he used to use them in his signature, lime tree in the middle is the national tree. My big thanks to all the team to put so much afford in this project because the idea only came up a couple weeks ago after opening the first Havel's Place in the USA.

Four important man

Havel's Place is designed by Borek Sipek (on the left at the back), for me personally a very important designer, Czech origin and a close friend of Vaclav Havel. Borek Sipek did incredible work on the castle of Prague in the 90.ties together with Václav Havel. He is an architect and a designer.

The actual idea to have Havel's Place in Dublin was conceived by Bill Shipsey (on the right at the back) on behalf of Amnesty International. The city of Dublin, Czech embassy, Irish Skoda and friends of Vaclav Havel supported this idea and it was opened as a second Havel place in the world. The next one will take place in Barcelona and I believe there will be more.

The opening was accompanied by three speeches. First from Bill Shipsey about the importance of Vaclav Havel's fight and the connection with the park for example: to be surrounded by lots of great Irish writers at the back of St. Patrick's park is a really convenient place for such a great playwright. The lord mayor of Dublin (on the right sitting) mentioned that the city Dublin is honored to have such a place and mentioned the great work the city council did on this project in such a short time period. Last speech was held by Mr. Karel Schwarzenberg (sitting on the left) who was a former adviser of Mr. Havel and a close friend. He was delighted and thanked to the city of Dublin on behalf of the Czech republic.  I was personally really delighted to see him there.

People who attended 

As you can see this little Czech gathering in the heart of Dublin was full of people who came to remember this great person who was also known as the last Czechoslovak and the first Czech president. I remember my grandfather had his picture at home after the Velvet revolution. I will always keep a piece of Vaclav Havel with me. 

If you have time and you go to see the St. Patrick's cathedral, make sure you pop in to see the little place and sit down. I hope it will bring you peace and good spirit as it did to me today. Big thanks again to the Amnesty International, Czech Embassy, Dublin city council and friends of Vaclav Havel for this gift! 

Little day trips around Dublin ...the North side

Clontarf bay walk 

The capital city of Ireland has lots of little hidden places where you see many nice things and easily spend a day having a picnic or walking around & enjoy the atmosphere of Dublin. I love Dublin as much as the west coast so I think it's about time to give you a little bit more info about the metropole. Make sure you have enough time for Dublin while planning your trip.

the ship is going to Dublin port 

I would like to start with North Bull island in Clontarf in Dublin. The bus leaves city centre very often, you can ask the bus driver where to get off. It's also lovely to cycle along the bay side, which  takes about 45 minutes from the city centre. Clontarf  is a coastal suburb on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, located in Dublin 3. It is most famous for giving the name to the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 during which Brian Boru, High King of Ireland defeated the Viking invaders. This battle, which extended to districts over several miles, is seen as marking an end to the Irish-Viking Wars.

Kite surfing on North Bull island beach 

I think this is an ideal destination for families, people with dogs, kite surfers or just to take the granny out on the beach by car. You have to cross a bridge and walk towards to the statue, where the sand dunes and beach start. Ideal picnic place complemented with wooden benches, which offer nice sea view. You can also have a swim if you like, many winter swimmers practice there every day. You can walk really far along the beach. The industrial view is kind of cute, I enjoy it because it's a face of Dublin. I love when the sun sets over there and you see the Pigeon towers getting
darker. The high or low tide have their magic so enjoy!

Howth lighthouse

Another great destination for everybody is Howth. It is on a peninsula of the same name at the north of Dublin Bay. Originally just a small fishing village. You can either take dart or bus from the city centre. I love to take a bus up to Howth summit and walk back along the cliffs of Howth. It's an easy walk and you can do it even with children. Just walk up the hill from Summit Inn and you will get to a parking place, where you can see the map. Plenty of picnic places and space for your children to play. Howth itself has nice pier and a lighthouse. There is lots of shops where you can buy fresh sea food .

The Ireland's eye, where the birds hatch 

Another great day to spend out is to take a boat  to Ireland's Eye island. This is a great chance to observe the life of birds hatching there. If you get lucky you get to see Puffin hunters in action. Remember do not get too close to the birds when their little ones are growing up because they simply don't like it. The boats leave every 30 minutes but only in good weather, so check it before you go. I hope that these tips will make your days here in Dublin and you will enjoy your stay in the capital. Good luck

Puffin hunters hatching