So this site has been a bit quiet for a while. Perhaps 2 months. Well, circumstances have brought me home from Ireland and to the United States. I am living in Philadelphia at my parents house and looking for work back here (either NYC or Philly). It hasn’t been too bad. Been relaxing for the most part but I need to get a job soon! So perhaps this blog is now called (Not) Living in Dublin
I have to say, the Irish have some extremely graphic public service announcements about things like drunk driving and wearing your seatbelt. They only show them after 9 or 10 o’clock at night. I haven’t been able to find them online.
This “sensible drinking” PSA isn’t as graphic but I think is really well done.
So today I attempted my first real bike ride in Ireland. There is a bike club here but I haven’t ridden with them yet (they only meet on Saturdays). I was going to try to ride all the way to Wicklow, which is about 30 miles South of Dublin. I ended up only making it to Bray, which is 12 miles from Dublin. Mainly I hadn’t predicted the hills and since I hadn’t ridden in months they took their toll on me.
Here are some pictures:
This is me half way up one of the hills. I was tired 
Cresting the hill and looking down.
This is down near the coast near a town called Shankil
This is the destination. Bray.
This is on the way back. You can see Bray in the distance. I think I was near Bono’s house here.
Downhill again!
The coast near Dublin is just full of houses like this.
Shawn and I took a short bike ride today (about 7 miles each way ) down to Dun Laoghaire and Dalkey. It was beautiful. I am still amazed at how much a coastal city Dublin is. We found a place called “40 foot” where you can swim and also stopped off to eat.
40 Foot swimming area (photo by Shawn Day):
And me making a face at lunch (photo by Shawn Day):
Doesn’t need much explanation:
And the same sign in Irish:
So if you look on the map you can see where I live is close to the water. There is a beach there, not the most glamorous one, but a beach nonetheless. Here are some pictures of my walk from my apartment to the beach:
First I have to walk over a bridge to cross the train tracks behind my partment:
Then down a cute little street:
Turn the corner and you can see the sea is at the end of the block:
There is a nice little grass area with a walking/jogging path
It is low tide at this time so you just see mostly marshy sand.
When it is high tide the water comes pretty close to the rocks.
So things are slowly settling down. Now that I am in the apartment, the boxes arrived this week, which is good timing. They actually arrived in the port last week and the import company called me. I had to fill out some forms and then provide proof that I a) had lived outside of Ireland for the last 12 months and b) will be living in Ireland for the foreseeable future. This is to prove that these are my personal belongings and not something I just bought in the States and shipped back to Ireland brand new. That way i don’t have to pay taxes. Funny to see them sitting in my apartment after seeing them in Brooklyn.
Well apartment #1 was just way too noisy so I was able to get out of the lease. Since the apartments are furnished it makes it much easier to move. So I am in a new one now, and it is great.
So first, the location. It is in South Dublin close to the sea. It would take about 40 minutes to walk to work but it is right on the train and bus line. If I get a commuter bike it is an easy bike ride too. You can click here to see it on a map
The apartment is in a gated complex that you can see here:
And this is the building I am in:
Here is the living room:
And this is the bedroom:
Kitchen:
Kitchen:
View out of the living room:
View out of the bedroom:
Tried to take some video today on the Dublin bus but didn’t turn out too well. Looks better if you turn your monitor sideways!
So if you didn’t know it already, the sun stays up late in the summer in Dublin. (I had heard this before I moved here but didn’t realize how dramatic it was.) It is dark by about 11 PM, but even at 10 PM it is still quite light. The easiest way is to show you, so I took some pictures from my window last night. Enjoy:
8:30 PM
9:00 PM
9:45 PM
10:30 PM
11:00 PM
