Saturday, 26-July-2025
Now that I’m starting to get a slight handle on the Irish topography and terrain, it’s time to start bringing people on adventures!
Today’s adventure? Taking Andrea on a lovely, leisurely stroll up The Great Sugar Loaf, South of Dublin.
Simple, enjoyable, and lovely… we had some spits of rain (if I recall correctly), but mainly lovely slight overcast sun. Good views, good trail… just a very lovely time overall, with beautiful flowers and excellent times.
Tuesday, 17-June-2025
Dear lord it’s been a minute since I’d gotten to go on a hike.
Time to rectify that!
I had a day off, I had the option to rent a car and escape the city, and I’d put together a list of hikes to check out. I pulled the list up, picked an option that wasn’t so far away, and headed out of the city and toward the “wilderness”.
I’ll say – for a short near-city hike? This was solid! I took a slightly non-standard route, taking the long way around via a big old loop, and that extra milage made all the difference.
A quiet parking spot, a calm walk in, some good solitude and quiet as I made my looping way toward the summit.
Then, a relaxed lunch up top, some good views of the ocean and Dublin itself… yeah. This was the escape from papers and classes and city insanity that I needed.
Tuesday, 08-April-2025
Did you know that “ornamental castles” were a thing?
Today I learned – They’re built by rich people to show off – purely aesthetic, and intended as a cool architectural novelty for the super-influential of the 19th century.
Andrea and I, on our drive back toward Dublin from Crotty’s Lake, stopped in to see one of these “follies”, as they’re called here. An ornamental castle entryway, meant to evoke the “good old days” of knights and lords.
…
I’ll be honest? They did pretty well. If I could afford to have these as my entryway, I totally would. No doubt.
Check out more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballysaggartmore_Towers
