Lazy days

Sundays are good days in Dublin. Because the city in many ways is built on good-humoured, hospitable pubs, sociability and friendly banter over the thousands of Guinnesses poured every day of the week, it draws the crowds from the solitary comforts of their carpet-floored residences and out in the socially unique atmosphere that Dublin really does best. This means in particular that Friday and Saturday nights unavoidably will involve heavy inebriation in the many pubs adorning the streets, and thus the general Sunday feeling in the city is one of slow-moving, self-pitying citizens searching cures and care for their aching heads and unsettled undertakings. And as any good host will do, Dublin does not only cater for the nights out, but also in a truly outstanding way for the days after.

Food is an important part of Sundays, and Sunday food is where Dublin finally gets a chance to show off its Irish culinary skills. Should lazy lunches back at the scene of drunken crimes be your cup of tea, a number of proper Irish soakage meals can be found in the comforting surroundings of your favourite pub. There is no better way to get rid of that hungover feeling than over eggs, beans, sausages, black and white pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, fries, toast and tea, huddling in the warm corner with the massivity of the Sunday papers. Dinner that provide you with that all-important comfort on a Sunday is also a staple here. Bangers and mash, Irish Stews or meat and potatoes in any other form is a fantastic way to feed your stomach and your well-being. If I should pick any one place to put your best effort, the bangers in the Brazen Head hold a particular high position, and they go really well with a new pint of Guinness. Sundays also seem to provide the perfect weather in Dublin; grey and dull, with no annoying sun glares to pierce that headache, and the perfect excuse to stay just a little bit longer in the pub...

After breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner, depending on how long you stay, there's a number of tempting activities to consider. I usually take a stroll through one of my favourite museums, of which Dublin has a nice handful - while not the extravagant selections of Paris, London or Rome, there's a good show of bite-size museums with ever-changing exhibitions, and excellent activities to keep you culturally and knowledgeably entertained. Yesterday I visited the newly opened Science Gallery, which really is a beautiful little space, with amazing installations fusing science with art in a stunning way. Today I was in the mood for some historical quirks, and visited a couple of the set-ups in the National Museum of History and Archaeology. Life and Death in Ancient Rome, Medieval Ireland, Viking History and Ancient Egypt are just some of what is on show at the moment, and while it is all just excerpts from the vast information available, it is highly recommended. Last Sunday I popped by the Polish exhibition at the National Gallery, which has some really good art in a mixed selection of Irish and international paintings, drawings, sculptures and other materials (J. M. W. Turner's watercolours is on every January, it's fab!), so that's another opportunity around the area round Merrion Square and Dawson and Kildare Street.

If museums is a bit too in-putty for a really heavy hangover, there's always plenty of chances to just walk it all off. I went for a city-centre stroll today, which I always love. Walking across the bridges of the Liffey in the hour before the sun sets, with the dark waters running calmly through the city and the beautiful light adorning the north side facades and gleaming in the Spire, you cannot help but feel totally in love with Dublin. The wonderful city atmosphere busts and crackles out of all the buildings, pubs, parks and churches, on every street corner and down every lane. Navigating down bustling shopping streets or calmer Georgian areas, touring through Rathmines or strolling in D4, walking up O'Connell Street with the magnificent Spire, undoubtedly the world's most beautiful needle, promenading in Iveagh Gardens or heading towards Phoenix Park, you will really get a feel for this city and its countless attractions. It is all so immensely Dublin-esque and so fantastically charming that you fall head over heals for it, and if you let it, the city will make you and keep you as happy as you could ever want.

And if the city itself is too much or too little one day, there's always the DART, all ready to take you out to gorgeous Howth and its marina, down to Bray or Greystones for a coast walk and some park-type amusement, into Dalkey for a village experience, from the port town experience in Dun Laoghaire to the castles of Malahide or the beaches of Sandycove. A quick train ride, and you've got all you want of one-day adventures, whether it be walking, history, fine dining or just a laugh on the beach.

Other perfect Sunday initiatives include Afternoon tea in the Shelbourne Hotel, recommended for days when your posh side is more prominent than your shabby hangover side; bringing a book, an umbrella and a big steaming cup of something hot to drink to Iveagh Gardens, the War Memorial Gardens or Merrion Square, or taking your friends, dog, petanque or frisbee and have a go at some friendly playing; doing the 50s diner thing in Eddie Rocket's; sipping tea and eating amazing scones in Bewley's, or upstairs in the secret hotel café that I'm not telling anyone about in fear that it might get crowded and lose the cosy living room charm!; playing kick-around or pretend-rugby in Phoenix Park, or, if you're less sporty but still like the scene, just going for a walk with the deer there; enjoying the old-fashioned movie theatre feel in the Savoy, or going for a narrow, stylish avant-garde film in the IFI; convincing friends with cars to take you for a spin to Glendalough or the Dublin/Wicklow "mountains", or to the amazingly beautiful Powerscourt Gardens, where there are good trees to be climbed and funny tourists to snigger secretly at; or, if it all becomes too much: staying in with a giant cup of tea and just enjoying the art of lazy Sundays in front of the many charming programmes about sticks and stones in Irish on TG4. Blissssss.