After a long absence (how has it been more than a year?!), it is time to pick up the blogging gloves again, get my hands dirty and get back into this blogging business. With few illusions of grandeur and trying to avoid the 'this is it' philosophy, please bear with me in my aim for casual writing and don't expect too much. I don't - this time.
One of the things that spurred the blogging bug again, was reading through some old editions of the Dubliner, one of my favourite magazines and one that seem to nurture the same relationship with our city as myself: we do love Dublin, but we can still slag her off in a friendly banter, and while we recognize some of her flaws and dirty habits, we have a big soft spot for her and think that we may just end up together after all. In the Dubliner (read some here, although the online version lags far, far behind the proper paper piece), they have the fabulous column 'My Dublin', where famous and familiar faces give us an insight in their personal version of the Fair City. Realising it is unlikely that I will be picked for any upcoming editions, I choose to self-publish my confession of what makes my Dublin my Dublin:
MY DUBLIN Hilde Watne Frydnes
OUTDOORS Becoming a keen cyclist, feeling the fresh wind on your face in Phoenix Park on a sunny Sunday is heaven. Still haven't figured out when the deer are where though! Also the little harbours near Dalkey and wonderful Killiney Hill are all magical on a warm spring day. Evening walks zig-zagging the bridges are still a favourite; and even if it is not really Dublin, horse riding around Glendalough is a heavenly experience in all weathers.
SHOPPING While I hate clothes and shoe shopping, TopShop is great for long jeans, and when the mood takes me (rarely!), there is something to be said for the opportunities in Dundrum. The kind of shopping I like, however, can be done in Kitchen Complements off Grafton Street, perusing Conn's Cameras for stuff I can't afford, feeling sporty in The Great Outdoors, or browsing Mujii for things I don't need. The Saturday food market in Meeting House Square is delicious, and Winding Stair is great for both dining and book shopping. Oh, and Hodges & Figgis has all a book lover could want for!
EATING With the recession and rising unemployment in near family, eating out is not a frequently enjoyed activity. Cheap and immensely cheerful is a chai latte, blueberry muffin and The Dubliner (or equally enriching magazine or Martin McDonagh play) in Iveagh Gardens. A favourite is also matpakke in some secluded and sunny spot after a hefty cycle to Dalkey or beyond. But great vegetarian food out can be had in Cornucopia, scones and tea in Bewley's, deep fried ice cream (and preluding Mexican dinner, anything with corn) in Acapulco, amazing Thai in Saba or Diep Le Shaker, and a great place for guests visiting is Jo'Burger in Rathmines, both for the burgers and for the menus and games. Good fun.
DRINKING For some unknown reason I have built a reputation as somewhat of a connoisseur of pubs and watering holes in Dublin, and while I have done my bit to 'Save Your Local', there are still plenty of the 700 pubs in the city I have not tested. Some favourites are described in Publin, others include Waterloo, The Stag's Head, and on a good and not too work-crowdy day: Ocean's Bar.
DUBLIN UPS The weather is usually great: moody and rainy or sunny and charming. I like both. The proximity to everywhere, sea, mountains, country, the world (excluding Norway, which takes forever to get to). The pubs. The streets. The parks. The people. The craic. The variety. Andrea Roche (sic!) said it nicely; "[Dublin] is a perfect combination: a big city with the friendliness of a small town."
DUBLIN DOWNS Cycling here can be an extreme sport, and not in the good way. The city struggles with poverty, alcoholism and social division issues. Girls tend to be orange, and they are not allowed abortions (the two are not linked, however). The traffic is mental. And Ireland as a whole has not got a great head for money - or feminism.
PRESS There are so many horrible publications, particularly including the ones who ran Jade Goody on the front covers for about 3 weeks. However, there are bright lights in a journalistic bogland: The Dubliner is great, The Irish Times has great additions but a lousy online paper, The Observer is English but adored on Sundays, and other than that I need to start reading more papers.
TV AND RADIO I start the day with doom and gloom from Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio1, and when the sport comes on I know I am late. Lyric FM is on in the living room most days, or Raidió Na Life for Irish inspiration and a chance to go 'agus! I know that!' Otherwise TodayFM keeps me semi-entertained while showering, and Newstalk gets an ear in quite regularly (and I even listen to Off The Ball to keep up to date with insanely uninteresting sports facts). TV has recently been banned to try to keep the household more cultured, but I sneak a peak at Americas Next Top Model when I can, or Scrubs if it is on when I turn on the telly. I also recently discovered and fell in love with CountryFile on BBC!
FAVOURITE SUBURB I have to say Dalkey or Greystones. Not because I dream of living there, or imagine myself in one of the amazing houses with the sea view, or envy the harbours and the quirky shops and cafés (The Happy Pear in Greystones is superfantastic, but the white hot chocolate is too sweet even for me), or because I can practically see myself happy as a pear there with architectural and dry, well-built rooms...oh, wait, that's exactly why! Oh, sweet suburbia and suburban wallets...
SPORT Hands down, playing Sunday footie in Herbert Park. I also intend to see a proper match in Croker one of these days, and some country event in hurling, if I can.
PETS If you don't count the Ape, a sneaky cheek eating our leftovers and chocolate, or the mice/rats/ghosts who lived in our wall for a while, there is no room for pets in The Shire, my current residence. I dream of getting myself a horse, however, so I guess I have to move to either Smithfield or nearer Wicklow for practical reasons. Or just go straight for the castle with stables.
THEATRE I love the Ibsen-esque atmosphere in the Gate Theatre, and they are amazing at stage scenery. The Olympia is a cool stage, although the seats are not for long lengs. The Project Arts Centre has good non-classical stuff. I don't particularly like the Gaiety, mainly after seeing 1. Drunk Orange Girls on a Saturday night detour and 2. The Worlds Longest Play on the very back row, in the middle of a heat stroke inducing summer, after a long day at work.
ARCHITECTURE Dublin is great at pretending and mimmicking, but I still like they features of the great yard in Trinity College, the look of the Custom House on a dark, still evening by the river, red bricked George's Street Arcade, and of course the Cake Building.
