Spring has finally arrived! Well kind of, the temperatures are still on the cold side of the mercury here but the weather cast promises a full week of sunshine ahead. I wanted to celebrate this with a video featuring my favourite places to visit in Dublin during Springtime. Hope you enjoy the video!
PS: I previously wrote on some of these spots here, if you need more info Airfield Farm | National Botanic Gardens | Killiney Hill
Finally, a new video on the blog! Hopefully, the first of many this year. I decided to start a new series where I talk about my travel favourites as well as some other random bits I enjoyed every month. This time, I grouped the months of January and February together but it will be doing monthly instalments from the next video onwards.
I’m not going to lie I’m feeling quite nervous putting it out there in the scary world wide web as it is the first time I filmed a whole video facing the camera. One can only hope, that confidence and diction will get better with time and practice!
January and February were really good months when it comes to travel so it’s without surprise that Venice reigns supremes among this selection of favourites. I also fell in love with a podcast, a lipstick and a tea, among other things. Click play to find out more!
I hope you enjoyed it! What about you? What have you been enjoying recently? Do you have any podcast recommendations?
The garden festival Bloom is back this week so I thought I would reminisce with this little video I shot at last year’s event.
Located in Phoenix Park, Bloom makes for such a lovely day out. Whether you want to admire the outstanding garden designs, eat some delicious wholesome food or pick up gardening tips, I feel there is something for everyone. And don’t think you need to be a garden buff to enjoy the event, my gardening facilities extend to a windowsill and my non-existent green thumb murdered many a succulent; the gardening experts will gladly have a chat no matter what your level is. And well, if flowers and vegetables leave you indifferent, there’s always the food village. Loads of sampling action there! I may or may not be still dreaming about a pineapple chutney I tasted last year…
Also, super good news this year if you can’t make it to Phoenix Park, for the first time a pop-up version of the festival will come to the streets of Dublin! Bloom Fringe, as its name tells, will take place “on the edge” of Bloom with events all over Dublin such as tours to discover the city’s secret gardens, food trails, talks, pop-up green spaces, yoga classes, etc… with the main Bloom Fringe garden on George Street. I personally look forward to the floral workshop in Powerscourt Centre the most but I’m also quite intrigued by the upcycling workshop, the herbal remedy class, the introduction to essential oils… and the seedbomb-making workshop sounds absolutely brilliant!
Take a look at the programme and see for yourself if something tickles your fancy.
Last Sunday, the Chinese New Year Carnival took place in the heart of Temple Bar. It was a bit cramped on the Meeting House Square, but it was good craic nonetheless. The Dublin Chinese New Year Festival had packed the day with beautiful performances to welcome the Year of the Horse in style. Lions, Dragons and pretty dancers filled the stage while demos were executed in the food tent.
If you missed the carnival but still want to celebrate the Year of the Horse while embracing the Chinese Culture, don’t worry as the DCN Festival is far from over! Plenty of events are scheduled over the next two weeks. Hop over their website to check out the programme,
Happy Year of the Horse!
I’m not going to lie, I’m not usually one to go out of their way to join massive New Year’s Eve celebrations and strive on crowd connexion. Give me a cosy armchair, some nibbles, shit TV and I’m a happy camper. But I guess my glamourous lifestyle is not the stuff exciting posts are made of. So, just for you people of the Internet, I grabbed my camera and the weird shoulder contraption that goes with it, and headed to Dublin city centre where some cheerful happenings were due to ring the new year in.
Starting off the evening was the People’s Procession of Light marching on Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street. The parade was filled with contagiously cheerful people in beautiful colourful costumes, the infamous Dublin rickshaws and lots and lots of people who had been crafting pretty lanterns in the workshops organised specifically for the event.
I sneaked into the procession to film and my grumpy self couldn’t help but be contaminated by the kids’ cheers and the chants and the sparkles.
The procession finished on the Green where a beautiful aerial show started. It all ended in confetti and happy music. I took the cue to leave the place and headed to the seashore to witness the fireworks, where the sea was a bit tormented and no bus was in sight. Despite the cold and the lack of transport, I genuinely can say I had a lovely evening that was as worthy as the armchair and nibbles.
Check out for yourself!
Happy New Year!
About a month ago, it was time for Dublin to paint the town in the brightest crimson in honour of its celebrated writer, Bram Stoker. And most specifically, his most famous work Dracula. It is only the second year of the festival but it already feels like a permanent feature of Dublin’s calendar as the event fits so perfectly with the Fair City’s gothic backdrop.
Many events were organised across town (check the ones I was most excited about): a horror film marathon, an opera, themed walking tours, vampire hunts, discussions around the book, street performances, etc… I think it is a great introduction to Dublin’s charms, especially at that time of the year (Halloween) as an extra exciting atmosphere surrounds the cobbled streets, many landmarks get lit in red and who doesn’t like bumping into vampire enthusiasts?!
So I decided to take my camera and take you along to two events from this year’s festival: a reading of Dracula in the majestic Saint-Patrick’s Cathedral and a pyrotechnic show in Dublin Castle. Hope you’ll enjoy the ride!
The Bram Stoker Festival takes place the last week-end of October.
www.bramstokerfestival.com
The Art of Exploring 