I visited Dublin Zoo this week and posted some photographs already, but here are the remainder of my favourite photographs. I loved this one of the hippo with the wee bird pecking his back. He was really enjoying the sunshine..

Flamingos always look so delicate to me, I imagine that their thin legs would break easily. I liked the reflection in the water though...

I am somewhat afraid of Ostriches but this guy was very well groomed compared to the others.. 

This appears to be a Rhino mum and baby... they are huge and have really thick rough looking skin..

This chimpanzee was pottering around with something in his hand which he was examining. Once I zoomed in, it appears to be a dead baby chick :( He didn't eat it when we were there though, perhaps he was just investigating...

King of the Jungle, he looked like the Patriarch 

And finally my favourite-the Elephant. In Dublin Zoo, they seem to have lots of space to roam around in so I didn't get to see much of them

So there you have it, just a few of the wonderful animals from Dublin Zoo.. If you haven't been it is really worth a day out... 

Last Sunday we visited family on the outskirts of Dublin city. It was a nice sunny day so we ventured off for a walk to the local park where there was a local community festival taking place. There was a nice buzz with lots of people out and about enjoying the good weather. Here are a few photographs of our walk to the park, you will notice that I love heritage and architecture.. some of the old red brick houses are lovely...

This weekend I met up with some friends in the city and came across these sand sculptures at Dublin Castle. They are truly works of art! We also visited my friends exhibition in the Civic Trust and the National Museum for a short while. Then tea and cake in Avoca :) Hope you are having a nice weekend. It is a long weekend here in Ireland so I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow.

 

 

All images courtesy of my friend D

Summer came to Ireland today. Myself and my husband headed off to Dublin to the meet his relations. We visited Africa Day marking the 50th anniversary of Africa Day and African unity in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. There was hundreds of people there but as you may already know I don't like people in my photographs so I took lots of photographs when it was quieter before lunch. We wandered around Farmleigh House and Gardens in the Phoenix Park where the event was taking place. For those of you that are not aware of Farmleigh, Farmleigh is an estate of 78 acres situated to the north-west of Dublin's Phoenix Park. It was purchased from the Guinness family by the Irish Government in 1999. The house has been carefully refurbished by the Office of Public Works as the premier accommodation for visiting dignitaries and guests of the nation, for high level Government meetings, and for public enjoyment. The house is closed currently due to official Government and State business associated with the EU Presidency.

As most of you may not be aware, my background is in urban and regional development, I have also worked in heritage related posts and in rural development. I am a qualified planner and did some teaching too. I am also a farmers wife, may I add. So today I would like to introduce to you, The Urban Nexus Initiative. This initiative was initiated by two of my  friends whom I met when we pursued a Masters Degree in University College Dublin. While we have gone our own ways career wise since, we are still in contact and enjoy meeting up every so often.

For those of you who are not from Ireland or are not aware of the Initiative, it is a design and research based programme developed in 2010. It's main aim is to explore cities using alternative techniques and methods in order to inspire creativity and originality in the city design. It is all about more holistic approaches to how the urban realm is designed in the modern day city.

In order to put this into practice, they have developed the XXI Century Liffey Project (The Liffey being the main river which flows through Dublin City). This is an urban design project to re-vision and re-imagine the Liffey Quays for the XXI Century. It is basically about the River Liffey and its quays- an iconic space in Dublin City, but a space that seems to have been left behind. Through the project they aim to re-imagine the role the quays play in the XXI Century Dublin by considering design as the vital element in the creation of dynamic and interconnected spaces. They have began to stimulate discussions and debates through various methods including a number of exhibitions, lunch time talks and seminars prior to any proposed plans for the area. Ultimately they hope to initiate new ways of thinking which can be applied to the wider urban areas of Dublin and other cities alike.

{All images from Urban Nexus Initiative}

Do you live in a red brick home? These homes are in Dublin, I didn't ask the owners permission to take photographs but I was just walking up the street. The area I live in has very few red brick houses they are not traditional to our area, however some of the older railway buildings are built of brick. There are alot of brick buildings in Dublin City and also Northern Ireland but in rural Ireland the traditional buildings are mostly stone. Some modern houses are made of brick but I don't think they look as well as the more traditional red brick.

Now you all know how much I love tea, so combine my love of tea with some stylish interiors and you get Wall & Keogh Organic Tea House in Portobello, Dublin, Ireland. Designed by Joanne Kelly and Anthony Buggy of Think Contemporary, Wall & Keogh is a must see for any visitors, tourists or residents in the city. Whether you like tea or good design then you have to pay it a visit.

{All images above from Think Contemporary or Wall & Keogh Organic Tea House}