Wordless Wednesday - Setting Sun!

Linking it to Wordless Wednesday

Powerscourt Gardens Pictures ~ For Saturday Snapshot

This week for Saturday Snapshot I am sharing a few pictures from our visit to Powerscourt Gardens last week. I will elaborate about the trip later, for now enjoy the pictures. I had shared a few pictures of Roses from the Rose Garden there for Wordless Wednesday. Do check them as well!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.

 On the way..

 Lake at the Italian Garden..

 Dolphin pond..

 Lovely Lotus!

Italian Garden

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Roses!

Linking it to Wordless Wednesday

[From the Rose Garden at Powerscourt Gardens, Wicklow, Ireland]

A Small Island in a Big Ocean

 Ireland - A Small Island in a Big Ocean (Video)

There are times when I tell people that I live in Dublin, I am met with the question - where is that? I tell them it is the capital of Ireland. I get the answer, OK...and where is that?

 Image Courtesy- Wiki 

Yes, it's true and it has happened to me quite a few times. People from this part of the world might feel it a weird question or blame it to lack of general knowledge, but let me tell you many in India hadn't heard of this country until recently. You might ask why until recently? It's all because of Cricket.

Sometimes back, my husband showed me an article on Times of India which said that when Kevin O'Brien made the world record to scoring the fastest century, people in India went about locating Ireland on the world map. Team Ireland astounded the world by beating the veteran England team in a game during the Cricket world cup 2011.

 When I recounted my experience to him, even he asked me, what I knew of this country before coming here.. Well, my general knowledge is not very good and geography has never been my favorite subject, but I did know of a few famous Irish names.

  Jonathan Swift

 I am sure most of us have read Gulliver's Travel and have been fascinated by the little Lilliputs and the giant Gulliver's story. It was a part of our school curriculum and all thanks to that, I knew Jonathan Swift was an Irish man and was born in Dublin.

  George Bernard Shaw  

 The Bernard Shaw cafe/pub near my house.

Another famous Irish man I knew because of my school curriculum. I remember having read an essay as a part of my studies (I can't remember the name). Today, the place where this great man was born is just walking distance from my home.

James Joyce
I am sure most of us have heard about Ulysses. Again thanks to my English lessons, I remember having read a story named Ulysses and the Cyclops. I was very fascinated by the tale of Ulysses and the giant one eyed Cyclops. I knew then that Ulysses is the novel by the Irish author, James Joyce.

May be I could not have located Ireland in the world map then, but I did know something about this country. I had read about the great famine and I knew Dracula had its origin here. Long back when I had seen the video below, I was amazed and proud to know of the significant contribution this little country had made to the world. Do check out the video below.

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Random Pictures # 2 ~ Dublin ~ For Saturday Snapshot

                                                        Quays Bar and Restaurant, Temple Bar, Dublin

I wanted to do this post last week for Saturday Snapshot as St. Patrick's day was an ideal day to post some more pictures from this country. How ever, the idea didn't materialize. So, here I am this week with some random pictures from Dublin, Ireland for Saturday Snapshot. 

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.

 Temple Bar, Dublin

 Half Penny Bridge over river Liffey, Dublin

Bulter's Chocolate Cafe at Grafton Street, Dublin.

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Random Pictures #1 ~ Dublin ~ For Saturday Snapshot

For Saturday Snapshot, I thought I would post some random pictures from Dublin this time. as I browsed through the pictures taken sometimes back, I chanced upon some pictures, taken at different times, of the canal that flows near my house.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.

Only a couple of minutes walk away from  my house, this is my favorite place for a quick walk and the Swans in the canal adds to the beauty of it.

 (Swans @ Canal)

 (On a cloudy day)

(On a bright day)

(In Black and White)

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Cliff Walking @ Howth ~ A Picture Post for Saturday Snapshot!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.

Howth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland.  It has one of the most picturesque and panoramic views of the sea.We went there for cliff walking last week. Here are some pictures:

 Howth Head standing tall and majestically

Different Shades of Blue

 Can you spot the people?

 Howth Head again (taken in Sepia mode)

Dalkey To Killiney ~ A Beautiful Coastal Walk on a Sunny Day ~ A Picture Post To Feed My Blog

 I have been away from this space for a while. It has not been that long, still I feel guilty for not having updated it for the past few days. I hope, all of you who celebrates Valentine's day had a great time. With Valentine's day around the corner, the big debate on the importance of this day was everywhere, from TV to Newspapers, Twitter, Facebook et al and now that the day is gone, the debate is behind closed doors, only to make an appearance next year.

I belong to the type who doesn't fuss over the day too much, although I wouldn't mind an exchange of a few gifts and a good dinner at home or outside wouldn't hurt. Still, I didn't plan anything big for that day. Even if I had planned it wouldn't have materialized. You would ask why? Well, I fell down a couple of stairs and sprained my ankle on the day and had a real bad head ache after wards, and later DH had to settle for food from a takeaway joint! My only face saver was that, I had baked a special cake over the weekend and DH got to eat some left overs of it as dessert. We had a great time last weekend though. Sunday was a sunny day and we went for a coastal walk from Dalkey to Killiney.

Dalkey and Killiney are two suburban areas in South Dublin. It is best to take such walks on a sunny day, the sea looks stunningly beautiful and all in all it is a refreshing and memorable experience.

I will let the pictures do rest of the talking! The day was bright, cheerful and sunny at the start as you can see in the first picture.

The sky and the sea were a different shades of blue. It was serene and very soothing for the eyes and mind. It was great to have a good bright day in the month of February. It was a rare privilege to have bright blue day after so many grey, overcast days!

There was a narrow lane in between that lead to the sea. We went down and sat in a clearing. The sound of the sea was mesmerizing.

Yes that's me! Time for ice cream :-)!

There was a small beach downhill by the name of white rock and we spent some time there. But, by that time the sun was playing hide and seek and grey clouding were crowding the sky from all directions!

I took the picture on my way up from the White Rock Beach. It was over cast by the time we left as you can see in the picture below. But, it was great day, refreshing and memorable!

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Grey Sky!

Wordless Wednesday