Step stop

It was getting too close for comfort to our scheduled meeting time when I remembered I'd arranged a lunch appointment for 1:45, so I had to take the car in to town. That meant, of course, that I had time to spare before making my way to Brasserie 66 on George's Street, so I took a quick stroll through Dublin Castle, deciding as I did so that I'd return there after lunch.

Brasserie 66 was okay, though the menu was a bit confusing and service was very slow, especially considering the fact that not many diners were there. Still, it was reasonably priced and it filled the hunger gap. We had a good old chat, agreed to meet again soon, and parted ways.

I stuck to my plan and went back to Dublin Castle. I visited the Chapel Royal (first time there), the exhibition about taxation and the Revenue Commissioners (seriously, there is such an exhibition), and the Chester Beatty Library to see the fascinating exhibition of photographs of China taken by John Thomson between 1868 and 1872 (as recommended by Joe's Blips). It was all hugely enjoyable, and I took several photographs of all sorts. As usual, that made it difficult to choose a blip, but I was taken by this scene at the time and grew to like it more when I saw it on the computer. These are the steps at the side of City Hall, on the corner of Castle Street and Cork Hill.

By this stage it was going on for 4:30, and I was concerned about my car parking charge. I was due to meet other friends at 6:15, but leaving the car until then was bound to be ridiculously pricey. So I decided to collect the car (just as well I didn't leave it: the fee was 14 euro at that stage), go home, and come back in to town by bus or DART. The plan was going well until I got stuck in a traffic jam, worked my way around it, and then got stuck again. So I changed the plan, left the car at the bottom of the Malahide Road and got the DART from Clontarf Road, getting back to town in plenty of time.

I was meeting my friends to go to a screening of The Artist in the Irish Film Institute. Having heard so much about it, I was prepared for the silence and the black-and-whiteness and the small screen, so none of that came as a surprise. There were four of us there. We all agreed that the film would have benefited from being at least fifteen minutes shorter (it was just a bit tedious at times), but overall it was really enjoyable -- and the dog is brilliant!

I've done some back-blipping, beginning here.