Fitzwilliam Square

I met Berit for lunch today. She is lucky to work in an office on Fitzwilliam Square, with a key to go into the park. We were lucky that today was such a lovely day in Dublin - hazy sunshine, and temperatures of about 16 degrees - and we sat down on a bench enjoying our sandwich and a chat.

It was my first time in the park in my 20 years in Ireland (I first came to Dublin on holiday in 1982, and moved to Dublin on an exchange program after I finished college in October 1986).

The only picture I could find on the Web doesn't do it justice, as it was lovely. It doesn't have the variety of trees and flower borders that you'll find in St Stephen's Green or in Merrion Square, but it's really peaceful. Basically it's just got a big lawn with trees around it. But the fact that you need a key to get in makes it special! To get a key, you need to apply to the residents' committee, I think.

The other park I know that operates on that principle is Gramercy park in New York, which we didn't get into the last time we were there. It's unlikely I'll ever know anybody rich enough to have a key to Gramercy park. Ah well...