Undiscovered Dublin

23 years in Dublin, and there are still places I haven't seen, or rather hadn't seen. I've crossed 2 off the list this weekend - Cabinteely Park and Bushy Park.

The forecast for yesterday was bad, wind, rain, cold, so we decided to go for an early walk, as it was dry. The day didn't turn out as wet as forecast, but we didn't know that at 10 o'clock. So we headed to Cabinteely Park. It never really brightened up, and we didn't see it at its best. We didn't find any car park (we parked in a nearby estate), but I do see from the map that there is a carpark. It's got good paths throughout, but it's not very exciting - just big lawns and a few trees and a kids' area. Will have to go back there on a sunny day to see if it's any better then.

Today was gloriously sunny, and we spent a good part of the day outdoors. We went to Airfield after lunch to check out progress on their pond (it's finished). Overall, the farm and grounds were in good shape, which is nice to see, as we had found that it was a bit neglected the last time we were over.

The highlight of the weekend for me was our walk in Bushy Park this morning. We drive by it several times a week coming and going from customers in the Terenure and Rathfarnham area, but we never stopped. I can't believe such a lovely park was so close to us all along and we never knew it. There is a multitude of paths, some following the Dodder, some inside the walls of the park, in woodlands, around ponds, big greens, up and down steps, there is plenty of variety, there is even a little kiosk where you can buy coffee to go. Some parts were busy with Sunday dog-walkers, strollers and joggers, other parts were really quiet. It's much larger than I expected, and on a day like today, it looked gorgeous. We'll definitely be back.