Travel – Page 3 – Journeys of Heart and Mind

Image of the day – 49

Let’s focus on whatever is sunny and joyful in our current experience – so far as that is possible.

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Back to Ireland today, this photo is the entrance to a Dublin bar in the centre of the city.

The hanging baskets full of flowers make a lovely contrast against the old stone and brick of the archway. This photo is from the Temple Bar part of Dublin where there are narrow, old streets and passageways. It’s a lively area as well, with gaudily painted walls and doors. It happened to be a bright, sunny day, and this added to the happy, carefree and optimistic atmosphere.

We had walked across one of the bridges over the Liffy from the Customs House to make our way through Temple Bar en route to Dublin Castle and St Patrick’s Cathedral and our mood shifted as we walked.

On a day like this, in a place like this, it seemed impossible to be sad or gloomy. I think optimism and energy are infectious, perhaps sadness and despair are too. So let’s focus on whatever is sunny and joyful in our current experience – so far as that is possible. For an exceptional example of this in the midst of pain, distress and hardship, take a look at Yara’s posts from Kyiv in the heart of battered Ukraine. Even when she writes on a tough topic, there are glimpses of the sunshine in her heart.

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

28th Jul – Welsh Botanic Garden, Robin, Fishguard
29th Jul – Wicklow Mts, Glendalough, Powerscourt, Rose, Greystones
30th Jul – Liffey, Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral
31st Jul – Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne
1st Aug – Monasterboice, Mourne, Thrift, Window
2nd Aug – Spelga Dam, Hydrangea, Pipework, Lough Neagh
3rd Aug – Coagh, Springhill, Portrush
4th Aug – Beach at Portrush
5th Aug – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Portrush

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 42

There were no railways; coastal vessels and canal barges were the main system for transporting heavy goods.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Today’s photo shows the River Liffey in the centre of Dublin. I liked the contrast between the old sailing ship and the modern buildings along the waterfront. There’s a sense of history, of the long passage of time beyond an individual human life.

Two hundred years ago, in 1824, the city was here, the river was here, sailing ships of various sizes would have been jostling together along the quayside, but the buildings have changed dramatically. In 1824 there was no photography, no computing, no motor vehicles, no EU, no electricity supply. There were no railways; coastal vessels and canal barges were the main system for transporting heavy goods, while horse drawn vehicles on generally poor roads were used for passenger travel and light goods.

Over many thousands of years, science and technology working together have taken us from the use of stone, wild plants and animals in the prehistoric past to all the conveniences of modern living. And those changes continue, faster now than ever. Imagining the past is at least possible, imagining the future much less so. There are too many unknowns.