It’s not often I get an hour just to wander around Dublin’s city centre. It’s the thing I miss most about not living there. Having an hour to sit and have a coffee, looking at a window at the world going past, randomly meeting a friend and having a chat. That doesn’t happen in London, you have to arrange a time, a place.

A photo posted by Nessy (@nessymondotcom) on Dec 15, 2016 at 2:48pm PST

Ah, Dublin!

The week before Christmas, I had a chance to wander around Dublin. When you hear the term, “I have an hour to kill”, it’s often a guideline, it could be 90 minutes or more. I flew home from London for an appointment on the Tuesday night. I still consider Dublin home. I flew back to London on the Wednesday. I had to be at the airport for 530pm, I had hour to spare, definitely no more than 90 minutes.

I walked from Eccles Street on Dublin’s north inner city to O’Connell Street, taking a few photos as I went. It funny the things you miss or see differently when you’re not around it all the time. It’s easy to forget the Guinness signs are unique to Dublin or that the post boxes are green, although they still have a royal crest (a throwback to before the formation of the state).

I love the Garden of Remembrance. It’s a haven in the city centre. I remember, while living in Dublin, popping in with a takeaway coffee and sitting down, uninterrupted for half an hour. I also remember needing to do a telephone interview but was stuck in the city centre with a previous engagement. I ran up O’Connell Street and interviewed Miles Kane. He was in a cafe in Paris, I was sitting in the Garden of Remembrance.

I popped in for a minute, taking a photo but a cold wet December day doesn’t make anywhere outdoors enticing. I headed down Parnell Square to O’Connell Street. When I was last there in August, the street was dug up, roadworks everywhere thanks to the expansion of the Luas tram line.

I was hungry though. I needed food. And seeing as I was in Dublin, my next stop had to be Yamamori Sushi. I love the place, the vibe and the food. Although London has a lot of good restaurants. I haven’t found as nice. I’m a veggie and love their Bento boxes.

When I got there though, I decided to go with something different. A tofu steak with steamed pak choi and grilled asparagus. This was served zakkoku rice and a salad. Top it off with an aLoe vera juice and I’m sorted. €10 for the main, €2/3 for the drink. It’s not often that I actually get to sit and have a while to myself. London does that to you. I miss having the extra time I had while I was living in Dublin for this.

Yamamori was warm and relaxing and the staff were welcoming. This is what I consider heaven.

I didn’t have time to sit much longer. It was getting to the time when I had to head to the airport. I left Yamamori and returned to O’Connell Street. Daylight had faded and the Christmas lights brightened up the roadworks.

A couple more photos of Dublin in the rain and it was time to get on the aircoach to bring me to Dublin Airport.

A photo posted by Nessy (@nessymondotcom) on Dec 21, 2016 at 9:01am PST