Hello there, Beastie friends! How’s your week been? I’m juggling a couple of ongoing monster projects just now, but unfortunately none of them are at a publishable stage yet! So for today’s post, I thought I would share some pics of Dublin’s parks in their autumn finery instead. Care to wander with us?
Living in the middle of a city is great – if you feel like walking, there’s always somewhere interesting to walk to. And in Dublin, we’re lucky to have several beautiful parks right in the city centre! So anytime I’m in town, I’ll usually find an excuse to take a toddle around St Stephen’s Green, at least. It’s probably Dublin’s most famous and busiest park, since it’s just a stone’s throw from Grafton Street, one of our main shopping districts.
Explorer Beastie is posing in one of my favourite bits of St Stephen’s Green – an avenue of lime trees that leads away from the main gate. Lush and green in spring, shady and cool in the summer… And in Autumn, a riot of yellow leaves!
We would have taken more pictures here, but the downside of being in a popular park is that a Beastie could easily get trampled underfoot. Time to cut across to the far gate and seek out a hidden gem only a few streets away!
Much better! This is Iveagh Gardens… It may not be a truly secret garden, but it certainly feels that way. Two of the three main entrances are set well back from the street, and the park is full of quiet walks and crumbling statues.
Explorer Beastie also likes this big heap of rocks, which provides the perfect mountaineering challenge for an adventurous Beastie!
And from the top, you can enjoy the spectacle of the trees glowing in the Autumn sunshine. (Or catch your breath a bit, whichever fits!)
On this walkabout, we had an ulterior motive – to audition potential candidates for a holly-packed Beastie calendar page for December! Explorer Beastie threw himself into the challenge with gusto – braving the prickly leaves to help you all to better organise your busy lives.
Actually, those prickles don’t seem to be bothering him much at all…
And with the photoshoot complete, we were able to enjoy kick back and enjoy the morning sunshine.
Explorer Beastie really appreciates how tall he looks in the slanted sunlight – well, his shadow at least!
We even had a chance to meet some of the park’s residents…
… Although some of them were a little camerashy!
So, have your paws taken you anywhere interesting lately? And how is Autumn (or Spring) in your part of the world? Be sure to tell us all about it in the comments!
Oh, and don’t forget to grab your free Calendar Pages for the last three months of 2018, and see which photos made the cut for November and December.
See you again next week for more monster adventures!
Ah, this is reminding me of my own “Park Day” in Dublin (amongst the blur of vacation memories) and making me understand why you don’t detest Autumn like I do – parks around here have already turned to mucky beds of soggy soil and rotting leaves. In the future, you might have to rope off park areas for Beastie photo shoots to avoid any risk of trampling. I’m sure the park goers would understand.
Aaah, yes! You should definitely make your next Ireland visit an autumnal one… It’s the only season where the weather does exactly what you’d expect! And you’re right, I should add VIP-area-style velvet ropes to my photoshoot setup to keep the Beasties safe… Although chances are, that’ll only encourage further diva-like behaviour 😂 Cheers for joining us on our wander, Tammie!
An autumn visit? Are you just hoping I bring another “heat” wave before winter sets in? And if you’re ever hiring Beastie bodyguards, I’m up for the job. Keep in mind I have experience with their diva-like ways. 😋
Duly noted! And I figured you could probably use a break after all that hard work you’ve been doing… A heat wave would just be an added bonus! 🌞
Enjoyed seeing the Walkabout Dublin with lots of great photo opportunities!
Thanks, Tierney! Hopefully this will keep you going until you make it over here in person! Cheers for joining us 😀
Lovely pictures and descriptions of some local gardens! I love the stone statues and the very venerable trees. This is confirming the green-ness of Ireland in my imagination! (and I like that camera shy squirrel). The temperatures have been see-sawing all over the place here: we started the week at 30, and are now down to night-time lows of around 3 – a fitting welcome back to Chicago, I suppose. Looking forward to catching up on the Beastie blog. 🙂
Thanks, Shirley! Yes, everything is looking nice and green again after our “heatwave” and subsequent “drought” this summer. I think the temperature in July sometimes got above 30°C, and it didn’t rain for at least 3 weeks! 😂 We’ve been having a bit of a temperature yo-yo lately too – earlier in the week it was so warm and sunny that you’d have a hard time believing it’s this late in the year! Hope you get to enjoy some more Indian summer before the Chicago winter sets in, and cheers for dropping by!
Oh my, how beautifully you have captured the best of seasons! It’s been totally bonkers weather here lately… but I’m still holding out hope for some walkable days. I really appreciate EB’s dedication to his modelling career. His risks and can-do attitude really paid off for his December spread. Here’s to a few more misty morning walks for you before the deep winter sets in!
Gosh, I hope so! After a couple of days of stormy weather here too, the sky is clear blue today and calling me outside… No! Must… Work! 🤪 Cheers for stopping in, Weekes!
Thanks for the peek into those lovely parks
It’s a pleasure, Mariss! Any excuse to get out and enjoy those autumn colours!