Our Dublin Trip

It's about time we got around to sharing photos and news of our recent excursion to Dublin. As you all know we were there primarily on business, but we also managed to fit in a fair bit of pleasure...


This was my first ever Irish Guiness. I don't like Guiness and never have, although I can drink other stouts (I went through a Murphy's phase during my adolescence). I was also sceptical about all the claims that it tastes different in Ireland, but I must eat my hat now, because it's all true! This went down beautifully in the sleepy but authentic O'Donoghues. Just around the corner was a restaurant called 'Ely' where we treated ourselves to a fabulous meal on our first night out. We can heartily recommend the delicious food and dizzying array of excellent wines. We cannot speak so highly of the clientele, who were loud and a little obnoxious (two old (married) blokes hitting on two considerably younger ladies). My suggestion would be to book ahead, as we were seated on stools near the bar, where the wine was flowing more freely than at the quieter (but reserved) tables round the corner.

We saw some stunning paintings at the National Gallery (especially the Vermeer), which was just round the corner from our extraordinary accommodation: the Kildare Street & University Club.

Our very generously proportioned room looked out over St. Stephen's Green (which for those who don't know Dublin, is a lovely park right smack in the middle of the city).

The rather ornate dining room (blurred because I was being extra discrete with my mobile phone!) was where we ate breakfast each morning. Those are real chandeliers, and you can just make out the selection of imposing portraits on the walls, presumably of eminent academics and public figures who are related to the club in some way. The whole place was extremely quiet, all of the time, there was only the sound of old wind-up clocks and the occasional teaspoon hitting China.

We were lucky enough to enjoy some very un-Irish weather (I think it only rained once), which made for scenic walks around the city at sunset, and great light for photographs where O'Connell Street meets the Liffey...

This could almost be Amsterdam don't you think?


O'Connell Street, with the intriguing 'spire' art project in the distance. According to the Lonely Planet guide, the 120m Spire is 'a risqué homage to the fight against one of Dublin's greatest social ills, heroin addiction'. Apparently it's now known among droll locals as the 'Eyeful Tower'.


Sunset on the Liffey... (For a larger versions of some of these pictures, see the flickr page.) Finally, on the way home we stopped into an excellent cheese monger on Duke Street (highly recommended) to buy a wee present for the housemates, in the form of 'Coolea', an intriguing and delicious cheese from West Cork.

Petition Against Funding Cuts for Research

Some of you may already know that the British government has decided to cut funding for scientific and other research in order to plug a black hole in the Department for Trade and Industry's (DTI) annual budget (see this story). The absurd consequences of this decision will be that at a time when we're trying desperately to find ways to slow climate change (I'm no scientist, but I have a feeling that some research might make this easier?) and when the UK education system is failing to recruit new young scientists, we're taking money away from science (especially aspiring young scientists and researchers) in order to prop up the Nuclear industry and the failing car manufacturer Rover. To any of you who are UK citizens and agree with me that this demonstrates some badly skewed priorities on the part of our Government, I recommend you go and sign this petition. A letter to your local MP probably isn't a bad idea either.

Some Old Photos

We're both off to lovely Dublin for a very big and snazzy philosophy conference in honour of the eminent Hilary Putnam's 80th birthday.

So while we are away, and probably unable to post - depending on whether we have any internet access - we thought we'd leave you with some photos we forgot to post of our recent jaunt up to Scotland to celebrate our engagement with my family.


We spent an afternoon in the company of the irrepressible Gregor, who just loves his books (in this picture he was laughing uproariously at my sister counting stars for no obvious reason). He was also just beginning to walk on his own...




Apparently he's now thundering around the place without the need for assistance; we look forward to witnessing this for the first time during the Easter break.


My Mum collects these Angel figurines, which I had fun photographing in the unseasonable sunshine.


On the Sunday we went to visit Deep Sea World, where I discovered that photographing fish swimming around in a tank is extremely difficult, at least with my rather primitive Fuji Finepix. Laura however, is easier to catch standing relatively still...

My Domain

I've just managed to buy http:///www.andrewhowat.co.uk for a measly £6. I had no idea it was so easy, or so cheap! Hooray for technology.

Hints of Spring

Walking around our neighbourhood over the last few days, one could be forgiven for thinking it was mid- to late-March. We've had bright, breezy days, with long spells of sunshine that seems to feel stronger every moment. There are also flowers out in force: huge clutches of snowdrops and little colourful explosions of crocuses, our favourite of which is pictured above (believe it or not, I took that with my mobile phone!). Some other colours we've seen on our walks...



Notice the letters 'VR', standing for 'Victoria Regina', which means this postbox must be over a hundred-years old.



Anyone know what these are? I'm guessing they are inedible, for all their spectacular looks. (This picture has the unique quality of appearing upside down, irrespective of which way you turn it; or at least, it seems that way to me.)

Unfortunately, the temperatures haven't been SO high that we haven't noticed that our boiler is broken (the plumber is downstairs doing his best as I type) or that we have no hot water or central heating.