Late November, upon getting news that a close friend of mine would be back in Dublin all the way from Australia, I did a quick search for flights, asked for a day off work the following morning, and bought my tickets back to the Fair City too. It was impromptu enough for one of my aunts to complaint that I didn’t give her enough notice to make arrangement to see me!

I woke up super duper early to catch the first metro to Porte Maillot, then bus to Beauvais Tillé, and Ryanair to Dublin. Tired, I ended up taking a quick nap during the flight and when I next opened my eyes, we were approaching the Irish coastline and I could make out the Wicklow Mountains in the horizon. We approached by way of Dun Laoghaire, Dublin Bay and then Howth, before landing in Swords. It was a beautiful day for my homecoming.

This week, I finally got round to sorting through photos that I’ve taken in the past few weeks and these images make me miss Dublin, just that wee little bit. They also remind me of the wonderful weekend in December, however short it may have been, when I saw my family, friends, and mentors from university days. I strolled down my favourite streets, and I dined at my favourite restaurants. I was shocked to find one of my favourite stores completely gone, and according to my cousin, went into receivership a good few months ago. Methinks I shouldn’t leave too big a time gap for my next visit…