Dublin (Ireland) - It's not even just about 'The Hype'

DUBLIN (Ireland)
26 October - 29 October 2017

When I think about it, living in the western suburbs of Sydney and going to Catholic schools, my association with the Irish was inevitable. It would have been hard to have got by me considering that six (6) of my formative years were spent at Patrician Brothers Blacktown, although as we're now all too aware, the 'fiddly' deeds of the brothers have now been discovered some 30+ years after the fact. Aside from that, we had a lot of Irish in our community, there were Irish bars aplenty around Blacktown (The Mean Fiddler amongst the good ones (then) and of course I grew up with an absolute passion for U2.

They always seemed to be good natured folk, quick witted, ready to laugh, ready to chat, always with a story and to belt out a tune. With a little bit of gloss from a Guinness however their good nature can also fuel their desire for a bit of a punch up if their mood takes them that way.

The Hard Rock Cafe - Dublin - Ireland

Of course another bar

This was on the whiskey tour that we did on our first night

The well known Temple Bar - in Temple Bar - Dublin - Ireland

Dublin - Ireland

Dublin was a city that both Inga and I wanted to visit. I think that we were guided by the impression set by the people, by the bars we've visited and generally the great stories that we've heard from others than have visited.

...What we found out however is that all those ideas and impressions formulate a large part of the unknown puzzle, but Dublin itself, well, there's a little bit more to it than just that.

No prizes for guessing

Love it when 'Whiskey' is spelt properly

Another Whiskey Bar - Dublin - Ireland

If you get sick of Whiskey then have a Guinness

Dublin - Ireland

Outside the Temple Bar - Temple Bar - Ireland

Dynamic, entertaining, buzzy and beguiling. That was our impression of Dublin. Good nature, good cheer and the nightlife, well, just unbelievably cool. For some reason I'd also thought that Dublin might be a little bit run down, a little dishevelled but that was far from the case. It was actually quite an attractive and engaging city to be in. So alongside its historic buildings such as the cathedrals, churches, Georgian squares and town houses, castles and pubs, there's also some cool restaurants, hotels, boutique stores and bars. It was that vibrancy that we found so engaging and just made Dublin a cool place to be in.

The Irish R&R Experience - Dublin - Ireland

The Irish R&R Experience - Dublin - Ireland

The Temple Bar...again

It's like...can you go wrong?

No, no you can't - Temple Bar - Temple Bar - Dublin - Ireland

Shall we have another? But of course

Temple Bar - Temple Bar - Dublin - Ireland

We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and in many ways didn't give ourselves enough time to fully enjoy it. Without question, a place for us to return to in the future.

Stockholm (SWEDEN) - Gotta Devil's haircut

Stockholm (Sweden)
18 SEPTEMBER - 22 SEPTEMBER 2015

This jaunt could have been floored even before it started by the errant stylings of a Serbian butcher. I say the word butcher but even that associates a degree or professionalism to an individual that decimated my follicles in such a manner that even my family was ashamed to look at me for a period of time.

I had been priming myself for a trip to Riga, Latvia. The time had now come to be introduced to Inga's family and I was getting my entire game together, which also involved resolving what to do with the mop on my head. Now, in hindsight, trusting the judgement of a man that has no hair, specifically regarding his opinion on 'where to get a stylish haircut in Belgrade', would probably be regarded as silly (at best), brutally stupid (at worst). And yet, in life, or perhaps should I say my life, you get brought up to trust that your older cousin has knowledge, that he has your best interests at heart, that he knows the city of his birth well enough to recommend a stylist for the needs of his younger cousin.

 BRUTALISED - HUMILIATED - ASHAMED

I walked out of that slaughterhouse with my dignity destroyed. I didn't just receive and pay for a bad haircut, nor was it simply a disgraceful haircut, this piece of dehumanisation was an atrocity, perpetrated by a lunatic and perpetuated by my cousin and his friend, both of whom are bald, and their attempts to pacify my emotional torment by telling me 'oh, it looks ok', 'it's fine'.

The reality check that needed came in the form my aunt. When I arrived home her simple assessment was this;

'You can't go to Riga like that!'

EXACTLY - I couldn't go anywhere looking like this except parking myself in a quiet corner of the nightmare that was playing out for all to see.

Air Serbia to Stockholm - Belgrade - Serbia

The next day we found a $5.00 barber that committed to fixing the public indecency that taking place on my scalp. His work was good - he saved what could have been the cancellation of my trip, the cancellation of meeting my future in-laws, the cancellation of a lot of things. This could have been THAT big of a game changer. The one you look back on and think, 'If only I didn't have that haircut, life could have been so different'.

The next day however I was at Nikola Tesla lining up for an Air Serbia flight to Stockholm.

Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

It had been a few weeks since Inga had been in Belgrade, which was her first introduction to both my family and Belgrade, and now I was on my way to visit her family, via a small stop in Stockholm that was also going to include us seeing U2 perform at the Ericsson Globe as part of their I+E tour. There was also a small celebration to be had in that September 19th was the anniversary of our first date in Paris the year before. A great time to reflect on where we started, where we had been and where else we could potentially take this relationship.

Sant Eriksplan - Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm is a cool place by the way. From my first visit in 2006 I always found it as particularly attractive, pedestrian friendly, warm and friendly. So when I ended up unlocking our AirBnB in Sankt Eriksplan the only thing I wanted to do is get out for a walk and do a bit of a walk, which of course I did. Through Kungsholmen, across to Gamla Stan and then Slussen, walking through the areas that were introduced to me by Jay nearly 10 years earlier. A nice piece of reminiscing in a great part of the world.

 Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

Stockholm - Sweden

Sankt Eriksplan - Stockholm - Sweden

Inga flew in from Riga the next day, the one year anniversary of our 1st date. Nice to celebrate and interesting to reflect on what had transpired in that time. In reality it had been a tumultuous year. My father had passed away in November and then in the weeks after my mother and I decided that we'd find living in Belgrade the superior option than to either staying in Seven Hills without him, or in fact moving to another location in Sydney. Then there was the 3 months that Inga & I spent travelling in South America together, the return to Sydney with the final pack up of all our things at #96. The move to Belgrade, the start of a new life, and of course there was 'us'. Things always become much clearer and their reasoning seems much more apparent when time lends you its 'focus goggles'. Looking back now and reflecting on how things with Inga transpired, the blocks were all falling into their required places in order for us to work. The things that needed to happen just did.

Stockholm was fun. We did the obligatory hop on - hop off experience, we walked the area around Katarina-Sofia, admiring the views across the harbour and into the city, we spent an afternoon and evening at the Grona Lund Amusement park and generally just enjoyed our time. It's not too hard to make future plans when everything just 'works' and travels so smoothly. That's the way our lives seemed to be going at that point. It's hard not to argue on the side of fate in situations like that.

 U2 - Ericcson Globe Arena - Stockholm - Sweden

  U2 - Ericcson Globe Arena - Stockholm - Sweden

                                            U2 - Ericcson Globe Arena - Stockholm - Sweden

The final night of our Stockholm stay was also meant to be the last of the Innocence + Experience tour stop in Stockholm for U2, well, that of course was until the previous evening where some random tried to bring a gun into the venue and became such an overwhelming security concern that the show was postponed to the night following our own. In terms of our own U2 stalking, Inga & I did actually join the crowd waiting for a glimpse of U2 outside if the Grand Hotel. We waited in some annoying drizzle for a lot longer than I anticipated until such time that I suggested that we just walk into the hotel and have a drink. Better to wait at the bar than on the street - ever way they never made an appearance.

                                          U2 - Ericcson Globe Arena - Stockholm - Sweden

 

U2 - Ericcson Globe Arena - Stockholm - Sweden

Their performance at the Globsen that evening was on point. After Inga managed to translate our seated tickets to floor tickets we pushed past many polite Swedes and made it directly onto the barricades, FRONT ROW BABY!!.....here's the set-list from that night.

INNOCENCE + EXPERIENCE TOUR LEG 2 - EUROPE

Globsen - Stockholm - Sweden

1. The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)
2. Gloria / Van Morrison's Gloria (snippet) / Patti Smith's Gloria (snippet)
3. Vertigo
4. I Will Follow / Philippians 4:7 (snippet)
5. Iris (Hold Me Close)
6. Cedarwood Road
7. Song For Someone
8. Sunday Bloody Sunday / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet)
9. Raised By Wolves / Psalm 23 (snippet)
10. Until the End of the World / Love and Peace or Else (snippet) / Words (snippet)
(Intermission - The Fly)
11. Invisible
12. Even Better Than The Real Thing Fish Out of Water Mix
13. Mysterious Ways / Burning Down The House (snippet)
14. Elevation
15. Sweetest Thing
16. Every Breaking Wave
17. October
18. Bullet the Blue Sky / Ode To Joy (snippet) / 19 (snippet)
19. Zooropa
20. Where the Streets Have No Name / California (There Is No End To Love) (snippet)
21. Pride (In the Name of Love)
22. With or Without You


encore(s):
23. City of Blinding Lights
24. Beautiful Day / Ultraviolet (Light My Way) (snippet)
25. Mother And Child Reunion (snippet) / One / Invisible (snippet)