It’s Macro Friday again over on www.bloggingfrombolivia.com. My post this week is slightly different. The runners that Mike wore for the two marathons this year are going to be retiring. So before they’re dumped, I thought I’d get a close up!
Happy weekend! :-)
Mike's runners
We left Cork….for Dublin. The reason? The Dublin Marathon. Mike’s second marathon of the year. We stayed on O’Connell Street, right by the GPO, the centre of the 1916 Easter Rising.
General Post Office, Dublin
The street has changed over the years. One of the new additions in the Spire, erected on the site of Nelson’s Column. It’s one of the world’s largest sculptures and was built to mark the start of the new millennium.
Sun shining on the Spire
Statue of Charles Stewart Parnell on O'Connell Street
The statue of Parnell is at the top of the street, which runs onto Parnell Street, where the Garden of Remembrance is. It is home to an Oisin Kelly sculpture depicting the Children of Lir.
Children of Lir in the Garden of Remembrance
Next up on our short trip was a visit to the revamped Docklands area. We hopped on the Luas to see the Sunday market by the O2 arena.
Big Wheel, Dublin Docklands
It might look nice and sunny, but it was cold! So there was time for a hot chocolate.
Hot chocolate
Monday came and so did the main reason why we were there….the marathon! I got my place by the finish line nice and early. I was there on time to see the winner come in. Kenyan Moses Kangogo Kibet beat the course record of 2.09.07, with a PB time of 2.08.58.
Moses Kangogo Kibet
I’d some time to wait for Mike, and no trip to Dublin would be complete without seeing Molly Malone by Trinity College.
Molly Malone
Trinity College
And a couple of hours later, it was all over! 
Champ!
There were some of these…..
Nice, cold beer in Temple Bar
…….and a slow stroll home!
Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin
Macro Friday has come around again. While we were at the beach last week, I noticed this seaweed. It reminded me of pasta! Check out the other entries on www.bloggingfrombolivia.com
If tagliatelle was wine, it would look like this!
For the last couple of years I’ve been taking lots of photos of the sun – the sun setting, rising, between leaves, behind people’s heads or with me in front of it! So, it was sunny and we were at the beach, what else would I do but try to take some sunny shots. We went to Garryvoe beach. After a lovely lunch in the Garryvoe Hotel, we had a bracing walk along the strand.
Ballycotton lighthouse, Garryvoe strand and a plane going off somewhere!
Sunball 
Mike turning on the sun for me!
The Lough is a 4-hectare lake in the centre of Cork. It’s a great place to go and people watch because everyone goes there. It’s a nature reserve, so there are parents with kids feeding the swans. It has an outer and an inner path, so there are always runners training and friends out walking. And then there’s the play park, where I can never resist the swings! In the summer there’s Irish dancing outside and there’s a great pub there, The Hawthorn Bar, where you can get dessert and tea after your walk!
The Fountain ( a new feature at the Lough)
The one and only swan we could see on Saturday-there's usually loads of them!
Lonely orange tree
It was unusually quiet here for a Saturday afternoon, no flying footballs!
Half way around the walk
Walk complete!
