Life is a walk in the park at the moment. The weather is still wonderful – sunny and quite mild – so it is hard to believe that this pond will soon be frozen over and used as a skating rink and for Eistockschießen. Translated as ‘ice stock sport’, this is somewhat similar to curling and is played mainly in Austria, Germany and Südtirol in Italy. I don’t really get it, but the locals go mad for it. They love…
I’m flying again! I must say I love flying, but we are going back to Austria, so no more sea for me for a while! I wonder how long we will be staying there this time. Brrr. It’s already November so I am sure that it’ll be quite chilly. I hope that our next destination will be somewhere warm. And by the sea, of course… Amazingly, it is not too cold in Austria at all. This wonderful autumnal weather has…
– ‘Is that really your real name, Whacker?’ -‘Well, ok, Seamus. Between you, me and the wall, it’s not. But a city gull like me has to have some street – or rather sky – cred. My real name is Oisín. The mammy is all into this Irish heritage thing. But for god’s sake, call me Whacker when there are other gulls around. I’d never live it down if they heard my real name!’ – ‘Sure, no problem, Ois… I…
You humans love your celebrations, don’t you? Halloween is barely over and the Christmas lights and decorations are already up. I know I am only a humble seagull, but dare I point out that Christmas is in December, not November? Luckily, in Dun Laoghaire I can enjoy other lights: those on the pier, the yachts and ferries, Howth Head, the lighthouses. It is fascinating to watch the ferries setting out towards Wales and England or the tankers and cargo ships…
Halloween in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin Newsflash: I’m flying to Ireland! And I don’t even have to flap my wings, thanks to good old Ryanair. That takes the sting out of having to leave the Atlantic coast behind. I can settle for the Irish Sea. Best of all, we are staying in Dun Laoghaire, just south of Dublin city, so I can gaze at the sea all day long. We are on the fourth floor of an apartment block directly overlooking…