So we’re back from our adventures on the Nile! Flew in yesterday morning, and spent the day unpacking, falling over on the couch, drinking tea and saying things like “Sure isn’t great to be home?”.

Egypt was amazing. We were up at the crack of dawn (literally – one minute it’s dark and the next the sun explodes onto the sky) every day and ferried off to explore temples, tombs and souqs. 

I have tons and tons of pics, but here are just a few shots, straight out of camera, from our first few days.

The Valley of the Kings

Perfume factory

Sunset on the Nile

Tourists streaming into Philae Temple

Hieroglyphs at Edfu Temple

Camels in Aswan

I’m diving back into a deep sea of work, but I’ll post a few more pics and tales over the weekend.

Tulips, taken at the very pretty flower stand at last Saturday’s Meeting House Square market in Temple Bar.

I’d love to watch someone build one of these some day. They truly fascinate me. How do you pick the stones so that they sit together just so? These look so casually piled together, so higgeldy piggedly, like you could just tip them over, and yet they’ve been there, solid and sturdy, for hundreds of years. I love the way moss and tufts of grass grow between the gaps, I love their texture, their colour. For a bunch of stones, aren’t they just really pretty to look at?

Ok enough of my weird fascination with dry stone walls. One or two more Glendalough pics coming up over the next few days.

Such a beautiful, beautiful, timeless spot. I love it here, and don’t know why I don’t make the effort to head out more often. A quick one-hour drive from town and you’re enveloped in pretty greeness, surrounded by calm lakes and with a clear view of snow-capped mountains in the distance.

I have no idea where I’m headed to at 2pm today, but Eoghan assures me it will be great fun. I’ll be bringing the camera.

And while I’m on a V-day buzz, I have to share Le Love. It’s a fun new(ish) blog dedicated to “romantic, sweet, lovely dovey, sexy and heart fluttering images.” It really does have some very cool shots. 

Have a great weekend. 

 

 This is what Eoghan said to me as we strolled along Sandymount beach on Sunday. He wasn’t trying to be dark and morbid, he was simply describing the average life of a mussel. “There’s a lot more to it than that, of course,” he explained, as he showed me where the mussel had once been stuck to the inside of the shell. “But for the sake of brevity, that pretty much sums it up.”

Yesterday was the first time I noticed a longer stretch in the evening. It was 4.30pm, and rays of amber sun were still lazily streaking through the sitting room. I know it’s been crazy freezing, but it really felt like spring was just around that blizzard-y corner.

We decided to make the most of it and head to Sandymount beach.

 I love photographing these towers. I liked the bright moon that was out.

Taken through the car window.

 And look! There was still a bit of snow hanging around, which was a kind of bizzare sight.