Photos and the City

Author: Ursula Schmitz

  • Trinity College Dublin

    My to-do list for Dublin wasn´t that long, I´ve been there before and after spending some days at the Causeway Coast I just wanted to enjoy city life.

    • tea at Bewleys (which doesn´t exist anymore)
    • hot chocolate at Butlers (done)
    • having fun at the Glen Hansard concert (it was amazing)
    • photographing a redhead
    • strolling around Grafton Street and Temple Bar area
    • finally visiting Trinity College

    Besides Beweleys I did all of that an let´s start with Trinity College – as it was the centre (and origin) of modern-day Dublin.

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    The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592 as a new “mother” university like the ones in Cambridge or Oxford. Today it is one of the seven ancient universities (foundedn before 1600) of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland’s oldest surviving university and ones of the most elite universities in Europe.

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    Originally established outside Dublin’s city walls Trinity College now is surrounded by the city and is located on College Green, just opposite the historic Irish Houses of Parliament. Besides being one of the most elite European universities it also is known for its library housing more than 6 million of books and manuscripts including the Book of Kells.

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    The Long Room – the main chamber of the Old Library is 65 metres long and houses around 200.000 books. When I approached the Old Library I saw a huge queue of people waiting and saw a second (empty line) labelled “pre-booked-tickets”. So I just took my phone, went online and booked a ticket for the next possible time slot, 15 minutes later. Easy peasy and these pre-booked tickets were the first to enter, which gave me a little head start. I more or less ignored the Book of Kells exhibition and just went on to the Long Room – to get at least a little bit of time with not that many people. And it worked! It´s just such a beautiful and impressive room, you´d want to curl up with a book in a corner and read for hours.

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    During the summer month you could even stay at the campus, it is possible (like at many universities in the UK) to rent rooms in the student housing while they are on holiday.

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  • Art & Portraits at Donaukanal

    For many, many years the Donaukanal, a former arm of the Danube, now a regulated water channel going through Vienna, was more or less ignored – a real Viennese “Gstättn“. A Gstättn means a grassy patch of land in the city, mostly ignored by official city planners (until it´s decided to build something on it).

    In the early 1990is, the southern section was transformed into a more recreational area with playgrounds, grass and lots of benches. The section along the first and second district only made it´s revival some years ago, when the first cafés opened and part of the paths gets transformed into beaches during the summer, even a floating swimming pool was opened – and suddenly the former Gstättn became one of Vienna’s hot spots the whole year round. there is always something going on.

    Art Collectives working there, street art (it´s actually legal to spray there), boats going to Bratislava, sporty zones, cafés and much much more can be done at the Canal. It´s also a wonderful location to takes pictures and use as a backdrop for portraits and fashion photography. Or take a photo walk with me. Airbnb Experiences now are also available in Vienna, there are quite a few to choose from and one of them is a photo walk along the Donaukanal.

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    Don´t hesitate to get in contact, if you´re interested in booking your own photo walk in and around Vienna! For more information on the one at Donaukanal have a look at Airbnb!

  • Causeway Coast seen from the sea

    My very last stop on my tour along the Causeway Coast: Portrush Sea Tours – exploring the coastline from the sea.

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    Having parked the car a little bit outside the city centre (there was a major traffic jam going on) it was still just a short walk through the seaside town Portrush down to the small harbour. At the office of the Portrush Sea Tours we were greeted by two cute dogs and a cup of tea, cuddling the dogs and the tea set me in perfect relaxation mood for the tour.

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    Our captain and tour guide arrived and we “hopped” on the boat, it´s a small speedboat for 14 people, we only were 7 or 8, so there was plenty of space for everyone. And off we went! It was the tour going to the Giant´s Causeway and back, taking about 90 minutes.

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    First “stop”: The Skerries – a  small group of rocky islands just off the coast and a paradise for birdwatcher.

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    The Amphitheatre of the Giant´s Causeway from the other side – that´s where the path suddenly ends thanks to the landslide in the middle of the Amphitheatre.

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    The “organ”.

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    Bye bye Giant´s Causeway!

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    Runkerry House and Runkerry Beach would be on the right.

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    Dunluce Castle

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    The “elephant” at White Rocks (beach)

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    And hello again Portrush.

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    If you´re in the area and like boat tours only half as much than I do, take one – you won´t regret it. You gonna see the Coast from a new perspective and will hear many anecdotes and stories from the area.