Dublin Calling

Dublin! Lovely sunny Dublin. My home for the month of May treated me very well indeed, and by very well, I mean my average burrito consumption was 0.75 burritos a week. Me gusta.

And it wasn't just burritos, ohhhhhhhh no. If you've ever been to Dublin [or follow me on Instagram], then you know that it is a city pretty much obsessed with food and drink, which suits me just fine. Doughnuts, brownies, macarons [I am basically a sniffer-dog for Laduree], the BEST PIZZA OF MY LIFE [chorizo, goat's cheese, wild mushrooms....just...], delicious salads and incredible ice-cream. I am a walking mound of food.

In the midst of all this delicious food though, there was not one eclair. Not one. Not one that meets my high Parisian standards, that is, and by jove I've got a hankering for one. You know when you just really really have a craving for something? I kept popping into patisseries, asking them with hopeful eyes "Do you have any eclairs?" "No, but we have some lovely tarts." Tarts. Tarts??! Tarts are not eclairs. I mean, I like tarts as much the next person, but choux pastry they are not. And don't even TALK to me about eclairs filled with cream and not creme patisserie. I will shun you.

A worrying proportion of my thoughts are about food.

I did do other stuff though, I promise. I visited museums and galleries, had my first proper Guinness in Ireland [still not for me], went out to the seaside [!!!], used my sixth sense to randomly come across not one but two food markets, and flirted my way into free coffee [with full permission of my boyfriend, because free coffee is free coffee]. A very productive month.

I also went to my first ever spin class - yay! Or not so yay, as my gluteal muscles were complaining afterwards. I made the severe error of going to another class right beforehand - what a noob. "Just go at your own pace," she said, "you know your own body." Well, my body was telling me to sit down, because standing up cycling is nutjobs. So wise.

When you're moving to a foreign city for an extended length of time, it's always nice to nest a bit, to make the place you go back to each evening feel like home. And for me, that always means candles. And all of my clothes piled onto a chair in the corner. But mainly nice things like candles.

Another thing to help you settle in is to explore the city, but my must-see picks are always nice cafes and interesting shops, rather than endless tourist spots. For fantastic city guides written by locals, check out Design Sponge, and I'm going to write my own little guides to Dublin and Edinburgh in the coming weeks, to help out all of you visiting my fair city. If you've got any secret spots that you'd recommend, please comment below!

Little Green Cars - Big Red Dragon
Grimes - Oblivion
Freedom Fry - The New Crowd
The Oh Hello's - I Have Made Mistakes
Fanfarlo - Good Morning Midnight