Bridgework
I took this photograph of Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge last year, and I hope you'll forgive the blurring. I post it now so I can link to it from a rambling discussion on another blog that has taken in post-quantum physics, science fiction and bridges. And also because it's a pretty cool bridge
© Peter Rozovsky 2009
Labels: bridges, images, Ireland, miscellaneous, what I did on my vacation
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 1:04 PM
20 Comments:
I always knew the Irish had great beer. Seems they also have neat bridges, too.
This is a fabulous photo. I think the "blurring" only adds to the mystique.
Yes, that's about the neatest of Dublin's bridges, I think. If I have my bridges right, there's a nice view from the far end of this bridge, as seen in the picture, across the river, over the bridge, and through a tunnel in the riverside buildings right into the city's Temple Bar neighborhood. And if I don't have my bridges right, I invite your gentle correction.
Susan, I don't remember what time in the evening I took that photo. I think I had my shutter as wide open as the camera would permit, which might mean it was later than apparent in the picture.
Could there be any connection between the great Irish beer and whiskey and blurry bridges?
Fred, I would hate to think that anyone, Irish or otherwise, would be blurry-eyed crossing this bridge on the North Antrim coast.
You know, the reflection looks clearer than the real bridge. I hope such a tableau would not prove blearily misleading to anyone who should encounter it in real life.
I've also got Super 8 footage of me crossing the Carrick a Rede rope bridge above when I was 6. Now this was 34 years ago when they didnt have those sissy guard ropes on the sides. It was just the bridge and a rope on either side of it. Never done anything as foolhardy since. Also where were social bloody services?
So I was down in Dublin week before last and I'm meeting my brother and sister who are driving me up to Carrickfergus. We all walked over the Hap Bridge and we did 3 totally distinct things for half an hour before the car ride. I went to do a brief radio interview about travel writing (a subject BTW of which I know almost nothing) my sister went to a well known fortune teller and apparently got interesting "news" and my brother went to say hi to Jonathan Swift in Saint Pats. Back over the bridge and up Carrick.
Adrian, these days one has to pay to cross the bridge, perhaps a pound. One pays at a booth a kilometer or two before the bridge. Knowing my apprehensions about heights, I decided not to pay, and instead to enjoy the pleasant green walk along the coast. When saw the solid plank footing and the ample ropes, I realized I could have crossed. By then I had no time to walk back to the booth, pay, and return to the bridge.
Not that crossing that bridge will henceforth be a life-defining quest for me, but I think I could have done it.
Yes, but you know what you like when it comes to travel writing, don't you?
Oh, how fraught with ... with implications. Three siblings cross a bridge, which leads each to something entirely different!!!
Peter
They charge you a pound !!! Thats bloody outrageous. I had no idea. How do they justify that? There's nothing on the island, nothing. My God that makes my blood boil. I'm surprised they didnt charge you a fiver for breathing the air.
Yes that safety netting makes it a doddle. The old bridge set up by the fishermen was another story. Its very rough and ready, no safety lines, it swayed about in even moderate winds and was utterly terrifying. The fact that my parents let me cross it by myself at the age is unbelievable. I wouldnt let my daughter look at it in case she had nightmares.
"It costs £4 each to cross the bridge, it is a 1km walk from the car park to the bridge, and if you go at a busy time, such as 3pm, it will take about 20 minutes in the queue to cross, and then 20 minutes in the queue to cross back. There is nothing on the other side of... "
I suppose the justification lies in some adage about the pleasure lying in the journey rather than in the destination. If that assessment I quoted above went on to say there is nothing on either side of the bridge, I would disagree. The walk along the water to the bridge is lovely. I have quite a number of pictures from it in my archive.
The things parents used to let their kids do. I even rode my bicycle without a helmet.
I have started my crime-fic-cum-sci-fi/fantasy exploration with Terry Pratchett, and I borrowed one of the Ray Bradbury mysteries from the library today. Of course, one could argue that I started with Watchmen or Top Ten or Jasper Fforde. I won't tell you which Pratchett book I'm reading, but I will give the clues that it's one of the more recent ones, and it includes a nod to Watchmen.
Well truth be told I dont actually read TP. I mostly listen while I'm commuting and I'm way behind, the last one I heard was The Lost Continent. Its not that I grew off him, just that my TBR pile is now enormous. My TBL pile equally huge. Poor Terry though. Because of the early Alzheimers next year will probably be his last as a writer.
I know you've expressed guilt at not being a bigger Pratchett fan than you are because of the what a good chap he was. And yes, a shame about his Alzheimer's. One hopes he can come to terms with wherever the disease takes him.
I've read a few Discworlds, but there are so many... the one which deals with journalism should be The Truth.
v-word:ravvivire
Marco, you may have noticed from my next post that I have now started my first Discworld novel. I'm enjoying it so far, the humor and Pratchett's fun with crime-fiction tropes. He's not afraid to make some serious noises amid the fun. A setting amid dwards and trolls might just be what it takes to get me to read a novel about my profession.
I actually bought a refrigerator magnet of that bridge because it was so charming. The magnet is actually a layered sort of sculptural rendering, which is actually pretty cool for a cheap little souvenir.
V word=hentacid.
I don't think I had heard of the bridge before I visited Dublin, so I count it among my delightful discoveries. It certainly deserves being remembered in the form of a magnet.
V-word: unpru
That amazing! What a great picture.
Thanks. It takes a great bridge to make a good picture. I was lucky the weather was good and the Liffey smooth that evening.
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