The boys are asleep

Oh the relief when the baby falls asleep. Twice the fun when you have two, eh Ryan?

A mother pushes a buggy with her two sons across Patrick Street in Cork while the two lads sleep serenely.

The car in the background is what caught my attention in the first place. Do you recognise it?

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 20mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/100s

The Lord Mayor’s car

Each year the Lord Mayor of Cork is given a top of the range Ford car to drive. It’s always the first car registered in the new year, hence the XX-C-1 number plate.

Unfortunately for the Lord Mayor, they have to give it back when their annual term is over. Such a car is now in the possession of a taxi driver in Blarney so at least it’s still serving the public ..

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/13s

Patrick Street from Mothercare

Patrick Street, Cork as seen from the 1st floor of Mothercare..

Looking out the winder beats trying to navigate all the baby stuff in the shop!

Aperture ƒ/4.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 11mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/200s

Debenhams’ confused identity

Debenhams bought Irish department store chain, "Roches Stores", back in 2006, and rebranded their Cork store on Patrick Street shortly afterwards.

Unfortunately nobody has yet replaced the big "Roches Stores" logo at the top of the building. It’s still there, more than a year later! 🙂

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/320s

Cu Na Mara

A bright red trawler pictured in Dingle Harbour last September.

The name of the vessel, “Cu Na Mara”, literally means "Hound of the Seas"!

Bigeoino says I made it to the front of “Cork Places”. Does anyone know what that is? Is it a magazine? I’m going to ask in Easons later today.

Aperture ƒ/5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 59mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/1000s

Union Square from afar

Union Square in San Francisco as seen from my floor at the hotel we stayed in.

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 20mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125s

Housing market slow?

The Irish housing market is slowing down but sales are still being made.

A tiny house down the road from this one in Blarney sold a few weeks ago even though I’m sure you could hardly swing a cat in it …

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 800
Shutter speed 1/15s

Parked Motorbikes

Two motorbikes parked on the South Mall attracted my attention especially as a strong sun reflected off the clean chrome.

Yes, I know there’s a weird diagonal, yes it is distracting. Yes, it is intentional. Enjoy!

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

St. Anne’s Church Tower

The Shandon bell tower of St. Anne’s Church is one of the most recognisable sights around Cork. Here it is viewed from the end of Academy Street by Patrick’s Street.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 106mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s

Energy is trouble and useful

An ESB van passes a pole with a Rossport Shell-to-sea campaign flyer on it.

Shell want to bring oil to land at Rossport in Co. Mayo, and the ESB are massive consumers of oil, gas and coal in their electricity generation business.

Aperture ƒ/4
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/1000s

SF AWS 1909

A fire hydrant in San Francisco. Given the history of the city, there are hydrants everywhere ..

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/80s

SF Baseball cap

A baseball cap on the sidewalk in San Francisco attracted my attention while out walking. I wonder who lost it?

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/160s