A few weeks ago, Michael met me after work for Culture Night in Dublin. Once a year, Dublin has a night of free events around the city. We missed it last year and heard it was so much fun we knew we’d try to catch something cultural. We grabbed a quick dinner at Bar Pinxto (for tapas I would highly recommend) and then headed over to Dublin Castle.

Michael had done a little research (he’s great for that!) and found a concert going on in the Coach House at Dublin Castle. The building isn’t typically open to the public so we were excited to even get in the door. After a little wait (lots of places in Dublin had lines down the block!), we got a chance to see a quartet of traditional Irish musicians as well as a a funky jazz quartet – with such an odd collection of instruments like a flamenco guitar, a bass, and an Irish drum!

Nell Ní Chróinín, one of the traditional Irish musicians, won a national Singer of the Year award in 2012 and her voice was lovely. She sang a few songs a capella, including a lullaby. There were a lot of older people in the audience and when it came to the chorus, they all sang along with her, really softly. I loved those moments because I could imagine all my relatives singing the same songs hundreds of years ago.

When I imagine my ancestors, and nearly all of them were Irish, I usually just think of old people in black and white. It’s hard to imagine them as real people! But imagining them singing that song to their kids for generations, which I think is quite likely, gave me goosebumps.

You can hear for yourself in this little video below. It’s more for the audio – we were at the very back!

Video:

Culture Night at Dublin Castle Coach House, Sepember 21, 2012 from Emily Westbrooks on Vimeo.

Thrilled to be writing about Dublin’s Design Loft Market for the Etsy blog today! The Design Loft Market is a collective of Irish designers who sell their work in a cute little space at the top of the Powerscourt Building in the city centre. Go check it out!

On my first Vayable tour a few weeks ago, I brought my new friend in to the Kerlin Gallery. I had never visited before but it will now be one of my regular stops. The space is around the corner from Grafton Street and it’s a little hidden – which makes it even more fun!

We got to see Callum Innes’ oil and watercolor paintings. We particularly loved the watercolors. At first glance, they look really simple, but they’re made up of so many layers of color. The moments at the edge are so interesting and unexpectedly complicated.

The Tate Gallery visited Callum at his studio in Edinburgh and made a video that shows how he makes the watercolors. So interesting – and love the use of masking tape! Watch here!

After announcing my local craft classes last week, I was a little worried all my non-local readers might be a little jealous. Well, this one’s for you!

I’m now working with Vayable as a tour guide in this fair city. Vayable has such a cool concept – if you’re travelling, the best way to really get to know a city is with a local as your guide. Vayable is a little like AirBnb for tours – locals in come up with a tour they’d like to give in their city, and then they post that tour on Vayable. If you’re planning a trip to Ireland, you can search for Dublin and find my tour! But just like AirBnb vets apartment offerings, Vayable vets their tour guides so you know you can trust what you’re getting is going to meet a certain standard.

My Dublin tour is called Made in Dublin – which we all know is a topic I get so excited about! I love sharing the awesome things Dublin’s designers, crafters, makers, and bakers are doing with anyone who will listen. If that’s up your alley, get in touch!

Oh, and if you happen to be travelling to Paris, check out my friend Anne’s tour!

A few weeks ago, Corey from Irish Fireside asked me to do a review of a new app called Blink. We tried out their last minute luxury booking system and I wrote all about it over on Irish Fireside. Enjoy!