Canal Bank Walk

I was in Dublin at the weekend. Dublin, Ireland, that is, and not one of its many namesakes on the other side of the Atlantic. I have a love-hate relationship with the city. I grew up there, so it will always be the first city of my memory. But growing up and reaching adulthood is a mixed business. There are always delights, but always a few scars accumulated along the way. And so it is with Dublin. It holds both great memories, and also one or two that I would rather forget.

Anyway, I found myself with some time to spare and nothing to do, so I did what I always do in such circumstances: I went for a walk. And as luck would have it, I was close to the Grand Canal at the time, so naturally, I went for a walk along its banks. Dublin is a city of parks. There is the wonderful Saint Stephen’s Green. There are the “squares” from the Georgian era: Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square. And there is the Phoenix Park, reputed to be the largest municipal park in Europe. But after living in Basel, I have come to expect trees in the streets. In a great many streets in Basel, you find them lined with trees. And it does something for the psyche. But that is missing in Dublin, until you come to the Grand Canal.

  

The Grand Canal stretches like a green ribbon from the port area of Dublin all the way through the south of the city and into the countryside beyond. So I was glad of the chance to go for a walk there. There is a stone seat there to the memory of the poet Patrick Kavanagh, and while I like the poem inscribed there, I prefer one of his other poems, “Canal Bank Walk”. It starts with the lines:

Leafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal
Pouring redemption for me,

 The lines are heavy with imagery, sending the imagination into overdrive. I will leave it to my readers to decide if they truly represent the reality.

 Anyway, my own walk by the canal had a calming influence, and allowed me to enjoy the meetings and appointments afterwards. And while I did not go far on that walk, it helped me towards a total for the day of over 20,000 steps.