"Hello! How are you?" this is how you get greeted in Ireland. The weather was gloomy and wet, but this is Ireland. First impression, It’s alive! I crossed many young people in the streets, very refreshing compared to the city where I live, where the average population is becoming a lot older and the standards of living quite high. This makes it a conservative, somehow snobbish, city where people seem rather cold and mentalities are still inherently following the principles of austerity preached by Calvin, some 400 years ago. People will not engage in conversation easily and will not make eye contact when crossing you in the street. So, it was all quite enjoyable and easy-going. And my mind was set in a positive way.
I met some interesting people just sitting at a terrace on a less gloomy Monday afternoon. Someone indicated a real Irish pub for locals, where people come with their instrument and play for their pleasure. The Cobblestone. This is where I spend my next evening, drinking Guinness and enjoying the atmosphere. I had my camera with me, took some pictures. A man sitting behind me advised me not to walk at night in this neighbourhood with my camera, but rather take a taxi home. We engaged in a most intense conversation for over 3 hours. He was a journalist specialized in business matters, who regularly came to Dublin a few days a week for business. His name was Douglas. He told me he spent some years in America and Australia, but in the end, he was homesick and decided to come back to Ireland, where he married and had children. We compared mentalities, spoke about our lives. Excellent connection, we were on the same wavelength. We spoke about relationships and sex. As I said, very intense. In three hours, this man got me back on tracks in the kindest and most understanding manner. The pub was about to close, so he got me a taxi, this happened in less than 5 minutes, and he was gone. I don’t know his name. I will never see him again, but he left a memorable feeling in my heart. I don’t believe in coincidences, I think I was meant to meet this person somehow. Something like an angel :)



