Mrkgnao! the cat said loudly.

Happy Bloomsday everyone! June 16 - the day James Joyce's Ulysses is set, and the day Joyceans celebrate around the world.






















As you can see from the pictures, as a good Irish Studies student, my obsession with Joycean things started early - I won't even tell you how old some of these pictures are! The first statue is in Dublin, the second in Trieste. Sandycove is in Dublin again - a setting in Ulysses, and below, I meet James Joyce again in sunny Trieste a few years on...






































I have so many great memories of my travels connected to Joyce. Ireland, Dublin, Ennis, Pula, Trieste, Paris, Szombathely... Not to mention the Joycean crowd who are just lovely people simply. Starting with my boyfriend of course, without whom I wouldn't have gotten into appreciating Joyce and to these great places! So thank you, Marco! :)






















And again a few years pass, and I greet Joyce like old friends. :)






















A fun Joyce statue in Szombathely I'm discussing something with, in Hungary, where Bloom's father is from in the book.


























Yes, I spent 3 days in Paris, but of course I had to see the Shakespeare and Co. bookshop - another Joycean link!






















Their Joyce display...






















Here's to many more happy Bloomsdays! If you have a Guinness today, think of Joyce and one of the kindest heroes in literature ever, Leopold Bloom.
And if you're interested in Ulysses, there are dramatised bits all day through on BBC Radio 4 you can listen to online!

A Stroll in the Angiolina Park

Most of the days I had the luck to spend by the Adriatic I just watched the sea, sitting on the rocky shore or wrapped up in blankets from the balcony... And went for long walks of course, on the Lungomare, a path that runs right by the sea.






































One of the things I fell for in the Opatija area is that it's seeped in history. It used to be the riviera of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, so there are plenty of gorgeous old buildings and signs of a multicultural history.





















I have to admit two of my favourite things to take pictures of are decay and cats.
Now, the Opatija Riviera has both, and in plenty!





























































There's also a gorgeous park, the Angiolina, which is actually an arboretum with interesting plants from all over the globe. This is where I walked to on one of my days away in my beloved chequered dress, which you can't see I bundled up so much.:)






































(I love how my camera decided to focus on the stones in the foreground.)


























































This statue is one of my favourites ever. It's of Isadora Duncan, the celebrated dancer, who wrote in her diary that the Opatija palm trees influenced her fluid dance moves...





















Oh, James Joyce was here too of course, maybe visiting when he lived in Pula or Trieste, or both... Any Joyceans out there? :)





















Here's a link to Opatija's website where you can read more about the history and places in rather amusing English, if you're interested!

Outfit 1 - 

Promod skirt, H&M  top, C&A clip on earrings, Calzedonia tights, Vagabond shoes.

Outfit 2 - 

thrifted dress and jacket, Calzedonia tights, scarf bought in an underpass, Doc Martens.