Liverpool Lime Street, side entrance

Another very ordinary photo which has had a surprising amount of "love" on Google Maps.

This is the side door of Lime Street railway station in Liverpool,  England  on a sunny day in July 2019.  It's an incredibly busy place, but somehow on this sunny summer day there's no one standing  outside. 

What a difference a week makes

Just a week ago I was enjoying warm sunshine, bright blue sky, flowers and flags.  Today in the same spot, its totally different, and we're already onto a storm with a name starting with "B".

Sunshine - in October!

The storm-season started a week later - but on 17 October in 2026, Eyre Square in Galway looked like this:   Sunshine with real warmth in it.   Bright summer-blue sky.   Flower pots a bit bedraggled, but still sporting bright colours.  Tribal flags still on their flagpoles.

Just keeping the memory of summer alive for as long as possible.  Because look at it just one week later!

I hold your hand in mine, dear

Halloween guests in a pub in Galway, Ireland:  Look, no hands!  Except whose is that other one?

(Not exactly a moment of beauty, but with good dash of dark humour, nonetheless.)

With apologies to American university lecturer and poet / song-writer, Tom Lehrer:

Sculpture from the Brutalist school?

I've never known what this sculpture outside the ATU  (previously GMIT, and RTC) in Galway, Ireland is about.   Makes me think of engineering, but I can't guess what it's depicting.  

So I took a pic in mid October 2026, hoping that Google's image-search would tell me.   So far it's suggested that it is a "brutalist sculpture" - whatever that is - and that it's a popular style.  

If you know, or can point me to a link, there's a comments box somewhere down the page.

Foggy October

The photo doesn't even begin to show the experience of the city-centre in Eyre Square, Galway Ireland, on an October 2026 morning when the fog was heavy, without being freezing, the foreground had details but the background was white.

Semi-suburban Halloween

Spotted this Halloween window decoration just outside the city-centre in Galway, Ireland the other day:  I've always like the idea so having a window to decorate which gets lots of views, but never yet achieved it myself.

The display looked even better in person:  the creepy bits were just enough to set a spooky Halloween theme without anything being overpowered, the orange plastic lightens things up a bit and contrasts nicely with the blue walls, and the lace-curtain backdrop sets the scene  - and has you wondering what lies beyond.

Glenina Clubhouse in the sunshine

I was killing time in the sunshine and spotted this picturesque-from-a-distance historic building which looked more interesting than the housing estates around it.  Reverse image search returned some entertaining but very wrong suggestions, like Athy Railway Station.  However a bit searching les to an internet page which calls it the old, very old clubrooms at Glenina that has  "a preservation order which has caused headaches to Galwegian [rugby club] administrators, planners and dreamers ever since [1963]"   

At first I thought I was a converted large family home which would have a name and a web-page somewhere describing it.   But on closer inspection, it's just not right for a historic home.  My guess is that it was probably built as a rugby clubrooms, and complete with lots of behind the scenes dressing rooms and the like.

Galway, Ireland, October 2026.

Golden Hour in Galway Bay

I loved the sheer intensity of sunshine as the setting sun sank behind Silvertrand.

Google Photos calls it the "golden hour", but really the deep, warm colour palatte passed within about 10-15 minutes.

Salthill Beach, Galway, Ireland in October 2026. 

Mystery drycleaners

Google Mays says it's now O'Flaherty's Dry Cleaners & Laundrette.  The sign-board at the entrance says it's Keadys.  The shop itself  has no idea.  But Google Maps was happy to receive my photo.

 

Whole-of-building ugliness

Normally I look for moments of fleeting beauty in the built environment.  But today my eye was caught by just how drab and ugly this building is above street level:  the bank and solicitors' entrance at street level aren't expecially pretty but are at least what you expect. But the three floors above have brick with wood panelled mini-balconys that are quite different from anything else in the neighbourhood giving a very tired, old-skool brown vibe.
 

(October 2026, Galway city-centre, Ireland.)

Taking daylight robbery to its logical conclusion

There's a story which tour guides love to tell about the origin of the phrase "daylight robbery".  In short, a government, somewhere, introduced a tax on sunlight, and used number of windows in a house as the measurement proxy.   So of course canny citizens fought back after realising  that by removing more windows they could pay less tax.   Arguably that's what happened to this building in the centre of Galway city, where all windows were boarded up, and later painted bright green.

Back of Freeneys  Bar, Middle Street, Galway, Ireland in June 2026.

Taking a squiz at Woozza

 

This takeaway pizza shop doesn't exactly count as a moment of fleeting beauty, but the lights in their new shopfront, which used to be the print-shop next door, were eye-catching.   And I thought this would be a photo that Google Maps would like, since it's not often that there are no cars parked outside.

Galway, Ireland, October 2026

St Nicholas', veiled

 

This is more a moment of irony, and a promise of beauty to come, than a fleeting moment of beauty in the built environment!

St Nicholas Collegiate Church in Galway, Ireland is having some restoration work done to the side entrance - the one which most people use.   The entire wall a veiled  (to keep the rain out, never mind the curious eyes), but at ground level there are some rather cute panels showing imitation and doors.   The only cheerful thing is the three kegs and to traffic cones hiding under the canopy. 

But as always, the clock tower soaring above and keeping a sharp eye on everything that's going on.

September 2026.

Exploring in Galway Docks

 

The Celtic Explorer (a ship used by the Marine Institute for research trips), docked in Galway Harbour, July 2017.  This photo was taken from on-board another large ship which was open for public visits, and parked on the other side of the dock.

Blakes Bar and Brasserie

Blakes Bar and  Brasserie on the corner bar and restaurant on the corner of Eglinton and Mary Streets, Galway, Ireland in June 2026 - named after John Blake Fitzilliam, third Mayor of Galway, 1487–1488.

This is one of those buildings that it's hard to get a nice picture of. But the background clouds and sunset, rain to make everything look fresh, and their external lighting came together nicely, and the pic even got a "heart" on Google maps.

The diffused moon

At a bus stop on the Parkmore Road enjoying the striped  autumnal moon over the stone walls and green fields, with no hints of the industrial estate behind.

Galway,  Ireland, September 2026.

Wine and Cheese in the sunshine

On a sunny Saturday in September, this "outdoor dining" table at Trieste in Galway city looked like a lovely place to sup wine and nibble cheese while enjoying the autumn air.

Depth in two floors

 This shop seems to spend more time between-tenants that in use!  It's mostly a fairly sterile-looking and one-dimensional.  But at certain times of the year, at certain points in the afternoon, sunlight gets in and adds depth and makes it look interesting.

(Edward Square, Galway, Ireland in September 2026)

Backyards between the high rises

One block from Galway Docks, a night-time view from one of the lessor-known vantage points.

Someone (probably the cleaners) is diligently working in one floor of the Bonham Quay office-empire.   Others are upstairs in offices on Merchant's Road.   And in between there's a collection of old houses with surprisinggreen back yards.

September 2026, Galway,  Ireland 

Boston's Custom-House Block and compass-rose inlay

The historic Custom House Block located in Long Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts USA.  The plaza features a giant compass rose-inlay on the ground, the historic brick building in the centre and newer-style modern buildings in surroundings sites.   Photographed in June 2007.

Dodgy filament in a hotel "bathroom"

 

Despite the bright glow in the photo, the filament in this light bulb was barely lit:  It will probably fall totally at the next switch off / on.   Regardless it cast some interesting arcs of light around the place itself, and the shadow created by the matching pair mounted on the wall at the other side of the washroom which you can see at the "back" of the photo.

September 2026, at the Western Hotel, Galway, Ireland.

Another place that's not really a factory

A factory that's not a factory at all.

This is another photo which was "loved" on Google Maps.

Despite looking like a warehouse, it's isnt really any kind of factory - and certainly not one tht prints money.   

Instead, it's big-box retail on the Tuam Road in Galway, Ireland in 2026, selling second hand furniture and more.   And rarely seen with no cars outside and the doors open, which is why I snapped a picture on day in August 2026.

Photogenic in Tuam

Patrice's beauty salon in Tuam's main (?) street has made more effort than most with a full two-story-height stylistic image of a face in a mirror with pastel flowers. High art, it is not, but it adds a lovely touch to the street-front.

Bank-branch pretending to be a pub!

For "Culture-Night" 2026, a visual artist projected light onto this historic castle (with a bank-branch inside) to make it look like a historic public house a couple of blocks down the road.   They also had a big speaker placed outside for the night, pumping out music like the pub would usually have.

An interesting definition of culture:  artificial décor, accompanied by artificial music.  

Galway Ireland, September 2025.

Coffee art by night

Someone in the Bakebox bakery in Galway, Ireland had fun creating artistic impressions of menu items, especially coffee varieties, on the front window with a pink and white glass-painting pens.   Easily-missed by day, they look more interesting at night, lit from the front. 

(August/September 2026).

Vivacious petunias re-imaging wrought-iron

 

A trail of vivacious pink petunias, re-imaging the black wrought-iron railing at the front of the Hardiman Hotel in Galway Ireland in September 2026.

An ugly in-your-face power-pole, obscuring the Bierhaus

It's been hard to get a good photo of Galway's Bierhaus for a long time, thanks to the in-your-face power pole splattered right outside.  And then "they" painted it bright pink, just to rub things in.   But today, it looked like a pretty pic with the pole front-and-centre.

The mural on the background is titled Madra Dubh, sponsored by Beamish and inspired by the legend of the Black Dog who would crawl from the Corrib and follow anyone who dared to cross Wolfe Tone Bridge after midnight.  I'm sure that there's no truth in the rumours that it was publicans from "The West" who kept his story alive.  😄

Mustardisation of the The Cellar

A bar and restaurant in the ground floor of the Colonial Buildings in Galway, Ireland gets a new colour scheme in early September 2026.   I guess mustard was a better choice than ketchup - and the sunset was lovely.  But ... mehhh!

Greens looking very pink indeed

When this vegan cafe opened, they had a pleasantly green exterior that fitted well with their location at the end of a suburban street.  But something inspired them to repaint in bright screaming pink, trimmed with panels of artificial moss.

Henry Street, Galway, Ireland in September  2026. 

Freshwater lake on the Aran Islands

Loch Mór (Big Lake) a freshwater lake on the island of Inis Oírr (Inisheer) in Galway, Ireland in early September 2007.   It has no fish, but is home to eels.

Startling aerobatics by local starlings

On select evenings every autumn, local starlings contribute to Galway's cultural scene by staging an  impressive aerial acrobatics display in Eyre Square. 

Diving from the tower sets off a solar flair?

I just happened to be looking at the Salthill Diving Board as the intense golden setting bun flared up, seemingly just above and behind the people swimming thee.   

(Galway, Ireland, Diving Board, Salthill, Galway,  Ireland in November 2016.

The most-boring Mcdonalds ever?

I never really looked at this building  which houses McDonald's in Galway,  Ireland,  until it closed for renovations first a couple if months.  

What can they be doing which is going to take so long 🤔

And doesn't the whole place look so boring once you can't see inside the ground floor.

Ireland's most intricate shopping centre

Infinitely interesting shadow-patterns to be seen as the sun moves over the glass rooftop of St Stephen's Green shopping centre in Dublin, Ireland.   (Photo taken in August 2026)

Garden sheds, meccaino men are an optional extra

Some very interesting super-size salesmen hanging around the yard at Steeltech Sheds in Galway Ireland.   Could make interesting security guards! 

Interesting rectangles in the sunshine

I'm sure I've taken better photos of this building in Galway before.  But the intense contrast between the front and the sides was really striking in today's bright sunshine.  

An accounts office, living above the shop

Love the way that a small sign beside a main-street accessories shop in Loughrea, Co Galway (shaped like the end of a ribbon, no less) points to a whole different business, which is accessed via a differently-coloured doorway at the end of this main-street building.

Maggie May's picturesque pub

 Maggie Mays, a picturesque in the main street of Loughrea, County Galway in August 2026, with a county flag flying from one end of the building, blue sky and a chem-trail (sic!) in the background.   (It's another pub-photo which is surprisingly popular on Google Maps.

The brightest yellow bar

Keary's Bar in Loughrea, County Galway Ireland in August 2026, with a very bright yellow front, and a back door through the arch which is Kings Street, complete with kegs and a green wheely rubbish bin outside. 

Michael Regan is a busy man

I'd heard radio-ads for these two businesses in Loughrea, Co Galway before, but I never realised that they share the very same premises.  A very interesting business combination.

Extreme pinkness in Loughrea

Hope's Bakery and Coffee Shop in Loughrea's main street in August 2026 is extremely pink!   It's not often that I think somewhere is too pink - but this one managed it.

Early solar eclipse glow

On 13 August 2026, there was a 90-something percentage solar eclipse.  Early on, there was an eerie glow along the Corrib river in Galway, bathing Leonardo hotel in an unusually attractive light.

Vincent's in the Sunshine

Loughrea on a sunny day in August 2026, even the charity shops sparkling in the sunshine. 

Ireland's last internet cafe?

Tucked away in the side street leading to the Weavers Court short term carpark in Loughrea, this local computer shop is also a fully funcactioning Internet cafe.  

There was even a customer sitting at a computer when I poked my nose in one day in August 2026 to see if I'd some how time-travelled back ten years.

I have no idea if it really is the last Internet café in Ireland,  but it seems distinctly possible. 

Not like any phone booth I've ever seen before

This phone repairs shop in Loughrea, County Galway was snapped on a sunny summer day in 2026.  The building is even the right shape for a phone booth.  Just a bit blue than most.

Ice cream beside the Irish Sea

Back in 2021, I took a quick snap of this very pretty-pink ice-cream shop, complete with a seemingly-pirouetting cone, in the village of Bettystown in Co Meath on Ireland's eastern seaboard.

Five years later, someone "loved" the photo in Google Maps.   It's probably the ice-cream that they were appreciating, but I thought I'd share a high-resolution photo here anyway.

False Creek - a residential waterfront in Vancouver, BC.

 

A waterfront scene from Vancouver, Canada in June 2007, of an area known as False Creek:  It's actually a short inlet which confused an early hydrographic surveyor.  Despite looking office-ish, the building at the front-left ("1000 Beach") is full of fancy apartments.

Anything but beauty

Normally I share pictures which have a (slight) streak of beauty about them.  This has nothing of the sort.

But I was drawn to this now-abandoned building  which has got progressively more decayed every year since I've lived in this city.  You could even call it anti-beauty.

Known as Canavan House it is located at the city end of Nun's Island in Galway city.  In the early 20-noughties it was home to the Galway Centre For Unemployed /  Galway Peoples Resource Centre.  Eventually they closed or moved, and plans to convert it to a boutique hotel never got off the ground.   

Since then nature has been working hard to take over the site.  Now, even the hoardings look like they need protective covers, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a tree rising up through the roof space one day.

Past their prime, but pretty in the sunshine

 

Each summer recently these outside, multi-story flower pots make their appearance in Eyre Square.

When they first come out, they look beautifully assembled and balanced.  

But as the summer goes on, some plants grow a little faster than others, and some suffer more damage from the madding crowds of Race Week.  We all know that eventually the plants will or get damaged as the new crop of students set themselves goals for tipping monster flower-pots onto their side.

But in late July, in the sunshine and from the middle-distance, they do look beautiful.