In Dublin there are many capturing buildings, but never did I imagine myself trying to photograph shopping centres…and with such relish.

St Stephen’s Green felt like a rather newly built, modern place, with all the light and all the windows I could dream of.

So, we went inside to explore. And I truly found a dream of white and green – the same fresh green colour dominating many of the interior decorations we saw in Ireland.

Quite the cake! We walked through the whole building and found the architecture fresh and matching in every detail.

Then we walked up to one of Dublin’s oldest shopping centres, Powerscourt. I wanted to see the old mahogany staircase – original from the 18th century.

Live piano music filled the air with dreams from another century…

…and the open court was an old style dream – filled with lovely tea drinkers chatting away…

But nowhere was the mahogany staircase to be found. We marvelled at old hat shops and new hat shops, colourful furniture, jewellery stores and old, wooden floors. Where was the staircase? When we had given up trying – we finally found it on our way out, at the back of the store.

I first saw it in the mirror, and was so taken in by it, that I found myself in the mirror as well…

In the 18th century…the wood carvers were very skilled. The smooth feeling of the wood, the beauty of colour and shine, the intricate patterns… I wonder how long it took them to finish this magnificent staircase.

I guess I loved both shopping centres – but only in one of them had a kindred soul.