Sifnos, Greece

Sifnos was where we docked in a marina for the first time. The harbour master is the guy in the blue in the back of the photo.  As we approached the dock he shouted for the rope. The action happens very fast and it feels like there are ropes going everywhere.  It's both exciting and a little stressful but it certainly gets the adrenaline going. What fun!

After getting the boat in safely you certainly enjoy your first drink!

Sifnos is a lovely island. Here is the view from where we ate breakfast the next morning.

After a swim in the ocean it was back on the boat and off on our way again. 

Can you tell how much I enjoyed this trip by the way I am recanting what we got up to?!

"I Find You Fascinating"

The KEMP Gallery welcomes another debutant in the Irish art scene "Pigsy" for his solo exhibition “I FIND YOU FASCINATING” at 6pm on Thursday the 6th of October 2016 at 25 South Frederick St, Dublin 2.

Pigsy aka Ciaran McCoy is an award winning architect with ODKM Architects who has designed projects ranging across the commercial, retail, residential and leisure sectors. He borrows from his design and architectural knowledge as well as a flair picked up from his father, who is also an artist, to create diverse artworks. Come along to see the magic that he conjures up with a vast array of media from spray paints to oil sticks.

Drinks on the night will kindly be sponsored by O Brother Brewing.
www.obrotherbrewing.com
Please RSVP to thekempgallery@gmail.com

Click here for Facebook Event page

Sailing in Greece - And we're off!

We took a taxi from Athens to Lavrion Port where we picked up our boat - the "Amphiliki".

It was all rather different and exciting and even at this point we knew this trip was going to be something special!

We stocked up on provisions at the local supermarket who then delivered all the food, drinks and ice down to the boat for us. All of our favourite food was selected including lots of Haloumi cheese!!

By 2pm or so we were on our way.  It was a little nerve racking throwing off the ropes and motoring away but very exciting too. 

Later in the day after sailing for awhile, a rope was thrown off the boat and we hung on for dear life as we were dragged along.  What fun!!

On our first night we anchored near a sand bar on Kythnos Island and the next morning we visited a natural hot spring. Incredible - a naturally occurring hot tub!!

What a great start to our trip. More details to follow over the next few days.....

Athens - Greece Sailing Trip

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging for the past week or so. The reason for this is that I've been away travelling in Greece.......and what a trip it's been!

We arrived last Friday night to Athens and on Saturday morning we got up early at 8am to visit the ruins of the Acropolis before we had to go to Lavrion Port to pick up out sail boat.

Here's a few pics of the Acropolis which was quite amazing. I really hope we can go back again some day as our visit was not long enough and we were not able to take a guided tour.

For the one night in Athens we stayed in the Parthenon Hotel which was ideally located close to the ruins. 

The weather in Athens was just perfect - warm but not too uncomfortable and cool in the evening.

We got back to our hotel about 10am took taxi to Lavrion Port where we met up with the last member of our group (the Captain!) and saw the boat that we would be calling home for the week. Watch out for my next few blogs all about our sailing trip.....

O'Stillman 2016 - USA vs. Ireland

The O'Stillman Cup is back in town! 

For the past few days Irish squash players battled it out on court with Team USA.

I'm pleased to report that Ireland won and for a year the O'Stillman Cup is back on Irish soil!


Ciaran did not play this year as he is currently injured.  But he watched the games and cheered on his team mates.

And then we went to the big dinner on Saturday night which was a lot of fun.

The food and wine were excellent as always and I enjoyed a little tipple of prosecco on arrival - always a good start to the night!

And here's the cup filled with some concoction to celebrate the win!

Looking forward to next year's O'Stillman.......somewhere in North America.  Watch this space!

Georgia Tech vs. Boston College Football in Dublin, Ireland

It was a wet and dull day in Dublin yesterday - but we didn't let it stop us having fun.


At the last minute we decided to go to the College Football Game in the Aviva Stadium.  


Boston College and Georgia Tech were playing their first game in Ireland and boy was it a spectacle.


To be honest, I found it so hard to concentrate on the game with everything else that was going on.


It was unlike anything else I've seen in Ireland, what with the bands, the dancers, the cheerleaders and the pyrotechnics.


There was also a fly-by planned but I think it was cancelled due to the bad weather.

We dressed for the weather and were mainly under roof for the game. 

Both bands were fantastic. The highlight for me was Boston College band playing Sweet Caroline.

We were sitting 7 rows from the front so had a great view.

   

A great game - well done to Georgia Tech!

Afterwards we went to Slatterys for a few before walking home. What a great day!

Come dancing she said!

Last weekend my twin sister invited me to come along to a ceili in The Grand Social with her on Wednesday evening.  

Honestly I felt so nervous!  I just didn't know what to expect.  I haven't ceili danced since I was a teenager (except for maybe a few drunken incidents - like the time I had the whole crowd on the roof of the La Concha Hotel in Key West doing some set dancing.....and by the whole crowd, I mean the whole crowd - I even had the barman dancing!).

So anyway I decided to give it a go......like what's the worst that could happen?!

As it turns out it wasn't quite a ceili but was in fact an Irish dancing lesson.  But the thing about Irish dancing is that it is a lot of fun and you can pick it up so quickly.  Everyone was dancing in no time at all.

I can quite honestly say that it was a lot of fun and I look forward to going back very soon.

There was live music and an instructor who did the count as we danced. It was all very organised and well worth going to if you are ever in Dublin City. 

As we say here in Ireland "Bain trial as" - Give it a go!