Long day!

Early start yesterday up at 6.30am to get on the road to Belfast for the Smart Car Rally.

Here's a report written by Amy for the Smart Car Rally Facebook page:

September 2012 Belfast Trip Report: Enid & I left Dublin at approximate 7am and arrived at the Boucher Crescent Smart/Mercedes garage at 9.30am. Coincidentally we arrived at the same time as Gerry & Shay from the Dublin Smart Car Rally!We were greeted in the garage by some lovely folk from the Ulster Cancer Foundation who took our donation and gave us the clues for the rally. We then were directed to another garage to the staff restaurant where we had a fantastic Ulster fry to keep us going for the day. (quick aside: we had Bones the dog with us who made a show of us by climbing up on to the table - he never does that - and was immediately turfed out by chef. Silly Bones!). We poured over the clues and saw that we it was a considerable length - 156miles in total!

Quick media photo outside and we were off! Very convenient for E&I we were behind Gerry, who was behind Shay & Alice, so we let them lead the way and we enjoyed the scenery. Stopped off halfway for a scheduled stop (part of the rally) for soup and sandwiches. Another media photo shoot and we resumed tour.

We finished up in the Carn Smart garage in Portadown where we had some lovely refreshments - tea, coffee, sandwiches, sausage rolls & chicken goujons. Had nice chat with a few Smartie people. We did not meet any people from this page :-( Prizes and goodie bags were given out and Enid and I then set off home.

We arrived him approximate 8.30pm that evening. It was a long days driving for poor Enid! Next year we would probably stay over...

Overall a great day. Fantastic hospitality as always from Smart of Belfast. Met some lovely people and saw some beautiful parts of Northern Ireland.

Anyway on the subject of next year - we hope to arrange a 2013 Dublin meet up! Probably along the lines of: meet in the Phoenix Park for a "tailgate party" - to chat about Smarts, have a look at everyone's car, some eats and tea :-) and then a Smart parade/convoy drive around the Phoenix Park. Watch this space!

Arthurs Day/Marketers Day?!

Really enjoyed "Tuesdays with Morrie" last night.  Thought it was an excellent production.  In particular I thought that Terry Byrne who played Morrie was brilliant.

On the way home we drove through the city and up Camden Street.  It was crazy!!!  The Village had a live band on for Arthurs Day and 2FM were there recording it.  Every pub on the street was packed and there were people all over the place, even walking on the road. Traffic had come to a complete standstill.  

I think Arthur's Day has only been celebrated for the last few years - the cynic in me is beginning to see it as just one big marketing opportunity even though it is great for all of those less well known bands who get to play in all of the great venues all over Dublin.  

I think the whole concept of Arthur's Day just leaves me a little cold. 

Tuesdays with Morrie

Tomorrow we are going to the theatre to see the play "Tuesdays with Morrie" (or should that be Thursdays with Morrie?!)

This book was turned in to a film and now obviously a play.

Ciaran very much enjoyed the book, as did I.  He passed it to a good friend of his who passed it around his whole family while on a big family holiday.  It is possibly the only book he has read that he recommended to someone else, other then "A catcher in the rye".

I hope we enjoy the play - I saw the film and did not think it was up to much in comparison to the book.

It is on in the Draiocht theatre which is close to my work and where we used to live.  Before we moved house we used to regularly go to the theatre with a meal beforehand in a little Italian restaurant next door to the theatre.  We would walk from out house (or cycle) and we always commented how civilised it was to have a theatre so close to our house!  I miss that.....  :-(

If you are on Facebook check out ODKM's new office furniture (supplied by Kube) - looks great but I don't think Bones will be happy to hear he is banned from going near it!

BTW, tomorrow night is Arthur's Day, hope you enjoy it!!! Raise a pint of the black stuff for me and I'll do the same for you!

Celebrity alert in Dublin!

Here's 2 pictures you might like to look at!

It's when Amy and I met Cuba Gooding Jr.

It was in the Shelbourne Hotel Bar.  He was having a quiet drink with his wife and we were sitting beside him.  He happily agreed to pose for a picture with us and told us how much he was enjoying Ireland.  He had been on the Late Late Show the night before so we told him that we had watched it and thought he was great.  He was in Ireland promoting a movie.

We had been out for dinner and were on our way to a party when we decided to pop in for a quick drink in the Shelbourne.  Dinner had been so nice that we wanted to continue the great vibe.  Well it certainly made out night to get a photo with this great actor!  What a nice guy!

One of my favourite films is Jerry Maguire - who hasn't uttered the immortal line "Show me the money" at appropriate times in your life??!!!  He is a legend!

The Key West Picture Show!

The Key West Picture Show.......have you seen it?!

It's a movie that was filmed in Key West in the 1970's and it has such a great feeling to it.  I probably like the scenes about the bicycling culture on the island.

You can buy it here if you are interested!

I bought my copy in Key West in the store next to Blue Heaven in the Bahama Village.

Oktoberfest!

Oktoberfest in Dublin was quite crazy! It started off sedate enough and then the music got going and it went wild.  The place was packed and everyone was singing, dancing and drinking.  I believe that the beer was very strong which might explain the girl being taken away by paramedics at about 8pm.

When you left the beer tent to go to the bathroom it took about 20 minutes to get back in due to the crowds.  There was also a system where you exited one side and then went back in at the other side, this was causing a huge queue.  Luckily my sister and I were able to bypass the line and enter through the exit by pretending we were event staff - made believable by the fact that we were wearing  "Dirndl" style costumes!

The above and below are some girls in authentic Dirndls.  They were all German Nationals who are currently living in Ireland.

It was actually hard to believe that we were in Ireland it felt like we were in Germany!  It was such a great event - a really great day out in Dublin.

Beer lovers should take note of this festival and plan to visit Ireland in 2013 for it!  Of course there will be loads going on this year in Ireland because it is the year of "The Gathering"

Culture Night 2012

This Friday is Culture Night. I'm looking forward to it.  Last year we visited the Book of Kells in Trinity College which was really great.  We then headed to Kilmainham to the IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) to listen to live music.  On the way to the IMMA we stopped off in the Winding Stair Bookshop to watch some performance poets recite their work.  All in all a really great night!  The atmosphere in Dublin was fantastic!