A while back we got talking with friends about their past trips sailing around the Greek isles. It sounded amazing!
We said we would love to go with them on their next trip and lo and behold we will be heading to Athens in September to meet up with them on one of the Greek islands depending on where they are at the point when we arrive.
The plan so far is to fly in to Athens where we will spend one night. After visiting the Acropolis we will then get the train to the port of Piraeus where we will get a ferry to whichever island we are meeting our Captain and his First Mate!
Between planes, trains and ferries we didn't think our big suitcases would work for us. So at lunchtime in work yesterday I went to the shopping centre and bought us two rucksacks. I only get 45 minutes for lunch so I had conveniently reserved the backpacks online so it was a quick transaction. I think I shall use the red rucksack as it is lighter than the blue one. We intend to keep our luggage to a minimum - we plan to bring very little clothes with us. When we arrive in to Piraeus we will need to stock up on supplies to take on the boat - things like water, cheese, nuts & sliced meats......and essentials like vodka for while out on the water!
When I got home from work I cycled down to Herbert Park to meet Ciaran at The Big Grill festival. What fun!
Ciaran's friend was doing a DJ set (he was so good!) and there was loads of great food and drinks stalls to choose from. We had a burger and Ciaran had a lot of beer. It was a pretty cool event and really convenient - only a 5 minute cycle away from our house. I'd definitely go again next year.
A friend of mine was travelling to a wedding in Berlin recently. This got me thinking about a trip I took to Berlin and what I liked best about this city.
One of the things that I did was visit the DDR Museum. I thought it was fascinating. It was very interactive and really brought what it was like to live in East Germany to life.
Here's the link to their excellent website which gives you a really good idea of what the museum is like.
If you ever visit I highly recommend you visit this museum - particularly if you have children with you.
I signed up for a Book Swap on Facebook. It operates a little like a chain letter. You send 1 book on to someone and then you get a load in return - they say 36 but I will wait and see. I'm not really concerned how many I get back I just wanted to be involved to share books with others.
I sent a book to the UK today through the Book Depository (using a small credit I had on Paypal).
The book I chose to send was Judy Blume's "In the unlikely event". I hope the recipient likes it!
I've had a busy week. I'm doing a lot of yoga after work most evenings so am only getting home about 8.30pm.
Weekends are generally my time for catching up on things that I didn't get done during the week. However, this weekend I had a lot on so of course I didn't get caught up on chores at all.
On Saturday, I went to Bikram in the morning and then met with Amy & Alice for lunch. We went up to the RHA to check out the art which was nice! We agreed that the small gallery was just enough culture for the day :-)
From Amy's I then cycled down to the conference centre where there was a surprise birthday party for a work colleague on a boat docked up on the liffey. It was great and I had an enjoyable cycle home about midnght even though it was very windy weather and I was wearing a very short skirt!
Then Sunday started out with more Bikram yoga with Amy. After yoga I drove home, got my bike and cycled in to town. I then met my mother and two sisters and we went to Featherblade for lunch to mark my mother's birthday. Everyone had a very enjoyable lunch and we followed it with dessert in Amy's.
A lot of fun all in!
Ciaran painted all weekend while I was out carousing. Here's his latest piece.....
I had a lovely evening with my twin sister in Rathmines. We both cycled separately and then met in Starbucks. It was very chilled out. It's all a new experience for Amy who has moved from the Northside suburbs to an amazing apartment on the Southside (the dark side!)
I tell her she is ruined!
Click here to check out her new digs.
We got samples of coffee in Starbucks - Guatemalan blend.
We were both amazed when we came out of Starbucks - it was so mild. It positively felt warm.........but it's bucketing rain now!
We had considered going away for the August Bank Holiday weekend. However, with the hassle of getting dog friendly accommodation we decided that we would stay in Dublin and instead book in to a few different restaurants and pretend we are tourists visiting Dublin.
We had a great weekend!
On Friday we did lunch in Bastible. Saturday was dinner in Farmer Browns (the Bath Avenue one) and then Sunday was not lunch and not dinner (we got a 3.50pm reservation!) in Featherblade.
We both agreed the food was best in Featherblade but the atmosphere was best in Farmer Browns and the food was pretty good there too! The food was great in Bastible too but we both said for some reason we wouldn't be rushing back. But then maybe it is unfair to judge a restaurant on lunch service.
Bastible - we did the tasting menu
Salmon Poke to start in Featherblade
Farmer Browns - comfort food,done well.
The weather wasn't too bad for the weekend and we managed to not get rained on when we cycled around to the different restaurants over the last few days.
Today was a good day!
I made it back to Bikram Yoga with my twin sister.
I had seen a sign for Bikram Yoga in Fairview the other day on my way home from work. I checked their website and saw that they did a special intro offer for a month (as most yoga studios do) so suggested to my twin sister that we go on Sunday.
Which we did!
And it was great :-)
We had thought about cycling to the studio (Amy will be cycling most days after work while I will be driving) but because I wasn't exactly sure of the specific location I thought it was better to drive on this first visit.
It was a great studio and we had a fantastic class with a super teacher. I think we are going to enjoy our month of yoga!
What a Super Sunday!!!
