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!

Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka "Pure Imagination"

RIP Gene Wilder


Willy Wonka was always one of my favourite Christmas films as a child.
As an adult, I thought Gene Wilder was a creepily brilliant Wonka!

Kemp Gallery Exhibition - Pigsy

Ciaran is currently working towards an October date for his exhibition in the Kemp Gallery 

He aims to have about 10 pieces on show.

Some of his work is staggeringly large so he will probably only exhibit one large piece due to the available space. 

The exhibition will open in early October and will run for 6 weeks with his art work being available to buy online also.

Doing my civic duty!

Today was my day off (I'm working on Saturday this week) so I got up early and did a few chores, including buying a TV licence after receiving numerous reminder letters over the past while.  

I had been thinking of going and getting my nails done but after getting a call from my sister I went and met her in Starbucks for lunch.  

After lunch I decided to give blood instead of getting my nails done.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my iron level was high enough to donate as on my past few visits I was turned down.

The best thing about giving blood is that you get to eat sugary treats after the donation!

They even have Tayto Crisps!

Then when I got home I did my own nails! Not too bad I think....