Bernie Sanders -The Dalkey Book Festival

Dinner on Saturday evening was in Angelina's. The setting is amazing - we sat outside by the canal. 

I had tried to get tickets to the Bernie Sanders event as part of the Dalkey Book Festival but not surprisingly they were all sold out.

So.....

On the morning of the event, my twin sister contacted me to say that a set had been offered on twitter but that they needed to be picked up in Dublin Airport. I was able to get to Dublin Airport so she let owner of the tix know that we would take them off his hands.

The tix owner than rang me from Manchester where he was working at the Ariana Grande and friends concert. He explained where I could "find" the tickets.

This is a good one!

The airline desk wouldn't hold the tickets so he hid them behind some newspapers in a convenience store in the airport!! 

I drove over to the airport, pulled up at departures, ran in to the terminal, located the shop, rummaged around "The Racing Post" and found them!!

And that is how I ended up cycling to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre to see Bernie Sanders in conversation with Brian McWilliams.

What fun!

Click here to read about Bernie's event.

Art Weekend

Friday brought us to the opening of Shane Sutton's exhibition "The Space in between" at The Kemp Gallery in Gallery X.

I cycled to meet Amy and we then walked from her place to the gallery on South William Street, where we then met Ciaran.

It was a busy launch with lots of people, great music and tasty beer from Hope Beer.

Shane's work is very interesting and the spaceman is something that intrigues me. 

Then on Sunday it was the Dean Hotel for RM Kavanagh's (Rasher) exhibition "Perceptual Space".

This was another interesting exhibition with some very creative pieces. 

It's great living in Dublin and being able to wander around the city and check out the latest art openings.

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we attended a Dublin City Wedding. It was an amazing weekend with nothing better than going to the wedding from your house and knowing that you would be sleeping in your own bed when you returned later that night.

I wore a Caroline Kilkenny dress, to the wedding, which I bought in the Kilkenny Shop a little while ago.

It's got a lovely sleeve detail (nearly like a double sleeve) that you can see in this pic. There is also a slight ruffle or stitching on the shoulder that gives a slight illusion of a shoulder pad.

In this picture you can again see the cap sleeve detail that was very flattering along with the slight ruching on dress. 

The dress was on sale when I bought it so luckily there was one size 10 left (that's a size 6 for my USA readers!)

Interesting to see that it is made in Europe and not further to the East!

 

And here I am outside the Kilkenny Shop with lots of purchases. It's a great shop for buying jewellery or quality gifts with an Irish connection.

What a great weekend, with the wedding on Saturday and then a fun after party that we cycled in the sun to on the Sunday. Dublin is one great city for a Wedding!!

Amazon Fire

I was in the market for a cheap tablet to use as an eReader so was delighted to find the Amazon Fire on special offer in Argos, reduced from €75 to €45.

I reserved one online last night and picked it up on my lunch hour today.

When I got home from work I downloaded the Borrowbox app to the tablet and easily downloaded free eBooks from the library on to the tablet. 

I'm really looking forward to reading "The Outsiders" by SE Hinton again!!

Dolphin Village & Pool in Muscat, Oman

As well as days at the beach, we also spent two days at the pool in Dolphin Village. The facilities are excellent here with a large bar and restaurant and a super pool with lots of chairs for sunbathing.

There really is nothing as good as relaxing in the sun by the pool.

 

Here's Miss Amy walking back from the bar with cold drinks from the bar!

Look at the great view of the mountains from the pool. Muscat really is a beautiful place.

Life's a Beach - Capital Area Yacht Club, Muscat Oman

Muscat is hot. That is stating the obvious.

But it's hotter than anything I have ever experienced before. It was up at 36 degrees celcius and it was so hot that both Amy and I came to a point of nearly fainting. I was kindly helped by a waiter who made me a soda water with lime and salt for the dehydration.

It being so hot the best place to cool off was at the beach where there is a delightful breeze and the water is the perfect temp for hopping in to and cooling down.

And this is the beach where we spent most of our holidays at - the Capital Area Yacht Club.

It's a beautiful beach with clean waters, golden sand and a handy beach bar for snacks (although we brought cooler boxes full of lunch and drinks) along with bathroom facilities including indoor and outdoor showers (is there anything nicer than an outdoor shower?!!).

Here's some pics of the gorgeous beach.

On our first day there was a lot of people at the beach because it was a public holiday. On our second visit it was practically empty because it was mid week.  Then on our third visit it was a little bit busier because it was the weekend - but we got there early so we got a great spot.

To me a holiday is all about spending time at the beach and this was one great big beach holiday!

"Kargeen" Muscat, Oman

On our second last night in Muscat we ate in Kargeen restaurant which is a favourite of my sisters.

The restaurant is in a beautiful setting among trees and canopies and lights. We sat outside by the fountain.

Here's a picture of my view as I ate (you can see shisha being smoked at the table beside us).

 

Here I am with my twin, my sister and my sister's roommate.

Lots of lovely food including lamb chops that my sister and I had been talking about ordering for the past few days!

This is a mixed grill which gives a great selection of different meats. 

And lamb koftas!

Chicken and hummus which Amy adores!

We also discovered falafel while we were in Muscat.

What a wonderful night out in Muscat. Click here to read more about Kargeen.