Well, it has been a while – as usual following a flurry of activity on my part……
Just back from Ireland – I went for the oulfella’s 60th birthday party, here he is, in all his glory:
Despite slips from various people, he had no idea I was going to show, so it was a nice surprise and it coincided nicely with Jen’s temporary exile from the US. Besides having to hide in my Grandmothers until he left for Wexford, and the craziness in Philadelphia on the way home (just after the arrests in Heathrow) it was a very successful trip. The pictures were taken with my new phone because I forgot to bring a camera (as usual).
The phone wasn’t good for much else because Cingular forgot to acticate the account for international roaming after I upgraded from AT&T Wireless, grrrrr……
Not a complete disaster though, the phone (LG CU500) is actually decent quality (1.3 MP) though it does lack a flash. I also got to meet Fiona’s new little boy, Brady – all of one month old (awwww). Mother and son are doing just fine as you can see:
There are more pics up in the album, feel free to check them out – I think the house in Wexford is looking really well since they finished the landscaping and the driveway. If you agree, be sure to say it to my Mother, she will love it 
Technorati Tags: Fiona, brady, comerford, patrick, wexford, birthday, Ireland
Been a couple of weeks since the last post – such is the effect of a globetrotting, binge drinking lifestyle. I’m just back from a week in Dublin and London with TK and although it was a business trip, there was plenty of time for drunken carousing and debauchery (Yay!).
So, after arriving in Dublin on Saturday (22nd) I immediately (well, after lunch with Fi to see the new bump and deliver Giraffe type baby clothing) set about getting after it, with drinks in Solas on Wesford Street. However I didn’t like the claustrophobia – they were turning people away because the place was too full and trips to the bathroom were taking upwards of 10 minutes. So we moved on to a more sedate bar – The Swan.
Unfortunately, due to my inability to sleep on planes (even in business class) I had seen just four hours of sleep in 60 hours or so and even the 8 Red Bulls I’d had weren’t keeping me awake. Apologies to everyone who showed up – I’m sure I wasn’t exactly a ball of sunshine…….
Once TK was successfully deposited in her hotel bathroom (oops!) I headed back to the old gaff in Dublin so that the Mammy could cook me a nice fry in the morning – eggs, sausage, rashers, pudding mmmmmmmm……..I can just feel my arteries hardening Then there was some family dinner to be had and relatives (and new puppies) to see and once that was done, it was time to check in to the hotel (nice), then a few quiet drinks later (in Cafe en Seine the day was done and the business end had begun.
Nevertheless, there is still some fun to be had when meetings are afoot, you just can’t get too crazy because, well, you have to actually be coherent at these things in the morning I believe we hit The Porterhouse, Cafe en Seine (again), Milanos, Luigi Malones and probably some others. Then it was off to good old London, more about that (and hopefully some pictures) in the next post…
Technorati Tags: work, dublin, Ireland, drinking, porterhouse, luigi malones, ftizwilliam hotel, milanos, cafe en seine, solas, the swan, tomoko, sleep deprivation, London
Well, not quite, but this is the first postcard I’ve ever received from Romania (click to enlarge):
It’s from Matt & Ruth of Seattle trip fame – I remember them saying they were going on vacation – had no idea it was to Eastern Europe. I hope the soluble Disprin got to them in time……
I gotta say – I love the logo & slogan on the back – Gigantic Monuments from the Communist Dictatorship indeed. It certainly reinforces the theme from that previous post.
Do you think this means that Matt & Ruth are really *gasp* Commies?
So, I’ll be back in the old country from April 22nd (Saturday) to April 26th (Wednesday) and then in London from then until April 30th. Since it is a business trip, the oppportunities for craziness will be a bit limited, but I’m sure I’ll squeeze some in.
Of course, there will be catching up, and no doubt the requests for cheap American goods will soon be flooding in, but besides that I will get to have some decent Chinese food (yay!), drink in a smoke-free pub, eat a Doner Kebab and not have to worry about how I prinounce things for a while.
The up side of it being a business trip though is that I don’t have to fly cattle class – I will be swigging cham-pag-ne in business class as if this were the Dot Com bubble days again. Won’t hurt my airline miles either
The down side is that poor Jen gets left behind while I go off galavanting. Then again, she is deserting me for 2 months later this year because her visa runs out and she can’t get a new one until October. So my little 9 day trip doesn’t look so bad all of a sudden
For anyone who is interested and will be in the country – we will be in the general area of Wexford St. in Dublin on Saturday night, probably in Solas to start and then who knows. Still waiting for the London stuff to firm up…..
