2 weeks later and Jill is another year older, her mum is a darker shade of brown, and our livers are just that little bit closer to being put out of service!
Jill's mum Joyce, and Joyce's cousin Sandra arrived last Tuesday week for an eleven day holiday. Their first night was quiet, as they were exhausted from the flight, with Joyce falling asleep as she talked, in front of the TV as we ate our take-out! The next morning, the girls joined me on the beach for my morning walk with the dogs, their first of many mornings appreciating a Cayman sunrise. It was Valentine's night, so two chances of getting a dinner reservation, so we all ate out in Sunset Bar, on South Sound. After staying in on Thursday night to start writing the wedding invitations, we went out in style on Friday night, starting in Morgans Harbour bar, and then into Calypso Grill for a fantastic meal on the edge of the water on the North Sound, up in West Bay. With our bellies full, we made it to the Ritz where everyone started to fade, but not before we sunk a couple of Mojitos overlooking the pool!
Saturday morning, I played nine holes with the lads, before heading to Cracked Conch for lunch with Jill, Joyce, and Sandra, and then on to the Turtle Farm. Joyce and I then joined the lads again for another game of golf in Safe Haven. Despite the four beers had over nine holes, Joyce still finished with an excellent round. Say nothing about my own score! We sunk a few more beers in the club house, before heading home around 7:30pm to shower, change, and head out with Jill and Sandra in toe, on to Aqua Beach, where we met up with the gang. Despite Joyce's jet-lagged attempts to sleep in the middle of the bar at 9pm, she managed to make it through to midnight, when we dragged ourselves home!
On Sunday we all headed over to the Rugby club where myself and Jill had two games of GAA each to play. Needless to say, my team won our two games, making it 6 out of 6. It was the first bit of exercise I had done since cracking my rib two weeks previous, but the oul rib held fast! Jill's team won one, and lost one, despite another "passionate" game from Jill! Anyone who has ever seen Jill play hockey will be able to understand how much she gets into her game! Thankfully no-one was hurt, although I'm sure plenty of insults were thrown!
We brought Toby and Daisy down with us for the day, and they were surely wrecked by the end of it, as were we! Quiet night spent in, finishing off the invites and narrowing down our guest list for July!
On Monday I was back to work, but Jill was off for her third day of six days off for mid-term, so she brought the girls out across the island to the Northside. It was surprisingly cold for Cayman (22 degrees), so not really a day for lying on the beach! Thankfully Tuesday was back to normal (28/30 degrees) so the girls went out on a boat trip to Stingray City, getting a puncture on the way home! (note the photo with strangers helping to fix the tyre, yet Jill is standing away with her arms folded, getting away with doing nothing! A true princess!)
Shrove Tuesday wouldnt be complete without pancakes, and despite sharing a house with three women, their were no pancakes forthcoming from our house! Thankfully our friends and neighbours Justin & Cara had invited a bunch of us over for sweet and savoury pancakes, a feast of ice cream, strawberries, peaches, chocolate sauce, stewed vegetables, chicken, and good old fashioned lemon and sugar on top notch home made pancakes, washed down with plenty of wine and beer! By 10:30pm, we were on our way to Calico Jacks on the beach for the "Bacardi Gras" party, a pre-Mardi Gras event on the sand, with DJ's, fire-eaters, free shots, dancers, etc. We met up with some more people and partied until around 2.
The next day, despite convincing talk about taking it easy, we headed over on the boat to the Mardi Gras party in Kaibo, near Rum Point on the Northside, the largest party of the year in Cayman.
The dock was littered with yachts and boats, the beach was packed, their were live bands playing, DJ's, beer tents, food tents, entertainment, and plenty of sun! The day flew along. Now what the hell would you be doing back in Ireland on Ash Wednesday? I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you cant beat this.....
Thursday was Jill's birthday. We had thankfully headed home on a boat at sundown from Kaibo the day before, unlike some of our friends who got hammered, hot stranded, and ended up having to hitch or get cabs home at 3 in the morning. For Jill's birthday, we went out for dinner in Papagallos, arguably the nicest restaurant in Cayman. We ordered champagne to wash down the food, and then headed home to finish off a bottle of wine or two.
Friday night was the big birthday night. We started early, at 6:15 in a restaurant called Bed, up the road, where the waiting staff where pyjamas, and the tables are designed like four posters.
After dinner we moved into the bar, where a gang of about 40 people met up with us before heading down to the Wharf for the Boogie Nights party. The 40 dwindled to about 12 who came back to our house after the Wharf, where Jimmy and Sarah had a dance off, and the rest of us drank until 5 in the morning.
Joyce and Sandra had done the wise thing and had gone home around midnight, allowing them to get up not long after we went to bed, to walk the dogs before heading off on a helicopter ride around the island. The pictures and stories look and sounded great! Definitely something we'll be doing when Graham and Ais arrive in three weeks!
Myself and Jill dragged ourselves out of bed to get down to the Rugby Club for the Ireland game. The place was absolutely rammed, and you could cut the tension with a knife! I'd have killed to have been in Croke Park, but the Cayman Islands Rugby Club wasnt a bad second place! There's nothing I can say about the thrashing that hasnt been said already, but my god, what a game! A good day of 6 nations rugby all round, a pity that Wales couldnt hold out against France, but c'est la vie, as the French would say!
Last night was all about chilling out and relaxing, after we dropped Joyce and Sandra to the airport. We hope they had a great holiday; we certainly enjoyed having them, and they were great craic when we were all out.
Today I played the full 18 in Safehaven, after the front 9 opened this week for the first time in nearly 3 years. Needless to say, I'll be going for lessons soon!
The next 2 weeks should be quiet, need to be quiet, as we've booked ourselves in to get our PADI Open Water Diver Certification, which is all day Saturday and Sunday, and then all day the following Saturday (for only 200 euros!). Dont think it would be wise to go out on the rip the night before each dive day, but then again.........
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Highs and Lows
77 Minutes in and we were on Cloud 9, Ireland were 4 points clear, having led through most of the second half of the match. A Grand Slam looked probable, Croke Park had fulfilled all expectations, and even us Irish over in Cayman felt like we were in North Dublin, singing the Fields of Athenry...... 60 seconds later, and the dream was over. Grand Slam and Six nations hopes were dashed. Plans to continue celebrating into the afternoon were cancelled, and we were on our way home 5 minutes later. It could have gone either way. You cant blame the ref, you cant blame anyone. France were strong, Ireland got better, both teams made mistakes, neither would have beaten an even average performing All Blacks side, but it will probably end up being the game of the six nations. 'Nuff said!
The weekend started on Thursday night when I finally brought Jill for dinner in Papagallos, the nicest restaurant on the island. She was suitably impressed! I had been in a miserable enough mood all week, complaining of the pain of my rib, and the lack of sleep it was causing, so Jill more than deserved a nice meal out.
One of our friends, Dec, had visitors over for the week, two girls from home, so a few of us went out straight after work on the Jolly Roger booze cruise, a 3 hour, all you can drink for 25 bucks, cruise up and down the beach, on a faux pirate ship. We then bailed down to Aqua Beach where another of the lads, Paul Foxton, whom myself and Gav Tobin had gone to college with, was having birthday drinks (part 1). There was a "dishco" in the Irish bar next door, being organised by Sunset FC, whom a few of the lads play for, so we headed in after a few more drinks. By this stage, most of the lads and the girls were hammered, and when the bar closed we all fell in to the Next Level nightclub next door. Unfortunately this was the one weekend that we didn't bring our camera out, missing some classic scenes of all the lads with their tops off, dancing around Jill, rubbing their sweat in her face as she squealed. Very classy indeed!
Saturday morning was a slow start. I walked the dogs on the beach before waking Jill up to help me bring the two mutts for their visit to the vets. We chilled out for the early afternoon, Jill going back to bed, as I waited for the carpenter to arrive to fix the spare bedroom door that I busted the first week I moved into Southampton, back in July when Graham and Ais were here! Only took me 7 months to get it fixed!
Myself, Murph, and Jimmy played golf in the late afternoon, after a bit of practice on the driving range, which I badly needed to find a comfortable swing for my cracked rib (not that I don't need the practice anyway). We played nine, ending up 3 skins each, a fair outcome considering how badly we played: three of the nine holes saw all of us hit three off the tee, and the 18th hole, a par 5, was won with a score of 8! My ribs were killing me by the end of it, but at least I had lost no money! A game of golf in Safe Haven is class. There is a girl who follows you around in a buggy with iced cold beers, soft drinks, and food, whenever you need it. You cant beat it!
Anyway, couple of pints in the club house, quick shower and change, before 20 of us met up in Copper Falls, the Steak House beside our house, for Paul Foxton and Sarah Sweetnam's joint birthday dinner. We unfortunately were split across two tables, but it was good craic all the same. By midnight we were all standing in a circle between the two tables watching two of the lads play a game of "Gay Chicken", the brainchild of Jimmy where the first guy to pull away from the snog is the chicken. As the last people in the restaurant at 12:30, shouting in a circle at two guys nearly kissing, you can understand why the restaurant threw us out!
We all bailed back to our pool were some of our neighbours were hosting a Toga party. Most of the toga crew (men and women, yes women, dressed in just togas!) had already gone home, not surprising considered they arrived half locked when I was setting up the music at 9pm, just before we headed out to dinner, but we kicked the party back into gear, continuing our drunken quest to get the girls to start playing gay chicken. It was, alas, not to be ...
By 3am all the beer was gone, and all we were left with was a bottle of Rum, and no mixers, so I cut the music and we all went home!
This morning we dragged ourselves out of bed to watch a famous Irish victory in the making....but as I said before.....'nuff said about that!
Joyce arrives on Tuesday afternoon, Jill gets her mid term next Friday, and our livers will have another ten days of torture....Graham and Ais come two weeks later, and then my sis is moving to Cayman in early April. And then it really gets messy....
The weekend started on Thursday night when I finally brought Jill for dinner in Papagallos, the nicest restaurant on the island. She was suitably impressed! I had been in a miserable enough mood all week, complaining of the pain of my rib, and the lack of sleep it was causing, so Jill more than deserved a nice meal out.
One of our friends, Dec, had visitors over for the week, two girls from home, so a few of us went out straight after work on the Jolly Roger booze cruise, a 3 hour, all you can drink for 25 bucks, cruise up and down the beach, on a faux pirate ship. We then bailed down to Aqua Beach where another of the lads, Paul Foxton, whom myself and Gav Tobin had gone to college with, was having birthday drinks (part 1). There was a "dishco" in the Irish bar next door, being organised by Sunset FC, whom a few of the lads play for, so we headed in after a few more drinks. By this stage, most of the lads and the girls were hammered, and when the bar closed we all fell in to the Next Level nightclub next door. Unfortunately this was the one weekend that we didn't bring our camera out, missing some classic scenes of all the lads with their tops off, dancing around Jill, rubbing their sweat in her face as she squealed. Very classy indeed!
Saturday morning was a slow start. I walked the dogs on the beach before waking Jill up to help me bring the two mutts for their visit to the vets. We chilled out for the early afternoon, Jill going back to bed, as I waited for the carpenter to arrive to fix the spare bedroom door that I busted the first week I moved into Southampton, back in July when Graham and Ais were here! Only took me 7 months to get it fixed!
Myself, Murph, and Jimmy played golf in the late afternoon, after a bit of practice on the driving range, which I badly needed to find a comfortable swing for my cracked rib (not that I don't need the practice anyway). We played nine, ending up 3 skins each, a fair outcome considering how badly we played: three of the nine holes saw all of us hit three off the tee, and the 18th hole, a par 5, was won with a score of 8! My ribs were killing me by the end of it, but at least I had lost no money! A game of golf in Safe Haven is class. There is a girl who follows you around in a buggy with iced cold beers, soft drinks, and food, whenever you need it. You cant beat it!
Anyway, couple of pints in the club house, quick shower and change, before 20 of us met up in Copper Falls, the Steak House beside our house, for Paul Foxton and Sarah Sweetnam's joint birthday dinner. We unfortunately were split across two tables, but it was good craic all the same. By midnight we were all standing in a circle between the two tables watching two of the lads play a game of "Gay Chicken", the brainchild of Jimmy where the first guy to pull away from the snog is the chicken. As the last people in the restaurant at 12:30, shouting in a circle at two guys nearly kissing, you can understand why the restaurant threw us out!
We all bailed back to our pool were some of our neighbours were hosting a Toga party. Most of the toga crew (men and women, yes women, dressed in just togas!) had already gone home, not surprising considered they arrived half locked when I was setting up the music at 9pm, just before we headed out to dinner, but we kicked the party back into gear, continuing our drunken quest to get the girls to start playing gay chicken. It was, alas, not to be ...
By 3am all the beer was gone, and all we were left with was a bottle of Rum, and no mixers, so I cut the music and we all went home!
This morning we dragged ourselves out of bed to watch a famous Irish victory in the making....but as I said before.....'nuff said about that!
Joyce arrives on Tuesday afternoon, Jill gets her mid term next Friday, and our livers will have another ten days of torture....Graham and Ais come two weeks later, and then my sis is moving to Cayman in early April. And then it really gets messy....
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Cabra Gaels in the papers!
Check out the undefeated Cabra Gaels (my team) in the News this week.
Cant believe they actually print this stuff in the papers!
Ah well, it is Cayman!
Cant believe they actually print this stuff in the papers!
Ah well, it is Cayman!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Undefeated!
Quick update: 4 games, 4 wins. Undefeated!
Think I cracked a rib on Friday night though, absolutely killing me now after running on it so much today. Ah well, the beer will numb the pain........Cold sweet beer.....ummmmmm
Think I cracked a rib on Friday night though, absolutely killing me now after running on it so much today. Ah well, the beer will numb the pain........Cold sweet beer.....ummmmmm
What happened the month of January?????
Happy Birthday Gail! And an advanced Happy Birthday to Dave for next week!
Well, where the hell have we been? What happened to the month of January, and am I going to finish that Christmas Blog? No, I'm not. All I'll say is the latter half of Christmas was much more relaxed, got to see everyone (nearly....), and we got to have two days of presents, in Jill's mother's, and in my mother's. Happy days!
I'll start with the now, and work my way back!
Was up this morning at ten to five to drive to the far side of the island where I ran the first leg (4 miles) of a 24 mile relay race. My leg kicked off at 6am, and I was delighted with a time of 30 minutes (7.5 minutes per mile). Got home, walked the dogs, then woke Jill up (you didnt really think she got up to support me now did you??) and we headed down to the Triple Crown to get breakfast at 9am, before the match. A gang of people had turned up by kick-off at 10am, and thankfully, two hours later, we were still proud to be Irish, although perhaps as much as we had been going into the game. A fair bit of work to do before France in Croker next week (a game my brother will be at, the jammy Bstrd!), but as long as our defence holds, we may just make it through! Anyway, taking a break now to write this before our GAA games this avo down the rugby club. Jill is being dragged down to play her first two matches. I played my first two last Sunday, and we remain the only unbeaten team going into today. Our forward three our myself, Paul Foxton, and Gav Tobin, the UCD trio! What the hell I am doing up there, I dont know, but I'm saying nothing until they actually notice that I cant play sports...
Last night we took it easy, knowing I had an early start, but Graham and Ais Skyped us on the Video Skype, so we ended up chatting and drinking with them for two hours, which was great craic. Ah, the wonders of modern technology and all that craic...
Friday we had also planned an easy one, but sure it was a full moon, and you cant miss a full moon party on the weekend, it just isnt right! We made dinner for some friends, and then a few more people dropped over, so we filled our coolers full of cans and headed to the beach at around 11pm, and then danced on the sand until they closed. Ended up quite piddled actually, which mean it was time for a kebab detour on the way home!
Skipping back a few weeks now......I arrived back on island on the 27th December, with Jill flying in the next day. Dogs were collected and settled back in nicely, and then Hubb and Louise arrived on the Saturday evening. We went out for dinner that evening, and were up the next morning to take a boat trip out to Stingray where we snorkelled, drunk some beer, and swam with the Stingrays (even Hubb!). We then headed down to public beach when the sun went down on New Years Eve, with a cooler full with ten bottles of champagne, beer, and wine, and we set up our own little barbecue. The fopd was burnt but went down well all the same.
We were joined by various punters as we invariably became more and more intoxicated, then moved up the beacj to Governor's where we hooked up with a few people just in time for midnight. The expected fireworks from the Ritz never happened, but loads of people had brought their own, so we watched them instead and drunk the cooler dry!
The next day we headed over to Rum Point, briefly, and then on to the Turtle Farm (I think, we could be getting our days wrong though!).
The week flew, spending most nights out for dinner, and then back to the house for a few quiet beers. On Hubb & Louise's last night we went to Sapphire, the cocktail lounge but still managed to get back at a reasonable hour.
The dogs had warmed greatly to our guests. Toby made a new best friend in Hubb, who despite trying to let on that he hated him, will I expect have his own dog within the year! That or a baby......
We were on a downer the weekend that Hubb & Louise went home, but partly happy to have a breather to chill out after a manic month! On Saturday I met up with some of the lads who had just arrived back, on the beach, and we went out for a quiet bit of food down in Sunset.
The following weekend was the One Day GAA Mixed Football Blitz, with myself and Jill lining up to play for Digicel. Our first game was just before 11, and we hammered the opposition. We sailed through our next two games victorious, topping our group going into the semis. We went into the semi on a high, only to lose the game by one point to the eventual overall winners, Fortis Fianna. Despite good intentions, we were home by ten that night, wrecked and sunburnt! The Sunday was a complete chill out day, well needed.
The weekend of the 20th (two weeks ago) was a bank holiday weekend. Jill went out with the a gang of 35 women on a hen night on the friday night, whilst I went out for some quiet ones with a mate of mine, Cormac, ending up in Aqua beach.
We had organised a catameran for the Saturday, and twenty of us chipped in for the boat and beer, heading out onto the North Sound at 1pm. We sailed out to the reef, snorkelled, swam with the Stingray, drunk beer, went to Kaibo, drunk more beer, played volley ball, and eventually headed back for Seven Mile at around 6, trying to keep ahead of a potential storm, which thankfully passed by us.
After a quick shower and change, we were all joined by some more stragglers out by our pool where we had a barbecue at around 7pm. By 1am we were all knackered, and the crowds thankfully started to head home. Great day, great night, reminds us all of why we live here!
On Sunday, myself and three of the lads went out for a game of golf on the Brittania course, my first game in over eight months! We teed off at 4pm, filling the coolers on the buggies with beer and rum. A gentle 9 holes later, we were nicely merry and ready for a few more beers.
On to Coconut Joes for a couple, where the bright decision was made to call the rest of the lads and head out to dinner. We met up an hour later in the Westin for a poor meal, and then on to Aqua Beach, where we met up with a stag party of Ozzies, and then we all headed on to O Bar, where we continued until 3am. Great craic had by all.
Monday was for complete chilling out, with Prison Break and 24 to send us off to bed.
Last weekend we again attempted to have a quiet one. Jill had been unwell during the week with a cold, but that didnt stop her from heading out after work and staying out until ten that night. I took a breather and stayed in, and resisted temptation to go to Boogie Nights at the Wharf when Jill got home. The next day we went back out for a game of golf, and seeing as it was Australia Day (like we needed an excuse!) we headed down to one of the beach/ pool bars where all the Ozzies, and half the lads, had been drinking all day. The night got messy, with Jimmy throwing a bottle of heineken at some small child, slapping women in the face, and pole dancing. We dragged him home to our spare room at midnight, letting him sober up before our games last Sunday afternoon. Most of the 6 Gaelic teams who were playing that day had been at the Australia day party the day before, so the pace of the GAA wasnt too hot. We had only nine players so we had to rob a goalie for each game, with no substitutions allowed. We battled on to victory nonetheless.! This afternoon will no doubt prove slightly more difficult!
In visitor news, Jill's mum arrives on Tuesday week for ten days, and then my little sis, Fiona, is alledgedly arriving for two weeks, followed on March 16th by my brother and his wife!
Easter will be here in no time, which means not long until the wedding!
Speaking of which, there is a special wedding rate for rooms in the Heritage Killenard, where we are getting married on the 21st July, and we are hoping that as many of ye as possible will also be able to stay down the Sunday night. The invites wont be going out until May, so if you are making holiday plans etc...make a note of the date, and ideally try booking into the hotel early: http://www.theheritagehotelatkillenard.ie/
Until next week, when I promise that the blogger will be back.....
BTW, well done Simon, I'm very proud of you! You'll know what I mean! Legend.
Well, where the hell have we been? What happened to the month of January, and am I going to finish that Christmas Blog? No, I'm not. All I'll say is the latter half of Christmas was much more relaxed, got to see everyone (nearly....), and we got to have two days of presents, in Jill's mother's, and in my mother's. Happy days!
I'll start with the now, and work my way back!
Was up this morning at ten to five to drive to the far side of the island where I ran the first leg (4 miles) of a 24 mile relay race. My leg kicked off at 6am, and I was delighted with a time of 30 minutes (7.5 minutes per mile). Got home, walked the dogs, then woke Jill up (you didnt really think she got up to support me now did you??) and we headed down to the Triple Crown to get breakfast at 9am, before the match. A gang of people had turned up by kick-off at 10am, and thankfully, two hours later, we were still proud to be Irish, although perhaps as much as we had been going into the game. A fair bit of work to do before France in Croker next week (a game my brother will be at, the jammy Bstrd!), but as long as our defence holds, we may just make it through! Anyway, taking a break now to write this before our GAA games this avo down the rugby club. Jill is being dragged down to play her first two matches. I played my first two last Sunday, and we remain the only unbeaten team going into today. Our forward three our myself, Paul Foxton, and Gav Tobin, the UCD trio! What the hell I am doing up there, I dont know, but I'm saying nothing until they actually notice that I cant play sports...
Last night we took it easy, knowing I had an early start, but Graham and Ais Skyped us on the Video Skype, so we ended up chatting and drinking with them for two hours, which was great craic. Ah, the wonders of modern technology and all that craic...
Friday we had also planned an easy one, but sure it was a full moon, and you cant miss a full moon party on the weekend, it just isnt right! We made dinner for some friends, and then a few more people dropped over, so we filled our coolers full of cans and headed to the beach at around 11pm, and then danced on the sand until they closed. Ended up quite piddled actually, which mean it was time for a kebab detour on the way home!
Skipping back a few weeks now......I arrived back on island on the 27th December, with Jill flying in the next day. Dogs were collected and settled back in nicely, and then Hubb and Louise arrived on the Saturday evening. We went out for dinner that evening, and were up the next morning to take a boat trip out to Stingray where we snorkelled, drunk some beer, and swam with the Stingrays (even Hubb!). We then headed down to public beach when the sun went down on New Years Eve, with a cooler full with ten bottles of champagne, beer, and wine, and we set up our own little barbecue. The fopd was burnt but went down well all the same.
We were joined by various punters as we invariably became more and more intoxicated, then moved up the beacj to Governor's where we hooked up with a few people just in time for midnight. The expected fireworks from the Ritz never happened, but loads of people had brought their own, so we watched them instead and drunk the cooler dry!
The next day we headed over to Rum Point, briefly, and then on to the Turtle Farm (I think, we could be getting our days wrong though!).
The week flew, spending most nights out for dinner, and then back to the house for a few quiet beers. On Hubb & Louise's last night we went to Sapphire, the cocktail lounge but still managed to get back at a reasonable hour.
The dogs had warmed greatly to our guests. Toby made a new best friend in Hubb, who despite trying to let on that he hated him, will I expect have his own dog within the year! That or a baby......
We were on a downer the weekend that Hubb & Louise went home, but partly happy to have a breather to chill out after a manic month! On Saturday I met up with some of the lads who had just arrived back, on the beach, and we went out for a quiet bit of food down in Sunset.
The following weekend was the One Day GAA Mixed Football Blitz, with myself and Jill lining up to play for Digicel. Our first game was just before 11, and we hammered the opposition. We sailed through our next two games victorious, topping our group going into the semis. We went into the semi on a high, only to lose the game by one point to the eventual overall winners, Fortis Fianna. Despite good intentions, we were home by ten that night, wrecked and sunburnt! The Sunday was a complete chill out day, well needed.
The weekend of the 20th (two weeks ago) was a bank holiday weekend. Jill went out with the a gang of 35 women on a hen night on the friday night, whilst I went out for some quiet ones with a mate of mine, Cormac, ending up in Aqua beach.
We had organised a catameran for the Saturday, and twenty of us chipped in for the boat and beer, heading out onto the North Sound at 1pm. We sailed out to the reef, snorkelled, swam with the Stingray, drunk beer, went to Kaibo, drunk more beer, played volley ball, and eventually headed back for Seven Mile at around 6, trying to keep ahead of a potential storm, which thankfully passed by us.
After a quick shower and change, we were all joined by some more stragglers out by our pool where we had a barbecue at around 7pm. By 1am we were all knackered, and the crowds thankfully started to head home. Great day, great night, reminds us all of why we live here!
On Sunday, myself and three of the lads went out for a game of golf on the Brittania course, my first game in over eight months! We teed off at 4pm, filling the coolers on the buggies with beer and rum. A gentle 9 holes later, we were nicely merry and ready for a few more beers.
On to Coconut Joes for a couple, where the bright decision was made to call the rest of the lads and head out to dinner. We met up an hour later in the Westin for a poor meal, and then on to Aqua Beach, where we met up with a stag party of Ozzies, and then we all headed on to O Bar, where we continued until 3am. Great craic had by all.
Monday was for complete chilling out, with Prison Break and 24 to send us off to bed.
Last weekend we again attempted to have a quiet one. Jill had been unwell during the week with a cold, but that didnt stop her from heading out after work and staying out until ten that night. I took a breather and stayed in, and resisted temptation to go to Boogie Nights at the Wharf when Jill got home. The next day we went back out for a game of golf, and seeing as it was Australia Day (like we needed an excuse!) we headed down to one of the beach/ pool bars where all the Ozzies, and half the lads, had been drinking all day. The night got messy, with Jimmy throwing a bottle of heineken at some small child, slapping women in the face, and pole dancing. We dragged him home to our spare room at midnight, letting him sober up before our games last Sunday afternoon. Most of the 6 Gaelic teams who were playing that day had been at the Australia day party the day before, so the pace of the GAA wasnt too hot. We had only nine players so we had to rob a goalie for each game, with no substitutions allowed. We battled on to victory nonetheless.! This afternoon will no doubt prove slightly more difficult!
In visitor news, Jill's mum arrives on Tuesday week for ten days, and then my little sis, Fiona, is alledgedly arriving for two weeks, followed on March 16th by my brother and his wife!
Easter will be here in no time, which means not long until the wedding!
Speaking of which, there is a special wedding rate for rooms in the Heritage Killenard, where we are getting married on the 21st July, and we are hoping that as many of ye as possible will also be able to stay down the Sunday night. The invites wont be going out until May, so if you are making holiday plans etc...make a note of the date, and ideally try booking into the hotel early: http://www.theheritagehotelatkillenard.ie/
Until next week, when I promise that the blogger will be back.....
BTW, well done Simon, I'm very proud of you! You'll know what I mean! Legend.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Christmas (week 1)
13 Hectic Days in Ireland, thats what Christmas was. The first half made us want to never come back (traffic, driving, weather etc), but thankfully Christmas itself was great, mainly spent with our families, giving Ireland a second chance!
The day we left was a bit mad. We checked into the airport once Jill had finished work, around 3:30, securing ourselves emergency exit seats together. I then went back to work, and Jill went to drop the dogs to the kennels. As she left them off, Toby decided to give Jill a parting gift by peeing on her jeans! Jill then came to pick me up from work, still in her pee jeans as we had no time to go home again, and we headed back to the airport to check through to the departures lounge.
Just before we were due to board the flight, it started bucketing rain. In Cayman, they arent really prepared for this, so to get you to your plane, all you have are airport staff with umbrellas. Needless to say Jill was completely soaked by the time we go to the plane. Any traces of Toby's pee was long gone, but the prospect of an 11 hour flight in soaking clothes wasnt exactly making either of us jump up and down for joy!
The flight was grand. One of the cabin crew befriended us and mad sure we never ran out of wine! We were also seated beside a plug socket allowing us to keep the laptop charged so we could watch our own TV programs and films!
We arrived back in Dublin around 4pm, via London, and picked up the hire car. The M50 was fun to say the least, but we eventually made it to my mothers house where Jill's mum and brother had also just arrived. My sis and her two kids were only a half hour behind, so it was a great reunion. Three hours of tea, coffee, Roses, and Afternoon Tea biscuits later, Jill was on her way back to Athy, and I headed back to Graham and Aisling's house, which was to serve as kind of a base for us for the next two weeks.
We had dinner down in Mao in Dundrum, a couple of drinks in that god awful pub in the Town Centre, and back to the house for wine until 4 in the morning! Memories of similar nights when I first arrived in Cayman came flooding back!
The next day, with hangovers, myself and Graham headed into town to pick out my wedding suits. First stop was Aston Suit Rental. We tried our best to mix and match some suits and waistcoats but nothing was jumping out at us. Over the road in Black Tie, we were much more impressed. An hour later we left with 8 suits booked, job done.
That night (Friday) Graham headed off to his Christmas party, and Ais cooked myself and my mother dinner. My dad was just dropping my mum off, but stayed for two hours, before dropping me up to the Step Inn to meet the lads.
After initial pats on the backs etc, it was like I had never left. The slagging was back with a vengeance, and talk of Club 92 was quickly on the tongues of Simon and Jay. Thankfully the lads left me to get a cab with the two lads who had no intention of going near 92, Hubb and Baz, so I was able to resist the temptation to go clubbing, and called it a night at 1:30.
I was up at 8 the next morning and came down to a fry cooked up by Aisling (great stuff indeed!). I was on the road soon after 8:30, to face a four and a half hour drive to Clifden, Renvyle House to be precise, where Jill and her mother had been since the previous evening, for Gail and Ross's wedding.
The service was at 2 in Clifden, and I arrived at the hotel just in time at 1pm.
Sure enough, I was ready 15 mins later, and Jill still wasnt ready!
We all bailed into Clifden and waited the appropriate 20 mins or so for the fashionable late bride. As expected, Gail looked fantastic (check out the wedding photos on Flickr). Thankfully, being an oul Proddy services, it was bosh bosh, job done after only half an hour.
There was no messing around outside the church, it being 1 degree celsius and all, and we were all into the nearest pub two minutes later to catch the Leinster game.
An hour or so later and we were all back in the hotel getting the drinks and photos in before the meal. Our table was great craic, with all of Jill's closest mates and partners (save the wedding party of course), and before long we were into the next room for dancing.
There was a great swing band, followed by an appropriately wedding style DJ (he was great, I take it all back). We partied until around 4, heading to bed long before the last of the gang who went to bed around 8am!
Next day, sure enough we were nearly last to check out of the hotel. We were spending the next night in Clifden itself. We arrived at lunch and couldnt find anyone. We checked every pub, rung every mobile, but nothing. Turns out most of them had checked into the new hotel and gone to sleep!
Two hours later we had started our drinking session in the bar that we had all watched the rugby in the previous day, and by 10 o'clock everyone was there, with raffle tickets in hand, trying to win tins of Roses at the weekly local lotto and raffle!
We succeeded in winning a bottle of whisky, a bottle of wine, and most importantly one box and one tin of Roses! (we were bleedin starving at this point!)
The bed was hit around one, for a much needed sleep.
After breakfast the next morning we hit the road for Athy, trailing about 20 minutes behind Jill's mum. We arrived back in Jill's house about half an hour before the Bishop was due to arrive to go through our order of service for the wedding.
Bishop Empy was great, not batting an eyelid at my obvious atheism.
After he left, I hit the road for my sister's house, leaving Jill behind.
Jen had prepared a lovely dinner for me, and the two boys were busy running around the house. Myself, Jen, and Clive enjoyed a nice bottle of wine before hitting the hay early, around 11.
The next morning, I was up in time for Kalvin to come back from pre-school, had lunch, and hit the road for Gary and Dara's, to see the lovely Megan, who was born a week after I left Ireland for Cayman, and Jack. Jill had spent the day in Dublin with her mum having her wedding dress fitting, and dropped into Gary's on her way home.
It wasnt long before we were on the road again, heading back to Athy to change cars and hit the road again, this time with Jill's mum Joyce, over to the Heritage for our tastings.
We could barely see in front of us with the pee souper of a fog that had descended on the entire country several days prior to that. An edge of your seat crawl across winding fog drenched country roads later, and we arrived in the Heritage, where the staff had prepared our table, with our own personalised menu.
Once again, we were treated like royalty as we munched our way through several starters, meals, and deserts, sipping wine from numerous different bottles like Egon Ronay reviewers!
Dicks and all as we may have seemed, it was lovely. The food was amazing, you will all (hopefully) love it come July when we all get to have it at the wedding.
Another treacherous drive back to Athy later, we shared another couple of bottles of wine before again hitting the hay (I need a new expression at this point for "going to bed"!).
The next morning we were on the road again, back to the Heritage to meet the wedding coordinator to finalise some of the wedding day plans.
Soon we were heading back to Dublin, stopping off in my mother's for a gorgeous traditional Irish dinner, before arriving back to base Graham and Ais!
Jill, in no mood to head out again, settled in for the night, whilst I headed out again, into town on my own to meet Gavin, who had dragged some friend of his cousins from Boston, Milton (like the disinfectant) with him. We more or less did a pub crawl of Dawson Street, meeting up with Daz for a while, and also bumping into Vinnie Campbell and his Mrs, as well as Madge from HRM.
Facing a choice of Boomerangs or Coppers, I chose the Harcourt Street direction, with ideas of making a last minute detour to the Drink Link Tram. My plans were thwarted by pressure from Gav and Milton to stay out, although Coppers was rammed, so we headed for D2 instead (a kip below the Harcourt Hotel).
Whilst it was certainly enjoyable to watch Gavin chatting up the many ladies, I called it a night around 2:30, finally getting to take the Luas home!
The next day (Thursday) I had a dental appointment that overran, and met Shay for lunch. Jill was meant to take the car and head to Dave and Karen's in Kilcock but the damn car rental agency wouldnt put her on the insurance, so I had to cancel plans to visit the old crew in Accreate (sorry lads, really disappointed I couldnt get in to see you all), and cut my lunch short with Shay to drive myself and Jill down to Kilcock where we were (eventually) going to be spending the night.
Myself and Dave took the train into town where all of the lads were meeting up in Vicar Street to watch Christy Moore (with the exception of Hubb and Scats). Christy was great. Despite a slow start, he had the entire crowd going, and gave a fantastic performance.
We all headed on to Dame Lame, with some surprisingly early exits by a few of the lads.
Myself, Dave, and Jay headed to Eddie Rockets to kill time (i.e. get fed) before we were picked up by the cab that Dave had pre-arranged. Thank god for it aswell, as there wasnt a cab to be had. We were driven in a brand new, huge luxury Merc to Ratharnham, and then on to Kilcock.
The next day I helped Dave hook up his new Mini Mac, and then we hit the road, de-touring to make a stop in our house in Ballycullen to check up on the place and have a word with the tenant regarding the complaints we had the previous month.
Graham had organise a pass for me for the gym, which was badly needed to give me some more energy. We then picked up a quick Chinese before heading off to meet Hubb and Louise to head into the Point to see Snow Patrol.
The Point will serve you as much drink as you want, but wont let you bring it to your seat. That is unless you have a huge coat like me, that can store 17 small bottles of wine (over three trips).
The gig was amazing. Definitely worth seeing live, and a brilliant album (Eyes Open), but no more reviews here on the blog, I took enough abuse for that when I got home this year!
Needless to say we were locked leaving the gig. We walked to Slatterys in Ringsend, thinking we were still in Cayman by sitting outside in the smoking areas with our drinks. Next thing we knew, the girls had a taxi, en route to meet Simon and Jay in 92.
92 was a bit of a blur, and didnt last long as our legs gave way and we needed to head home. Great night though!
If you have managed to exactly read that whole blog, fair play to you. This is our diary, and therefore at times is going to bore you to death, but get over it! I'll finish this in a few days. Heading to the ice cream store for some Haagen Dazs. More later...
The day we left was a bit mad. We checked into the airport once Jill had finished work, around 3:30, securing ourselves emergency exit seats together. I then went back to work, and Jill went to drop the dogs to the kennels. As she left them off, Toby decided to give Jill a parting gift by peeing on her jeans! Jill then came to pick me up from work, still in her pee jeans as we had no time to go home again, and we headed back to the airport to check through to the departures lounge.
Just before we were due to board the flight, it started bucketing rain. In Cayman, they arent really prepared for this, so to get you to your plane, all you have are airport staff with umbrellas. Needless to say Jill was completely soaked by the time we go to the plane. Any traces of Toby's pee was long gone, but the prospect of an 11 hour flight in soaking clothes wasnt exactly making either of us jump up and down for joy!
The flight was grand. One of the cabin crew befriended us and mad sure we never ran out of wine! We were also seated beside a plug socket allowing us to keep the laptop charged so we could watch our own TV programs and films!
We arrived back in Dublin around 4pm, via London, and picked up the hire car. The M50 was fun to say the least, but we eventually made it to my mothers house where Jill's mum and brother had also just arrived. My sis and her two kids were only a half hour behind, so it was a great reunion. Three hours of tea, coffee, Roses, and Afternoon Tea biscuits later, Jill was on her way back to Athy, and I headed back to Graham and Aisling's house, which was to serve as kind of a base for us for the next two weeks.
We had dinner down in Mao in Dundrum, a couple of drinks in that god awful pub in the Town Centre, and back to the house for wine until 4 in the morning! Memories of similar nights when I first arrived in Cayman came flooding back!
The next day, with hangovers, myself and Graham headed into town to pick out my wedding suits. First stop was Aston Suit Rental. We tried our best to mix and match some suits and waistcoats but nothing was jumping out at us. Over the road in Black Tie, we were much more impressed. An hour later we left with 8 suits booked, job done.
That night (Friday) Graham headed off to his Christmas party, and Ais cooked myself and my mother dinner. My dad was just dropping my mum off, but stayed for two hours, before dropping me up to the Step Inn to meet the lads.
After initial pats on the backs etc, it was like I had never left. The slagging was back with a vengeance, and talk of Club 92 was quickly on the tongues of Simon and Jay. Thankfully the lads left me to get a cab with the two lads who had no intention of going near 92, Hubb and Baz, so I was able to resist the temptation to go clubbing, and called it a night at 1:30.
I was up at 8 the next morning and came down to a fry cooked up by Aisling (great stuff indeed!). I was on the road soon after 8:30, to face a four and a half hour drive to Clifden, Renvyle House to be precise, where Jill and her mother had been since the previous evening, for Gail and Ross's wedding.
The service was at 2 in Clifden, and I arrived at the hotel just in time at 1pm.
Sure enough, I was ready 15 mins later, and Jill still wasnt ready!
We all bailed into Clifden and waited the appropriate 20 mins or so for the fashionable late bride. As expected, Gail looked fantastic (check out the wedding photos on Flickr). Thankfully, being an oul Proddy services, it was bosh bosh, job done after only half an hour.
There was no messing around outside the church, it being 1 degree celsius and all, and we were all into the nearest pub two minutes later to catch the Leinster game.
An hour or so later and we were all back in the hotel getting the drinks and photos in before the meal. Our table was great craic, with all of Jill's closest mates and partners (save the wedding party of course), and before long we were into the next room for dancing.
There was a great swing band, followed by an appropriately wedding style DJ (he was great, I take it all back). We partied until around 4, heading to bed long before the last of the gang who went to bed around 8am!
Next day, sure enough we were nearly last to check out of the hotel. We were spending the next night in Clifden itself. We arrived at lunch and couldnt find anyone. We checked every pub, rung every mobile, but nothing. Turns out most of them had checked into the new hotel and gone to sleep!
Two hours later we had started our drinking session in the bar that we had all watched the rugby in the previous day, and by 10 o'clock everyone was there, with raffle tickets in hand, trying to win tins of Roses at the weekly local lotto and raffle!
We succeeded in winning a bottle of whisky, a bottle of wine, and most importantly one box and one tin of Roses! (we were bleedin starving at this point!)
The bed was hit around one, for a much needed sleep.
After breakfast the next morning we hit the road for Athy, trailing about 20 minutes behind Jill's mum. We arrived back in Jill's house about half an hour before the Bishop was due to arrive to go through our order of service for the wedding.
Bishop Empy was great, not batting an eyelid at my obvious atheism.
After he left, I hit the road for my sister's house, leaving Jill behind.
Jen had prepared a lovely dinner for me, and the two boys were busy running around the house. Myself, Jen, and Clive enjoyed a nice bottle of wine before hitting the hay early, around 11.
The next morning, I was up in time for Kalvin to come back from pre-school, had lunch, and hit the road for Gary and Dara's, to see the lovely Megan, who was born a week after I left Ireland for Cayman, and Jack. Jill had spent the day in Dublin with her mum having her wedding dress fitting, and dropped into Gary's on her way home.
It wasnt long before we were on the road again, heading back to Athy to change cars and hit the road again, this time with Jill's mum Joyce, over to the Heritage for our tastings.
We could barely see in front of us with the pee souper of a fog that had descended on the entire country several days prior to that. An edge of your seat crawl across winding fog drenched country roads later, and we arrived in the Heritage, where the staff had prepared our table, with our own personalised menu.
Once again, we were treated like royalty as we munched our way through several starters, meals, and deserts, sipping wine from numerous different bottles like Egon Ronay reviewers!
Dicks and all as we may have seemed, it was lovely. The food was amazing, you will all (hopefully) love it come July when we all get to have it at the wedding.
Another treacherous drive back to Athy later, we shared another couple of bottles of wine before again hitting the hay (I need a new expression at this point for "going to bed"!).
The next morning we were on the road again, back to the Heritage to meet the wedding coordinator to finalise some of the wedding day plans.
Soon we were heading back to Dublin, stopping off in my mother's for a gorgeous traditional Irish dinner, before arriving back to base Graham and Ais!
Jill, in no mood to head out again, settled in for the night, whilst I headed out again, into town on my own to meet Gavin, who had dragged some friend of his cousins from Boston, Milton (like the disinfectant) with him. We more or less did a pub crawl of Dawson Street, meeting up with Daz for a while, and also bumping into Vinnie Campbell and his Mrs, as well as Madge from HRM.
Facing a choice of Boomerangs or Coppers, I chose the Harcourt Street direction, with ideas of making a last minute detour to the Drink Link Tram. My plans were thwarted by pressure from Gav and Milton to stay out, although Coppers was rammed, so we headed for D2 instead (a kip below the Harcourt Hotel).
Whilst it was certainly enjoyable to watch Gavin chatting up the many ladies, I called it a night around 2:30, finally getting to take the Luas home!
The next day (Thursday) I had a dental appointment that overran, and met Shay for lunch. Jill was meant to take the car and head to Dave and Karen's in Kilcock but the damn car rental agency wouldnt put her on the insurance, so I had to cancel plans to visit the old crew in Accreate (sorry lads, really disappointed I couldnt get in to see you all), and cut my lunch short with Shay to drive myself and Jill down to Kilcock where we were (eventually) going to be spending the night.
Myself and Dave took the train into town where all of the lads were meeting up in Vicar Street to watch Christy Moore (with the exception of Hubb and Scats). Christy was great. Despite a slow start, he had the entire crowd going, and gave a fantastic performance.
We all headed on to Dame Lame, with some surprisingly early exits by a few of the lads.
Myself, Dave, and Jay headed to Eddie Rockets to kill time (i.e. get fed) before we were picked up by the cab that Dave had pre-arranged. Thank god for it aswell, as there wasnt a cab to be had. We were driven in a brand new, huge luxury Merc to Ratharnham, and then on to Kilcock.
The next day I helped Dave hook up his new Mini Mac, and then we hit the road, de-touring to make a stop in our house in Ballycullen to check up on the place and have a word with the tenant regarding the complaints we had the previous month.
Graham had organise a pass for me for the gym, which was badly needed to give me some more energy. We then picked up a quick Chinese before heading off to meet Hubb and Louise to head into the Point to see Snow Patrol.
The Point will serve you as much drink as you want, but wont let you bring it to your seat. That is unless you have a huge coat like me, that can store 17 small bottles of wine (over three trips).
The gig was amazing. Definitely worth seeing live, and a brilliant album (Eyes Open), but no more reviews here on the blog, I took enough abuse for that when I got home this year!
Needless to say we were locked leaving the gig. We walked to Slatterys in Ringsend, thinking we were still in Cayman by sitting outside in the smoking areas with our drinks. Next thing we knew, the girls had a taxi, en route to meet Simon and Jay in 92.
92 was a bit of a blur, and didnt last long as our legs gave way and we needed to head home. Great night though!
If you have managed to exactly read that whole blog, fair play to you. This is our diary, and therefore at times is going to bore you to death, but get over it! I'll finish this in a few days. Heading to the ice cream store for some Haagen Dazs. More later...
Friday, January 05, 2007
Christmas, New Years, Hubb & Louise
Its been ages......since our last post. No broadband for most of the time that we were back home in Ireland, and simply no time to write it!
Hubb & Louise left this morning, and we were really really sad to see them go. But Graham and Ais booked their flights to come visit again in mid March, so a great end to anotherwise sad day.
Heading out the door for drinks as its one of the lads here's birthdays, Cormac.
Apart from tonight we are definitely in need of a quiet weekend, so more from us on Christmas in Ireland, New Years on Seven Mile Beach, and Hubb & Louise's visit to come........
Happy New Year!
Hubb & Louise left this morning, and we were really really sad to see them go. But Graham and Ais booked their flights to come visit again in mid March, so a great end to anotherwise sad day.
Heading out the door for drinks as its one of the lads here's birthdays, Cormac.
Apart from tonight we are definitely in need of a quiet weekend, so more from us on Christmas in Ireland, New Years on Seven Mile Beach, and Hubb & Louise's visit to come........
Happy New Year!
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