Another short interlude

 A classic Dubai day with a (corporate) visit to the golf at the Earth Course at JGE. Back in the day when my Father was visiting Dubai, we would spend  the afternoon at the 9th tee watching the acclaimed golfers of the day parade past, basking in the glorious winter sunshine.

Despite various pressing work related challenges (including trying to conduct a recruitment interview in the taxi on the way to the course), it was a very pleasant day although sadly I did not see a huge amount of golf but did manage to catch up with various old friends and colleagues.

I also managed to have a chat with the Nottm Forest manager football club who (I assume) was having a break from the rigours of the Premiership so all in all an entertaining day.

A short post

 Work event tonight which involved standing in a large hall listening to various amateur bands belting out (mostly) heavy rock/rap classics (or so I assume as none of the were particularly familiar to me).

Not really my sort of thing but went along to support colleagues who were participating and proceeds were going to charity. In fact had a pretty good time and the band from work were very good - definitely showed a lot of bravery in getting up on stage in front of 500 + people and fingers crossed that they impress the judges!

Summer Round Up - the Road to Killarney (decided to change the title system…)

 We bid the Old Medical Hall a fond farewell and headed off to Killarney via Tim Healy pass stopping off at Uncle K and then Mary - Etna’s in Adrigole (where we caught up with various  members of the US side of the family). 

ME was in excellent form regaling us with stories of her 28 day cycle tour of Belgium and France in the late 1950s and her months long trip around the US in the back of a Buick with nothing more than a small calibre Derringer (kept under her pillow) for protection!

We then headed off to Killarney with a stop off for lunch at a small harbour just over the Cork/Kerry border and a nose around Kenmare and its markets before parking up in Killarney and depositing around 3 weeks worth of washing at the launderette at the top of town.

After picking up some provisions in Dunnes, we made our way back through town towards Muckross and joined K.and A and the rest of the clan at K’s house before tucking into a Chinese takeaway for Tea. After the excitement of the last couple of days, it was a relief to put our feet up and relax!

Summer Round Up (Part 6)

 Our last full day in Castletownbere heralded our traditional trip to Bere Ireland - the ancestral home of the Irish side of my family and where the semi-derelict farmhouse where my Mother and her brothers (including Uncle K) and Sister used to live before they all moved (along with my Grandparents) still - just about - stands with its amazing views across Bantry Bay towards Hungry Hill on the mainland.

As usual boarding the ferry over to the Island was an exciting affair. - particularly in the huge Volvo that we were driving which required much gunning of the engine to make it  - in reverse - up the steep ramp from the landing stage on to the ferry (and then a more delicate touch to manoeuvre the car into the tiny gap between two other cars (including K’s car) already parked on either side of the deck). 

Whilst I successfully navigated this stage of the process through judicious use of the rear view mirror and trying as best I could to follow the shouted directions of the ferry captain, there was no room to open the door to join the rest of the family in the boat’s seating area (they had wisely decided to admire the spectacle from outside the car) so I had a ringside view as the two cars earmarked for the remaining spaces at the front of  the deck  came up the ramp. 

The first car was driven by D.who carefully manoeuvred his car into the tiny gap in front of the right hand side of my car. 

The other car clearly decided that extra power was going to be needed to get up the ramp and so I was very well placed (I would probably say too well placed) to see it suddenly hurtling up the ramp at top speed towards me with much roaring both from its engine and from the ferry captain who sensed - rather belatedly in my view- that the driver had perhaps over-estimated the power required to board his vessel. 

It crested the  top of the entrance ramp at a rate of knots, barely missing D’s car by a matter of inches, and screeched to a stop in response to the Captain’s admonishments a hair’s breadth from my front bumper.

Fortunately the rest of the visit was somewhat less traumatic although disappointingly the former School and now Heritage Centre was closed. 

We were able to have a tour around the Island including into Rerrin where we spent a pleasant 1/2 hour skimming stones and buying Bere Island themed warm weather gear from the village shop before a visit to the fort and then a stop off at the Hotel at the top of the Island for a quick snack before a photo opportunity by the old house and then catching the 2:30pm ferry back to the Mainland.

After stopping off for some lunch at the Buddhist centre (they have now finished the Temple - will try to post some pictures below) and admiring the beautiful views, we drove around the peninsular to Allihies beach where we were able to take full advantage of the sunshine for a walk  amongst the crashing surf.

We were back in CTB in time for Dinner (again at Murphy’s after the success of yesterday’s meal) before a visit to Twomeys bar and then  a valedictory pint in the snug of MacCarthy’s Bar (very much quieter than last night) before heading home at a halfway reasonable time (ie just before Midnight!).

Summer Round Up (Part 5)

 The main regatta day in CTB on the Monday bank holiday started bright and breezy and A. and I joined D. and C for a round of golf at the Berehaven Golf Club (a very reasonable 25 Euros a person). 

Uncle K (who had joined us for our last round at this course during our visit two years ago) kindly lent A and I some clubs which we were told were at the back of his garage - in fact we managed to locate some extremely old, but perfectly serviceable (if a little rusty) sets in a dark corner at the back (as opposed the rather newer set that I had completely failed to spot closer to the front of the garage which I think were intended for us).

By the time we got to the course the wind was still strong but the skies were becoming clearer and, as with our last visit, by the time we were half way round, the views over to Bere Island and towards Hungry Hill were beautiful. Less beautiful was my golfing performance although fortunately A was in good form and the 15 year old C showed us how it should be done.

Once we completed our round, we headed back to CTB and stopped off at Lynch’s On the Pier for Seafood Chowder and enjoyed the regatta festivities (although sadly missed the greasy pool climb and the pillow fight).The place was jumping with people enjoying the sunshine and we bumped into Uncle K and the rest of the family enjoying a quick pint outside of MacCarthy’s while waiting to get Dinner at Breen’s. 

Our own Dinner was at Murphy’s in the overflow tent pitched in the harbour car park so great views across the water and fabulous seafood (including crab for me) on the menu. 

We all ended up at MacCarthy’s Bar for a pint of Murphy’s where we joined by the rest of the clan (including Uncle K who found a convenient perch on the snug next to the band) and we were regaled by much music and dance through the rest of the evening (given how packed the place was it was quite extraordinary how the band could find room to play their instruments -  and for people to dance - clearly they have had plenty of practice of performing in confined spaces!). A terrific evening and another finish after midnight.

Summer Round Up (Part 4)

 Continuing our Summer holiday escapades, and having exhausted all the Adrigole GAA  festivities had to offer, we headed to Castletownbere to check in to our B&B - the Old Medical Hall which was conveniently situated on the road out of CTB heading up to Uncle K’s place. 

The lady running it was also a cake-maker and so our stay was punctuated by the smells of freshly baked cakes  - not great for the diet (particularly when she provided us with some free samples) but really added to the ambience!

After arriving at CTB, we headed up to K & T’s place for the traditional pre-regatta BBQ. They had a full house of the London cousins  and families including R and D with their (now adult) children (A, E and L and various girlfriends and boyfriends), L and D with kids, K, A, D and C with kids, and the unexpected presence of S and H. Together with various friends from CTB and our family there was just about enough room around the huge table laid out in front of the house. 

As ever it was a lovely afternoon and although the afternoon sun disappeared as the day wore on we were able to stay outside until the drizzle started in the early evening by which stay everyone was nicely warmed up for a visit to MacCarthy’s bar in Town.

A and I left E and V in the B&B to recover from the trip (Ona. Promise that we would bring them back some crepes -  a speciality of CTB in the Summer) and by the time we arrived at MacCarthy’s it was jam-packed (unsurprising for a Regatta evening). 

We had a whale of a time including much singing and dancing with R& K and their family along with the rest of the gang and copious amounts of Murphy’s! We rolled back in to the B&B (with the crepes) shortly after 12pm.

Summer Round Up (Part 3)

 After our adventures in Paris, next stop was Ireland. As noted in previous blogs, we head over to Cork/Killarney every couple of years and part of the attraction of  the Rhone cruise was that it allowed us to end up in Paris was the ease of getting from their to Cork.

Our usual stopping off point in Cork (the International Airport Hotel) was not allowing any bookings (even back in April when we started looking) so we were trying out a new destination - the Maryborough Hotel just on the outskirts of Cork City. We arrived in the afternoon in the middle of a wedding but were shown to our rooms despite the smartly dressed hordes around us. We were greeted by sparkling wine and a great views of the woods and manicured lawns that surround the hotel - very pleasant and we had a lovely walk around the grounds before an excellent Dinner in the evening.

The next morning we went back to the airport to pick up the hire car - an upgrade to an enormous Volvo (CX90) was very welcome and 1.5 hours later we were parking up at Adrigole GAA for the sheep and duck racing. 

As with our last visit the weather was kind - maybe not quite the blazing sunshine of 2023 - but certainly very pleasant and Hungry Hill a picture in the distance. 

We met up with the Irish cousins (Adrigole branch) who were manning the food stalls and generally soaking up the atmosphere and K, A, C, and D (plus kids) joined us just in time for the sheep racing. 

Despite cheering our selection on, unfortunately we came away empty handed in terms of our selection but fortunately V and A demonstrated more determination than the sheep in persevering with the huge queues for  the ice creams so we were able to cool down before heading off to Castletownbere for the next stage of  the afternoon entertainment- the annual BBQ at Uncle Ks.