Top o’ the mornin’ to ye…..



Glendalough



Splashing in the 'Lough'

First of all nobody says that.  And there are no leprechauns running about, except for the man dressed up as one by the Molly Malone statue in Grafton Street. And not everybody can play the tin whistle, or is an expert at jigging about without moving their arms.  But tis true what they say about the craic!!



Jack and Milly and Little Timmy Cahill



According to Trip Advisor, Dublin is one of the top 5 cities for having the friendliest locals, and you really do feel that.  My friends that live here might beg to differ, but it’s what we’ve always loved about this place and still do.  We’ve had a great week, visiting places we used to go when we lived here that hold memories of friends and funny times!  We’ve enjoyed listening to Ray Darcy on the radio with his entertaining accent and talk back topics!  The weather had been quite good too, as far as Irish weather goes!

It’s been nice to have spacious accommodation, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and big ones at that.  We’ve enjoyed being in Glendalough, away from the hustle and bustle, but close enough to it with a short enough drive.



Wayne, Esme with all of us



We’ve spent a couple of days with Wayne, Esme and their three littlies, having lunch and sorting out disputes about who this block belongs to or who had the ball first!  We dropped in on the gymnastics club I used to coach at and met Louise again who now runs it and two of my former protégés who are now coaches themselves which left me feeling very old! 



On the DART



At Bray fair

We’ve walked around beautiful Glendalough.  Enjoyed an evening at the fair on the Bray seafront.  Caught the DART into the city where we wandered, dodging the crowds and tried to have a drink and experience a bit of the ‘craic’ which didn’t turn out so well!  Because Noah was asleep ( a positive thing in most circumstances!), we couldn’t go into one of the good pubs as they were busy and the music was loud, so we had to settle for a near deserted one, with not so traditional decor, playing not-live Irish music, which was better than nothing.  But then Amelia fell of her stool.  And then she needed the loo so I spent most of the time waiting for her in the toilet cubicle listening to her chattering away!  As Maciek said, we love Dublin, and have great fun memories here , but it’s been difficult to really soak up the atmosphere.  And it felt quite strange walking my daughter down the very steps towards the loo that I must have staggered down, drunk, many a time at two in the morning! Later in the afternoon we met another coaching buddy Sinead in St Stephen’s Green for a coffee while the kids played on the park, a lovely end to a full day in the city. 



Where's the Pot of Gold?



We went to Blackrock, the place Maciek and I lived when we were here together for a year and still loved it.  There used to be a crèche in the shopping centre which we were hoping to avail of.  Unfortunately it wasn’t there anymore, but to our amazement the poor Romanian lady sitting on the corner trying to sell copies of the Big Issue WAS still there!  After 7 years!  I always re member passing her on the street and hearing her quietly call out ‘please lady, Big Issue, please’.  I doubt she’s that poor really.



Collecting pebbles Killiney Beach



The food we’ve had here is the best, eating out.  We always remember it being good quality.  And it was nice knowing when we ordered anywhere we’d have an enjoyable meal (so long as Amelia and Noah were in the mood!)  And Maciek has loved the Guinness!  A bit too much judging by the spare tyre he’s sporting at the moment! (I can’t talk, I’ve been getting into the chocolate digestives with my cups  of tea!)



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Coaches old and new



On a parting note, Maciek bought himself some new flip flops (thongs for all the Aussies!).  I’m not sure he realized what colour they were.  Let us know what you think?  To keep or not to keep, that is the question!