Going the Extra Mile

After a last minute swap at work, I was able to support +Niamh, my mother and Clodagh, who were doing the VHI Women Mini Marathon. Before the start of the 10km, we went via the Mansion House, so Niamh was able to collect her t-shirt for Laura Lynn and also gave me a final chance to have a sneaky look inside. Of course the girls had to have a picture taken outside of the Mansion House before the race. Niamh and Clodagh had entered as joggers, so set off about 15 before my mother did, so I waited until she started and decided to walk with her to keep her company. However at UCD I saw Niamh and called her as she was about to pass the 6 km point mark. In the process of chatting with Niamh, I lost my mother and tried to find her again and finishing the chat with Niamh. so somewhere between the 5km and 7 km I lost both of them. I tried running to catch up with Niamh, with the calls I had with her, I just seemed to be about 0.5 km behind. At least at the finishing line, we  were able to find each other just about. All of them finished faster than last year and should be very proud of completing the 10 km especially this year in that horrible wet and windy weather. Well done girls!

As the weather was so nice on my day off on the 9th of June, decided to make the of most of it having a summer themed gin based cocktail over lunch at Yamamori, before going shooping to get some last few bits before Niamh's birthday. Somewhere between the Brother Hubbard, Panti and Oscars, I managed to lose my shopping, which would only happen me. As we were both off the next day, we decided to celebrate Niamh's Birthday a day early and go to the zoo and experience the brand new Sea Lion Cove.

Despite a slight queue at the entrance, once we were inside the zoo, it was off a flying start as the weather cleared up and the sun came out. We got to enjoy all the new habitats and baby animals dotted around the zoo. Between the sun, playfulness of the animals especially the penguins, sea lions and rough housing of the monkeys, Niamh seemed to be having a chilled out birthday day out. As the weather was so nice, we strolled back into town and stopped in Oscars Smithfield for a drinks and meal which was scrumptious especially the Maltster cheesecake which topped the day perfectly. When we got home, I gave Niamh her birthday card and her present, A necklace, bracelet and watch set.

I met Niamh after work on her birthday, for an early evening birthday meal at a place she wanted to try for ages, FX Buckley, where I was able to surprise her with a birthday desert which was nice to see the surprise on her face. For Saturday Niamh had won free finger food and private booth in Whelans which made a pleasant change.

After a busy weekend in work, was nice to chill and actually enjoy Bloomsday for once. We spent a lot of it, at Meeting House Square for songs, performances and reading from Ulysses which was hosted by Panti Bliss. Later in the week I was finally able to hear my friend Graham J Norton sing live at the Sugar Club. I was just blown away by his voice, his whole gig was captivating from start to finish, especially his debut single Life on Mars, his duet with Mary Coughlan Under Clery's Clock and an original I Miss You Most on Sundays. Graham is someone to watch.

 

 Our Parents arrived up on Friday the 19th for my father's birthday, luckily enough Niamh was able to meet them off the bus, as I was working late. I of course met them all for a quick after work drink before the walk home. I managed to have the apartment kitted out with banners, balloons and have a birthday cake waiting, which I was able to have lit before my dad got into the apartment. He was surprised and delighted as he wasn't expecting it. The following morning, as we waited for Niamh to finish work, my folks and myself decided to do the +Teeling Whiskey Distillery Tour. My parents did the Small Batch tasting one and I did the Trinity small batch on. Our guide Maire, was very informative, funny and helpful. After our whiskey tour, we checked out the nearby food markets before heading to Christchurch for the Dublin Garden Festival, which had some impressive food carts and other various stalls. We meet Niamh for lunch near Temple Bar, although the musician was very good, the food on the whole was below par and over priced, so shocker really for the location. We made use of the sun by walking down Quays towards Sir John Rogerson's Quay which was hosting the Mexican Navy vessel, ARM Cuautémoc for the weekend with free entry. We ended up doing a pub crawl on the way back home, finishing it with a takeaway pizza and of course a night cap. The following morning being Father's Day, we gave our dad, his card and presents to celebrate, before eating and relaxin prior to our parents getting the return coach back to Ennis. We all agreed was such a lovely weekend, especially getting the opportunity for all of us to hang out together.

The Westend Trap

With life finally getting back to normal now, everything unpacked, settled into the new place completely, thought it was time to finally pay the donation I owed Padre Pio, that I promised him, during the stress of finding a place to live. Managed to find a Capuchin Order Friary on Church Street near Smithfield.

As is usually my nature in the lead up to Christmas, I went Christmas shopping around the October mid term. As I am working in retail too long, that I won't think of doing it after mid November when all the offers I'm after are over. We soon found out we were better prepared than we thought and thought we'd unwind after a hard day, decided to crave out a pumpkin, something neither of us had done before, which was kinda fun and put us into spooky Halloween spirit. To my shock and painful horror, on Bank Holiday Sunday night when talking to Niamh from the Kitchen, I didn't notice a loose skirting on the floor and caught the soles of both my feet, which tore and hurt like hell. Luckily Niamh was on hand to take care of the wounds. It definitely pays to have a nurse in the family.

Thanks to my mother, I won a competition in the Sunday Times for a +TullamoreDEW whiskey tasting masterclass in the Palace Bar on Fleet Street. The whole event was quite entertaining and informative and I left with a Tullamore DEW goodie bag with a hip flask and glasses which was nice. About 2 days later, i enjoyed my first mince pie of the season +M&S followed by the complimentary whiskey I received from +tullamoredew, which was a surprisingly delicious mixture. 

After a hard busy week, I was looking forward to the comfy train journey home to Clare despite the 6am rise. After a quick coffee with the mother on her morning break, it was off home, where I thought I was just home to relax, where I quickly found out, I ended up helping my dad move some of my stuff over the years, that was a trip down memory lane. To round off my weekend home, we visited my Gran, who didn't know I was home and surprised her with a birthday cake and presents from Niamh and myself for her 92nd birthday. I seemed to bringing back more stuff on the bus journey than I had going home, isn't that always the way.

                                     

A play I've been dying to see for years was Mousetrap, finally got a chance to go see it at the Bord Gais Theatre, the set and the cast were amazing. The whole mystery plot and the disclaimer they tell the audience at the end to keep the secret over the plot is a clever one, which doesn't spoil the show for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. we already planning our next trip to the Bord Gais on the Luas home. Then on Thursday when got the members email about offers for 1 Man 2 Guvnors. I contacted them by email that evening about the offer, and of course received missed calls back and forth Friday and Monday. But when I also got an unexpected missed call from my mother around same time, I rang her back to find out, she won a pair of tickets to that show and was able to change them for me for the Thursday performance, which gave us something to love forward to. Come Thursday I met Niamh on route to the Grand Canal, where we got a nice bite to eat at Herb Street before the show followed by a pre show drink. Throughout the show and even during intermission the shows Skittle band The Craze performed who were very good. A particular highlight was the improv which Gavin Spokes performing as the lead Francis had to perform due to a sketch that went pear shaped, which however had the whole audience in stitches. Between the music, the band, the improv and comic timing, I not laughed so much in an ages exactly what the doctor ordered. When we got home, we watched the Glasnevin documentary One Million Dubliners which I felt was a quite powerful and emotional film and nearly had me in tears at the end over Shane Mac Thomais.

Which was starting to turn into a weekly trip to BGE Theatre, this time to see Westend Women, Joanna Ampil, Ria Jones and Kerry Ellis, 3 leading ladies of the Westend, who have starred in some of the biggest shows such as Wicked, Cats, Evita, Les Mis and Miss Saigon. I was dragging Niamh  to the show to see Kerry Ellis, as I was lucky enough to see her as Elphaba in Wicked in Westend. The feel of the show was fun, and ended being such unforgettable magical night with everyone singing and dancing along during the encore.

On Wednesday, our mother came up to visit for a few days, with a few touristy things planned during her stay and her promise of home cooked food, which had us excited. As I was working, My mother was lucky enough to collect my keys from the concierge. After a quick change and had some of my mother's freshly home made soup, we made our way into town towards Arnotts, for their special Christmas evening event. At this event, there was live music, gimmicks and free whiskey throughout the night and weren't shy with the whiskey pour.

First on the agenda, was on Thursday Morning, after a quick stroll to the Guinness Storehouse. As we booked an early bird ticket with 20% off admission online, we went straight to the pre paid machine, to collect tickets and start our tour. The tour is self guided and commenced by standing at the bottom of the world's largest pint glass in the Atrium, which rises up through the centre of the seven story building and if full would hold 13.4 millions pints of Guinness. On the fourth floor, we got the opportunity to pour of own pint of in the dedicated Perfect Pint Bar. In the Arthur's Bar on fifth floor got to see views of the brewery, nearly as spectacular as the views from my own bedroom. When we reached the Gravity Bar, we were able to sit back with the pint of Guinness included in price of admission despite the early hour and take in the breath taking panoramic views of Dublin City, in my opinion nearly the best view within Dublin itself. 

After all this Guinness history, we both were stuffed from breakfast so I rang brasserie 66 to reschedule our lunch for the next day when Niamh could join us too, as its a place we enjoy and thought our mother would too. After sitting back a tad longer enjoying the view from the Gravity bar, we continued on with our tour of the storehouses, with the Old Jameson Distillery in Smithfield our next stop. On route, I brought her to the St Augustine and John church and Capuchin Order Friary on Church Street near Smithfield. The Friary is located right next the distillery which was quite handy. Our booked tour was at 3pm, and was a guided one which lasted about an hour and included a whiskey comparison with Johnny Walker Scotch, Jack Daniels Bourbon and of course Jameson and what the differences between them are. And most important, the complimentary Jameson drink which made my day being a Jameson whiskey drinker. 

Niamh had a full mini Christmas dinner waiting for us, in honour of our American friends for Thanksgiving. Once we were filled up, we got the bus towards town, for a private event Tommy Hilfiger with music, canapés, drinks and caricaturist, which was busy and fun. +Niamh got a caricature done which came out quite well. During the weekend, we went for the lunch at Brasserie 66 where we managed to get 5€ off thanks to Vouchercloud, followed after with Bewleys for a Christmas drink Candy Cane Latte, CHQ building for Lidl Christmas markets, and a Christmas Market at Catherine Church. 

After an intense day in work and later shopping with the family, we finally put the Christmas tree and decorations up in the Apartment, being supervised by our mother superior, which made the place feel quite Christmasy while listening to Christmas FM.