The season of giving seemed to begin early this year, when on Friday 22nd my mother rang to tell she just won tickets to see 30 Seconds to Mars, and then within minutes, managed to get Dublin Zoo tickets for just 5 euro each for myself and Niamh. I some how was onto a roll, as I got nearly all my Christmas Presents bought that afternoon too. So the following day, both Niamh and myself were excited as finally after months of waiting, the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who,

To complete our Heritage and Culture tour of Dublin, we rounded off with political buildings. We commenced with Dublin Castle. The function which has changed through its history, from a defensive fortification, evolving into a royal residence and finally into of ceremony such as the inauguration of the President and hosting official State visits. The next political influenced stop and one of the historic buildings which has eluded us for years, was Farmleigh House and Estate,

Continuing with my tour of famous buildings of Dublin on my days off, the next port of call was the An Post Museum situated in a corner of the GPO, which houses the Letters, Lives & Liberty exhibition. This exhibition explores the influence and role in the development of Irish society over the years. From stamps to An Post's copy of the 1916 Proclamation and the story of the staff who were in the GPO on Easter Monday. The GPO is not just the headquarters of the post office, i

After returning to Dublin, I decided, I was gonna go see buildings and attractions of cultural and historical significations which I have not yet seen. So first on the agenda, was visit something near to my new place, the Rathfarnham Castle, which was a short cycle away, lucky I timed it where I missed the bad rain. Rathfarnham Castle is a 16th Century castle, which is a national monument which is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment by the office of public works. The

After the emotional reunion at the arrival gate at the airport, we made our way back to the hotel that our parents had spent the night, Clarion Hotel. They checked out and then made the 2 and half hour journey home back to Ruan. We had some breakfast before some relaxation in the sun and Liam's mid afternoon nap, we had a proper home cooked dinner before heading out to Lisroe to see our granny that evening. We got to see some of our relatives back at the Bogdale that night wh

Our flight was pleasant enough, up to the usual standard which I expect from Etihad. We actually ended up arriving 35 mis early. The passport control was a funny experience. After baggage reclaim, we made our way out, where we got a chauffeur taxi to our hotel in Yas Island about 30 mins away. As we arrived too early, we freshened up and left our bags with the concierge. We explored the nearby area, including the Yas Marina circuit, home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Viceroy h

Monday May 20th,  +Liam  got a call from the Alfred centre to cancel his OPD appointment due to a mis-communication and the fact that his colonscopy hadn't been scheduled. So we decided to go into the city and whilst over chocolate at Theobroma Chocolate started discussing our plans for our stopover in Abu Dhabi.  + I went to the Alfred myself early the next morning for my final check up which included an X-ray, consultant and physio. I was told that I had no restrictions and

When we landed into Hobart International airport, we got the redline airporter bus into Hobart and to our hostel the Pickled Frog on Liverpool St. It was a quirky type of hostel, with the first thing you see, is the open fire just inside by reception. We got our keys to our 3 bed room, and luckily for us, it was only the two of us in the room for the 2 nights. We decided to go to the Shamrock for dinner which has ten dollar meals and the plates were quite full and yummy. It w

After arriving into Gold Coast, we caught the Gold Coast shuttle to our hotel, the Seaworld Resort. Luckily our room was ready, so were able to check in early and get settled in. We were upgraded to the Queen Superior Deluxe room instead of the normal twin superior room. After a while, we made our way into park, and got the paperwork sorted for our animal encounters, the penguins and the seals, which were to run consecutively from 2 pm. Before the first encounter, we went fir

Tuesday May 7th, it was quite an early start, finalizing our packing and stuff before getting the airport shuttle at the end of the street. We arrived at the airport just after 7am and then we made our way thru security in domestic terminal, towards the gate. We boarded the Qantas 737-800 series plane and departed at approx 8.45 am. The flight was smooth, with on board food and entertainment. When we arrived, we got the free shuttle to our accommodation, Alice Lodge backpacke

Thursday April 25th, we got up extremely early, just before 04:30 so we could get ready and head into town for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service. We headed for the tram at 5 am, however like everyone else, we waited and waited as trams passed full without stopping. So after waiting 15 mins or so, we decided like other people gathered, to start making the trek into domain interchange which is approx 40 mins away. The nearer we got, the crowds walking into got bigger and bigger. We ma

The week started pretty much the same for both Niamh and me, work and such until Wednesday morning, when on my way to get a tram my pants got caught on something which caused me to fall and bruise my thigh, right arm and bottom. So as you can imagine work, wasn't a fun day, sore and painful as it was. Lucky I had a doctor appointment anyway the next morning at 9am for another problem, as I had been feeling unwell. After his examination, he thought it might have been appendici

Niamh managed to get a 50 dollars voucher for Pint on Punt which helped us buy dinner and drinks which was pleasant change and helped too, that the food was quite tasty. Tuesday 9th was free cone day at Ben & Jerry's, both, Niamh and me made use of the offer and went back few times, to make full use of the offer. Niamh went back to work, first time since the accident. My shift on Thursday was for a book launch at the old women's college, which was an different kind of experie

After the relaxation of the Easter Monday, it was an early start to get Niamh to her outpatients appointment at the Alfred hospital, for her check up regarding her fractured shoulder. So after the X-rays and consultant, she was informed, she will unable to do any loading or strengthening with her arm and unfit to work for another six weeks. As I was not working, we did few bits such as laundry and shopping before settling in for a Mike & Molly and Nashville marathon. I myself

As Niamh was still recuperating because of her fractured shoulder, we decided to take it easy on the Monday and go for stroll in Fitzroy...

With being busy at work and Niamh bed bound, it's been a quiet enough week. That said, some of the highlights have been; able to...

To get us in the holiday spirit, we went to the Brisbane Openair Cinema to use the complimentary tickets I had won, to see Frankenweenie,...

We woke up Wednesday morning like children on Christmas morning, as we got ready to head to get the bus then the connecting train to...

Friday evening whilest out for coffee and muffin, we some how managed to win 2 set of tickets to the open air cinema in the south bank...

Made our way into culture quarter and south bank which seems to be turning into a daily ritual. We made our way to the museum to get...