You would expect things to go back to normal once I put our mother on the coach home, however I went off shopping to sort a few last bits for the Christmas tree and soak in the christmasy atmosphere on O'Connell Street for the turning on of it's Christmas Tree and whilst getting a free packet of Tayto, I got my photo taken with Mr Tayto, sure be rude not to. On the route home, hopped into the Church of Adam and Eve, the National Shrine to St. Anthony, to check it out. The cra

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 mo

When our mother retired, she wanted to celebrate it by going on a holiday, I was only one who had time off around the time. So I booked a last minute holiday for both of us to Palmanova in Mallorca for the end of April. The day before the holiday, our mother got the bus up from Ennis, although it was raining when she arrived, once it stopped we made our way into town and showed her around. We finally managed to get her to House, a bar on Leeson Street and see if our cousin wh

After the holiday to Lanzarote, I decided it was about time to check off the remaining churches that I wanted to see and had eluded me so far, around the city. In particular the insides of the Pepper Canister church, St Paul's Smithfield which is the church Eamon de Valera got married in and  University church near St Stephen Green which I didn't know much about before hand. It was during lent when I was able to visit the church so waited until after it's lunch time service t

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 d

With the excitement of Italy behind us, we came home to the joys of accommodation hunting  which was proving difficult separately  and +Niamh  starting her new college course in Healthcare Informatics. When we started to look for a place together, although still hard was more promising. We still had time to enjoy ourselves, with a reception at Harvey Nichols and cinema tickets to see Before I Go To Sleep in Dundrum. My weekend off, was a quiet affair, just spent watching Clar

After a tiring weekend working over the August bank holiday weekend, was great to have a well earned me day. Began the day with a short visit to the Irish Sand Sculpture 2014 at Dublin Castle, with a particular highlight being the sand sculpture of Albert Einstein. After putting it off for years, decided to finally  give Odessa a try for lunch. The one time I go, I had the whole restaurant to myself for the  entire time, which was funny but was nice. The food was what I expec

The excitement for the Flora Women Mini Marathon, all started when Clodagh came up on the Saturday afternoon, we spent the rest of the day and night, shopping and catching up on all the gossip. It was really when  +Liam  met us in town after work, when things got fun, as we all had to trek out on the bus, to the RDS to collect race numbers and goodies and sample the food on offer. After all that, decided to check out the Dublin Port Riverfest, in the docklands. All 3 of us, w

After an uneventful road trip down to Cork, the stay in the hotel itself was quite basic for what was meant to be a 4 star establishment. I was quite disappointed with the food I got for dinner and the lack of organisation over breakfast was outrageous. All in all, I'd be in no rush back, to stay at the Rochestown Park hotel. However on the upside, after the depressing weather on Saturday, luckily enough, we had some glorious sun shine for our trip down to Cobh. When we arriv

After quite a long week, both myself and +Niamh  couldn't wait for Saturday and  +Miranda Hart . We managed to get tickets on Living Social for the +Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship and Famine Museum  for 6.50€ instead of 18 euro. I was lucky enough to get my bus to almost at the ship where I meet Niamh. There was a few people gathered outside the office, including ourselves, the door was locked, which worried a few of us, but the tour guide it seems runs the office and tour simulta

Although I got a phone call from work, for a last minute change of shift, I still met up with Niamh for lunch and culture with a difference before work that evening. After our lunch in Wagamama's, we strolled across Stephen Green towards The Little Museum of Dublin. The museum tells the story of the city in the 20th Century. The museum is still fairly new, only been launched in 2011, after a public appeal for historic objects, with the generosity of the public generating over

We started off the New Year with a mini adventure and city break to Belfast. So the first Saturday of January, we both met in the city centre for breakfast at O'Neills on Suffolk street at 9 am before catching the 10 am Goldline bus to Belfast from Busaras.  The journey itself took about 2.5 hours and when arrived it was a tad over cast. So we attempted to go and find the hotel - Park Inn using Google maps. After awhile we got lost, lucky enough we backtracked and some how ma

Check out from Nomads was 10 am. Leaving time for the bottom bus tour was at 10.30. Nearly missed the bus due to a skype call from home,...

Check out the next morning Monday 19 th was at half 9, and we started our journey south towards Franz Josef. We drove through a town...

Left Base Taupo at 9.15 am Monday 10th heading towards Tongariro National Park, where some of the background scenery for the Lord of the...

August 31 st we got the Intercity train from Ennis to Dublin via Limerick Junction, leaving at 10.15. We arrived into Heuston at 13.20. The Journey up was pleasant and mostly uneventful; we were surrounded by Americans, who were on the train up from Killarney for The Gathering American College Football game – Notre Dame vs. The Navy. Once we got off the train we got the Luas from the station into city centre getting off at the abbey street stop. From O’Connell Street got the