Kiwi party

Given that we did the full on Amsterdam Party thang last night, tonight I'm pretty glad that we have a party to go to. Maybe it's the social circles I run around it, or maybe it's the tiny Amsterdam houses, but I don't find myself at many Amsterdam house parties. They tend to be more subdued dinners or social get-togethers. But tonight through a friend of a friend we are off to a Kiwi birthday party round the corner from her flat.

We head off to the off license and get ourselves some beers, then we head back to the flat and spend some time beautifying ourselves while we wait for the arrival for of a kiwi friend. I say beautifying, we really just watched a bottom DVD:



The Kiwi girl stays in the Red Light District, so doesn't often have to use any form of transport to find social life. I'm very surprised she managed to use a tram and head out to the west..

We head the few block to the party on foot. We are greeted by the host's Dutch wife, who doesn't know us, so seems a little skeptical until her husband comes along and knows The Kiwi. Most of the rest of the party is dutch women and we head out onto the balcony to enjoy a cold one before the Kiwi's we know get there.

On the Balcony, we meet the band who are playing in the living room tonight. They consist of a Kiwi, someone from Finland and two Dutch guys, we laugh and joke for a while until we're joined by more Kiwi's. One strange fact about Kiwi's is that because they socailise so much and the country has a population of about 4 Million, they always have mutual friends. It;s quite bizarre, you mention a town, and pretty soon, there's a mutual drinking partner that they know.

The band are ready to start, and we head to the living room for the first time. The band are tuning up, and finally I get to find out what they play. They had been pretty sketchy, but now we see that we have a Dutch Drummer who is playing what appears o be a Box(he later tells me it Peruvian), but I still don't know what it's called. He's joined on the right by a man playing what can only be described as Wah wah Mandolin. You then have the Finnish guy on a double bass and a kiwi singing and playing guitar.

They play lots of covers, and given some of the audience, there's a few crowded house numbers which go down well. Most people are standing around watching, but given my extensive experience of playing to dead audiences, I encourage the kiwi's to start dancing. At first I feel a bit daft, but by the time we are getting acoustic renditions of such hits as Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC I'm going for it. despite the lack of involvement form the Dutch half of the room.

They are pretty well behaved and subdued, but by the second set, we are pulling them onto the dancefloor to join us. Eventually, the band finishes and we take the opportunity to leave. I'm sure the non-dancers were quite glad to see us go, but the kiwi birthday boy and the band was glad we came along and livened things up a little, so I don't feel too bad.

I arrive home in the early hours. It was an interesting night. A little different which is good, but I'm glad when my dancing shows come off and i crawl into bed.

Friday night in the other Gollem

After returning from paris, I quickly head home and have a shower, before heading off to meet Marilyn for a few drinks in the Pijp:



The Pijp is a cosmopolitan area of amsterdam full of little bars and cafe's. It is often over-looked by tourists, but is a very popular hang out for bar flys and after work parties of a Friday night.

I've not really seen Marilyn since Scotland, so we have lots to catch up on. She has been busy with, work uni and marathon running, so we blether away for quite a while. The first bar we went to had such bad service that we left some money on the table for our beer and left. Across the road was something that I'd heard of, but never seen.....

A second Gollem:



We decide to head over there for some real beer. Immediatlly on entering the bar, it's clear that there are a few differences between this Gollem and the other Gollem. This gollem is far more airy, and doesn't have the old smokey bar feel of it's sister bar. The menu is the same, but this bar is quieter and lazier. There are a few other belgian beer lovers sipping beers at various little corners of the bar, we order two La Chouffe's from the tap:



I used to consider La Chouffe to be a very special beer, but it's now a standard belgian beer, which I expect anytime belgian beers are offered(Though not always on tap)

A few beers later we are ready for the off. Marilyn to bed and me to sniff the air ready for the next bar.

The Kiwi has got some mates in town, so they are painting the town red. Currently they are in Susies Saloon, which is a bar on the fringes of the Red Light District:



I'm not sure if I've ever been in Susies Saloon. I used to drink in a bar along the road from it a lot in 2002, so I know the area. It's a mixture between tourists and ex-pats, all beer guzzling blokes really. This is a good thing, because the group is a bunch of beer guzzling kiwi's. We have a few beers here, and then head off to Leidseplein by bike. It;s very comical watching some Kiwi's who aren't that used to cycling trying to tackle mac bikes as we make our way accross Amsterdam. We eventually(And surprisingly) reach Leidseplein(Pronounced "Led Zeppelin" by Nine Inch Nina):



It's a nice night, so we have a few beers sitting outside. There are a group of people that the kiwi's had befriended in Susie's so we are quite a large group. These people seem to have itchy feet, and before we get onto our third pint, we are off to visit Rembrandtplein:



We seem to have managed to acheive a pub crawl round every tourist area of Amsterdam. I'm about ready for home. What a day!! Wake up in Paris, then finish the day by a relaxed beer in the Gollem followed by a pub crawl round Amsterdam.....

.....Bring on the weekend.

Paris

After last week's uninspiring trip to Leeds, we have the more inspiring city of Paris this week. Nothing against Leeds, I think it's more to do with the content of the meetings.

I've always loved Paris, and I like the atmosphere no matter what the time of the year. We're popping down for a few meetings, but it's quite a leisurely pace, so we have a little time to explore. We arrive late on the Wednesday and enjoy a few beers in the centre before heading for an early night and enjoying a good sleep before a day of meetings the next day.

The meetings are in the Universite Marie Curie. It is a concrete monstrosity which is just across the seine from the Notre Dame. It is absolutely horrible, even getting into the place, you are reminded of 1980's cheap concrete buildings. It looks like a a communist power station. Possibly a nod to Marie Curie's Polish roots:



we eventually find our roots, and discover that there is a wonderful view. Not just because you can't see the Universite Marie Curie from the Universite Marie Curie, but also as our host tells us, he's been in the same office for years, and never seen Paris in the same light:



These are the views that make me love Paris. After hours and hours of meetings, our host suggests that before we head off to the other end of Paris for a meeting, that we should get some lunch and enjoy the weather by the Seine. we then have a meeting sitting on the Seine:



This really is the life. we have canals in Amsterdam, yet we never use them. I can't think of a better location for a meeting while we tuck into Cambenbert Baguettes.

For the Afternoon, we are heading to Place De Italie for a meeting in a different building. We are on the 9th floor in some very Plush offices, so we get a different view of Paris from the lift:





After the meeting, we have a few beers on Place de Italie, and once he's headed off, we get in a taxi to 17 Rue Beautreillis. This is where Jim Morrison died. I'm not there purely to listen to Crystal Ship and marvel at the enigma that was The Doors. I also know from a trip to Paris in 1999 that there is a damn good restaurant on this street. My boss(Not a doors fan), is a little dubious, but after a beer across from Jim's Balcony, we head for the restaurant:



Before long we are tucking into Carpaccio de boeff, Cote de boeff and fine french wine. My boss is now impressed enough for him to believe that the trip was based on more than just teenage rock idolisation. Suitably refreshed, we head off back to the Hotel.

Our quick trip to Paris is over and all we have is the leisurely trip home courtesy of Thalys.

Ikea & Bittezoet

Today, I'm up early again to head off to Diemen to help as a lifter at Ikea:



I'm taking The Kiwi with me, as he works in the same Multinational as The Bride and they've never met. He can also help with lifting.

It's the usual leisurly ride through the watergraafsmeer. The weather is starting to turn to Autumn, but it's still pleasant enough to go a bike run.

When we arrive, The Bride has another friend over to see the DVD of her wedding. It;s good to watch and rememebr the good times which seem so long ago in Bulgaria. I cringe at the moments where I have to watch myself dancing, but generally, it's a really professionally shot and put together DVD - theres even a very tastful shot of my kilt rising up in slow motion during dancing where you can see the bottom of my arse cheeks. The memories flood back, and the video evidence lets me fill in the wholes in my memory, such as the music which caused the mass movement towards clothed dancing in the pool(Paradise City by G N' R)

Eventually Obi wan arrives from a friends. He's very shy and quiet around the Kiwi at first, but soon enough he opens up. mainly because The Kiwi makes a huge mistake. While marvelling over Obi wan's lego creation of the Millenium Falcon, he casually mentions that he still has the original star wars toys back at home somewhere. Obi Wan demands that he goes to get them.

K: "They're in New Zealand, Bro"

OW: "Well go and get them"

K: "They're in Nieuwe Zeeland"(Trying the Dutch)

Me: "Do you know where New Zealand is?"

OW "Beetje Zuid??"(A little south??)

Me:" A lot south. You got a map??"
(We point out New Zeland)

Me: "Now how far away is Bulgaria"

OW: "Two Hours"
(This turns out to be the width of two Obi Wan fingers)
OW: "twee, vier, ses...." (He counts the number of fingers to New Zealand)

OW (Incredulous) "26 hours???"

And thus The Kiwi is welcomed into to the family of adults who wish they were still Star Wars loving kids. We have a quick light sabre fight and head down the stairs to head off to Ikea.

We get two metros to the Ikea, and do the tour. Ikea is great fun for some reason, especially with a kid. He' redecorating his room, so he has measuring tapes and a shopping list. After the 3 hours r however long ti take s to dow the circuit, we don't actually have any of the big furniture items which we came to carry, but we have enough bags of stuff, that we were required anyway, so after a qucik hotdog after going through the checkout it's tiime to head along to the metro and make our wway back to the centre.

Once home, I relax for a while, while The Kiwi heads off to meet some mates. I eventually join them. They are drinking in a bar in teh Jordaan. It's an area I don't know too well, but it;s a quite a pleasant bar. We watch the Holland game, which Gaurantee's England's entry to the world cup.(Scotland got beaten by Belarus)

After several Duvels it's off to club called Bitterzoet:



I've never been one for clubs, and one of my favourite things abotu Amsterdam is that the pubs open a lot longer than 11pm, so you don't have to rely on clubs for your alcohol needs of a weekend. This club was no different. It didn't regenerate some long lost love of clubs. It just reminded me of Magenta-clad Scottish slappers dancing to bad rave hits. I head home around 4am, after one of the longest Saturday nights in memory.

Leeds

I am in Leeds for a few days for work. I’ve been before. It’s a nice enough city, and it’s a little weird being back in the UK for work rather than for family. I’m looking forward to some good unhealthy English food and drinking pints again.(Like I can’t find a bar that sends pints in Amsterdam.



Leeds is quite strange it’s up north enough to have a good bit of yorkshire character, and it’s working class roots give it a quite a Glaswegain feel. There’s a kind of mix of buildings, which don’t fit together, all different styles which sprawl around the centre.

The meetings I’m in take up almost the whole day, so we find ourselves too tired to enjoy Leeds. This seemed to happen last time as well. We have to make do with a bag of chips:



This is even a stretch. We seem to be unable to find a good chip shop! What has happened to British food!!! There is one good restaurant which we found in Leeds last tiem called “Room”:



We don’t have the energy to go here though. We feel that we are too tired to enjoy it’s good food, stylish atmosphere and well chosen chilled music. Instead we make do with further pints of Carling.

Eventually after doing nothing more than sitting in boring meetings, drinking beer, eating chips and sleeping – it’s time for the off. We have a quick trip round Waterstones and some good British shopping, but unfortunately we are even too tired to enjoy that. My one lasting memory, is that before we got in a Taxi for the airport, I went for a paper, and returned with Irn Bru and a daily record:





Quality!!!

Swimming in Mirandabad

After a reasonably quiet Firday night, I get a phone call early in the morning. I had promised to take Obi Wan and his friend swimming, so it's a quick bowl of porridge and hit of espresso and then a 45 minute bike ride to Diemen.



It's about 9.30 when I leave, so there is still that morning chill in the air which smells so fresh. A cycle is such a great way to wake up in the morning. It's not particlarly difficult, but it's continuous enough that it gets the heart pumping.

As I get to the last leg, his mum phones me to tell me that Diemen swimming pool is only open for lessons. I am going to stop off for coffee before heading nearly back into the centre to Mirandabad, another swimming pool.

We have coffee and play Lego Star wars, until it's time to head off on the bikes.



FInally a star wars game which is mindless enough, that you don't feel liek a geek when you are playing it, but still has the fun and adventure. It could be on my Christmas list.

We are cycling along the canal's which lead from Diemen to Amsterdam. I think this is the Watergraafsmeer, but I'm never sure. It's pretty picturesque, if a little industrial, and cycling along with two kids, makes me glad I got the phone call, cos otherwise, I wouldn't be out my bed yet, and I wouldn't have stared the day by cycling for 90 minutes before going for a swim.





We get to the swimming pool and are quickly in the water. I head off to the big pool for a quick 20 lengths. It's been a while, I'm tired out pretty quickly. The Bride and the kids have headed to the fun pool which has wave machines, slides, rope bridges and flumes, It's a great place for kids of all ages, and reminds you what it was like when you were that age. We muck around for a while, and then head for the flume.

I'm pretty disappointed. It's far less exciting that it was when I was 7 or whatever.

After a while, I say I'm heading for the big pool for some more swimming. They are always curious of mystery and think they are missing something. I tell them that it's for swimming only, and that they might not be allowed in. I am promptly reminded that they have Zwem Diploma C. This appears to qualify them for swimming upwards on the Niagra Falls.

The life guard gives us a bit of a strange look when these two kids come marching excitedly down the stairs to what is just a 25 metre pool with people doing lengths in. The kids are straight in the deep end and swimming no problem down to the other end. They don't put their heads in the water, but generally, I'm pretty impressed by their performance. We do probably 10-15 lengths, and then head back to the fun pool.

Now I'm completely knackered. It's approaching 4pm and I've been exercising since about 9.30. I'm worried that my body might go into shock.

Luckily the pool is closing, so I don't need to tell the kids that I can't keep up with them. We have a quick jacuzzi and then head into the changing rooms - Saturday's adventure over.

Once out of the swimming pool, it's a quick can of Cola Light and a phone call to find out what the evening plans are. I leave the kids with The Bride and head back to home for a quick change of clothes.

I meet up with The Kiwi and Dagenham Dave on Dam Square. They have been out on the razz the previous evening, so just want some food and a quiet night. We have chinese, and then head for a few in the Gollem before calling it a night.

A beer weekend

After a staff BBQ we head out to a bar and finally have the energy to toast our deadline meeting success. The Kiwi even comes along and brings a few mates and it turns out to be a bit of a sesh.

Friday night, we´re a little fragile from the night before, so we decide to take it easy and head to Bar Gollem:



As I´m locking my bike, I met two Bulgarians from the wedding who are regulars at Gollem. They have just left after a session, and have that rosey cheeked Belgian Beer Buzz going on. I keep on promising a Whisky and Scottish food night. We´ll see.

Once we are in, there is a table of about 15 Antipodeans, and it doesn´t take long for The Kiwi to know a few of them. There´s a Kiwi/Dutch couple we´ve met here before, so 5 mins in the door, and we are going with the flow and supping some fine beers. I´ve decided to stay off the Devil based beer names(Satan, Lucifer, Duvel, Kwel), and drink a recomendation of The Bulgarian´s - Anker:



It's a fruity little number, and like most Belgian style beers, goes down a treat. Before long more lads arrive and the Lucifer's, Satan's, St Bernardus, Bush and LaChouffe is flowing.

We stay drinking unitl the place closes and then head off home; refreshed.

Saturday Morning, I stagger out of my room at about the same time as the Kiwi. He has mates coming to visit today. It's a mate of his from his Japanese adventures, and they were also at the Oktoberfest last week. He and his Girlfriend are visiting Amsterdam as part of her studies in Sweden, and they are staying at our place and taking the oppurtunity to see a little bit of Amsterdam.

The Kiwi and I have a slow morning. Not because we are hungover, but because it's been a long week, and we need a few hours to veg in front of the TV for our brains to catch up. For some reason, you don't seem to get a hangover when you drink Belgian beer's. I think it's something to do with the beer being better quality.

A few phone calls, and it's clear there are plans for tonight. We are going to house party. The truth is WE are constructing a house party at a Kiwi friend's house who lives in the middle of the Red Light District. This is our third night on the razz on the trot, so things are a little slow.

I spend the afternoon in Record Shops. Trawling through trays and trays of Vinyl. It's been months since I've had the time to do this. It's a very relaxing pursuit. I go to my favourite record shop in Amsterdam - Concerto:



It's a great shop for raking through lots of genres, media(DVD, Vinyl, CD) and thoughts. Its about 4 shops all joined together, and it's open on a Sunday, so I associatte it with timeless, wasted days and relaxation. Today, it turns out I buy nothing. There seems to be very few new additions to the vinyl collection, and no new music. Still it served the job of passing tiem between drinking sessions.

After Concerto I head over to Get Records which is across the road:



Even though I've just been paid, and was all ready to spend some money, I come away empty handed. Couldn't find any new albums, nothing took my fancy. The record industry should take note; I was ready to spend money, but they had nothing on offer.

I head home, have a quick shower and get myself spruced up, then head of to meet The Kiwi and two new Ozzies at the beer shop before heading red light-wards.

It's good fun watching people who have only been in Amsterdam for half a day. They are still shocked by the Stoner's, Junkies and Freaks who pollute the centre. It's strange(And a bit of a shame), but you become blaise to it after a while, and nothing surprises you or amuses you anymore.

Anyway, via a few Tourst windows, we arrive in Red Light Kiwi flat. There's two kiwi girls live here, and they are beer monsters. Almost every weekend is spent downing pints and watching rugby. Luckily they have a reaosanble music collection as well, so their flat is a perfect place to party. Slowly people trickle in and add their beer to the already overflowing fridges. We then dive into chaos, as everyone sits around has a laugh drinks beer, watch some music DVD's, tell jokes, stories, the antipodeans compare Oktoberfest bruises and generally everyone has a good laugh. Eventually everyone has gone home or fallen asleep................

Having stayed at the house, I get home at about 11am. The boys back in my flat are planning a bike ride, so isntead of having a shower and recovering from our hangover, we have decided to head off to the Heineken Experience to do the tourist thing. They are just leaving so I change my shirt and spray soem deoderant - which the Kiwi describes as a Mauri Shower.

We head throught he vondel park and have a long meandering cycle around Amsterdam, since it's Sunday, the weather's dry and we have tourists to play with. Vondelpark is starting to look Autumnal. The summer may be over:



I've been in Amsterdam 3 years and never been to the Heineken experience. Just never got round to it:



Our touring party is me, The Kiwi, an Ozzie, and a Dutchman. The Heineken Experience isn't a patch on the Guinness Warehouse that I was at just 2 weeks previous, but it's a good way to spend a few hours. I'm less than impressed with Exhibits telling me how beer is brewed and the History of Heineken. We have our three Biertje allowance, enjoy the "Pretend you're a bottle" ride and then collect our free glass before getting back on the bikes and heading off. It's a bit of a whirlwind tour, but now I can say I've seen it. Our recent passion for slightly better quality beers means that going to a museum to taste three piddly glasses is fun, but nothing special.

Once we are outside, The Kiwi heads off to Kick Boxing and I have two tourists to show Amsterdam.(The Dutchman's from Utrecht). I've decided that to keep the theme, we should head to the Brouwerij 't ij:



Brouwerij 't ij is a tiny brewery about 2km east of Centraal Station. It is housed in a windmill, so is pretty picturesque. More importantly it brews my favourite beer in Amsterdam. Zatte:



Zatte is beautiful. It is a Belgian style beer, which is full of flavour, and drinking it in the Brewery makes it taste, very very fresh. The brewery is open from 15.00 till 20.00 Wednesday to Sunday, and the four beers they brew cost less than 2 euros for a very reasonably sized glass. The only drawback of course is that Zatte is 8% so I usually limit myself to 2 of these babies before heading home. On a nice summer's day(Which this is not), it's a wonderful to sit outside the brewery and enjoy a few of these delights while enjoying the sun and the Canal boats which leisurly pass.

After our alloted two beers(Ontop of the Heineken we had for Brunch) it's back on the bikes to head off around Amsterdam again. Every Sunday should be like this. Not a care in the world, cycling around. We take a walk through the Jordaan District of Amsterdam where you can wander around and lap up the atmosphere of a more traditional looking Amsterdam:



We head back to the flat and I finally get a shower, we have some munchies, watch a film and then after a phone call from the kick boxer's it's off to Coco's Australian theme bar for some tucker and beers before going to bed.



Bit of a wild weekend, but when I'd worked for so long, I needed to let my hair down a little. I'm quite proud of the fact that on the 25th Anniversary of John Bonham's death and the Demise of Led Zeppelin, I woke up on in a house that wasn't my own after a kicking party, Visited two Breweries and drank in 4 bars:




BONZO WOULD BE PROUD!!!

Deadline met and DVD

So finally after about 12 days of working non-stop we meet our deadline.
Instead of hitting the bars, I´m due for dinenr and a DVD in Diemen again. We´re planning to see the rest of the Commitments.

There is a Taiwanese/American coupel coming roudn too. They were at the house warming party, so I´ve met them before. Obi Wan is as usual bouncing off the ceiling. I´m a little worse for ware and looking forward to my bed, but I accepted the invite to keep me out of the pub, and it worked.

We have a Bulgarian dish which seems to be a cross between mince and Tatties and Lasagne, it´s kind of stacked mince meat and potatoes. It really fills a hole, and I feel much better afterwards.

By now Obi Wan is showered and in bed,and we settle down to watch the Commitments. We stay awake past the first half hour this time and everyone agress that it´s a pretty good film. I head off early to look foward to my first long lie in weeks.

Boysitting

The blog has been seriously neglected of late. I didn't take my computer to Bulgaruia, which meant I had that backlog, and then there was dublin. I have a huge deadline at work, so I've basically been working every hour that I'm not asleep. It's been a long while since I've done that, and at first it feels good. A real comraderia and team work, but by Saturday(Today) I'm quite glad when the Bulgarian Newly wed asks me to baby sit. It avoids me going out for a drink with some other mates, as I know that this tired, stressed and over worked, it will be a very suick trip to drunken oblivion, and a less than fresh head for work on sunday.

I take a quick trip to the public library roudn the corner from my work and pick up a few DVD's for entertainment.

One time a while ago I was baby sitting Obi Wan Kenobov when he was a little younger. Somemone phoned me and I said I was baby sitting. He was very angry when I got off the phone:

"I no baby. You tell people you boy sitting. Okay??"

Anyway. Now he's pretty chuffed when I come round as it usually means he gets to play Lord of The Rings on my powerbook:



I'm not much one for computer games. I don't think I;ve been past level 1 of Mario Bros, because the first tiem I get killed, I decide I've lost interest. Lord of the Rings however is a differrent kettle of taters.(Boil em, mash em, put em in a pot.) Not only has it always been a fantasy of mine to pretend I'm aragorn, Legolas, gandalf or one of the boys, it's on my beloved apple, so It's even more fun. I bought the game to get through a round of boring conerences ages back and I completed it not long after. Obi Wan, however, still loves playing it, so I usually take it round when I'm visiting. But we keep that till later when I go round.

I decided that I could just veg in front of some DVD's. I always like to take round good kids DVD's. I remember vividly enjoying certain films when I was a kid, so I'm pretty good at picking out DVD's that a Star wars, and Lord of the Rings loving 7 yr old will appreciatte. He loved the Goonies, and once he's a wee bit older I hope he'll appreciatte the lost boys. So today from the Library, I have the Princess Bride:



In the library I wanted to get willow, but I couldn't find it. I had phoned Nine Inch Nina as an escape from work and she had been over the moon at the prospect of watching willow and I thought it would be a good option, but it'll have to wait till next time.

I remember watching the Princess Bride when I was a kid. Me and my sister were getting Babysat, and the man babysitting us brought round this video. We'd never heard of it, and basically thoought "What's this crap??(In 7 yr old thoughts of course).

The film starts with the boy from the wonder years(Fred Savage) moaning cos he's sick and his Grandpa has decided that he's going to read a book. The koid, being a thouroughly modern boy prefers to play his nintendo entertainment system and thinks that books don't have the same excitment. He interupts all the way through the introduction about how it's a love story and he doesn't want to hear about kissing. Then of course by the ene he's compeltely won over and thinks that love is an important part of the tale provoiding you have major elements of Jim Henson style monsters and swashbuckling and fights and stuff.

It's a great movie for kids and the script has enough adult and clever humour in it to keep things alive. That and the cameo of Peter Cook as a priest with a speech impedement makes it a cracking film. Obi Wan agrrees and by the end is shouting:

"I am Inio Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die!!!"

So another success in the DVD choice.

After DVD, it's dinner. His mum has made some good Bulgarian soup and her attempt at a scottish dish called "Mince and Tatties"It tastes magnificant, but this may be cos it's my first real meal since I was in Ireland.

After dinner, it´s the inevitable 2 hours of Lord of the Rings playing, where Obi Wan´s eyes get so wide he looks like he´s on something. I have to admit, that I quite enjoy it to. Eventually it´s time for his bed, and I instantly crash out on the couch until his mum gets home.

She´s had a good night at a party and we sit down to watch the Commitments:



I´ve loved the Commitments, sonce I first saw it. I love any film that shows the rise and fall of a band. But this one has the added value that it´s funny too.

It´s about 2am and we last 30 minutes into the film til I decide it would be better left for another night. I head off and enjoy the long cycle home in the refreshing chill of the almost autumn night.

Ireland day 4: Back to the A'dam for work

It's an early start and into the car for the long trip back to Dublin. Our flights back are mid afternoon, so we are time pressed to get back to Dublin Airport. OUr only stop is a toilet stop in Athlone. Mainly because we know the area and can make it a quick stop. It's a much nice day and we get some good family photos in front of Athlone Castle:



We make pretty good time back to the airport, which leaves us with quite a bit of time to kill before our flights. I settle down to some blog updating and work catch up(It's a Monday) in a cafe, while my family have some coffee and get over the tiredness of the long drive.

We eventually head through our gates and then have a final pint of Guinness together, before I'm on my flight back to Amsterdam. It's an early night before I start another bitch of a proposal writing week.

Ireland day 3: Galway

We get up early and enjoy another fried breakfast in the homely atmosphere of the B and B. Its about a 2 hour drive onwards to Gallway. The scenary slowly improves as we near Gallway. We head straight for the centre for a wander around, as we are too early to check into our hotel. Gallway is a great little picturesque town. It has a beautiful river, and a very old shopping street with lots of little shops full of character.





I'm delighted to notice that the record shop is blaring out VS by Pearl Jam:



I head in and have a look for some music to fuel the afternoon drive which we are taking up the western coast. I settle on the Rolling Stones new album:



We head off in the Car and try to find the hotel. Our soundtrack is the opening track os Big Bang; "Rough Justice". It's definitely the stones. They have such an established sound, that you get the feeling that you've heard it before, but you know that it's good. It even has good quality Mick Jagger lines such as:

"So put your lips to my hips baby
And tell me what's on your mind
I know you still got that animal attraction for me
It's been a long, long time"

We are staying at the travellodge, and my brother and I are delighted when we find out that we can tap into a free wifi connection in the room. Jesus, we're easily amused.

Our road trip takes us up the coast, where we stop by the beach and head out onto the rocks for a picnic. The weather ahs really improved since leaving Dublin, where it was pissing it down. Now we have bright sunny weather with a little cooling breeze, which seems perfect for the smooth sands which make up our view of the Gallway coast.

We have produce left over from the market in Dublin which we have augmented with some salads and stuff from a Supermarket on the way.

After lunch, my brother stays in the car with his sketchbook while my parents and I head out on a wee walk. It's a great little town, and the pubs are already overflowing, even though it's 2 hours until the Hurling kick off. We head of on a country road which takes uss down and onto the beach, and then get a few photos:





There is a river which flows into the sea, and I am convinced that there must be a place where we can cross it and head back to the car. We head along one side of the river, and soon realise thatit was afruitless short cut. My dad however wants to continue. I think it''s something about woodland walks, he seems to think he's in the scouts again. We very quickly get lost. We are trailing my father along the path, when we follow him under a bridge which has a rusty sign instructing trespassers to beware of the dog.

We have now went under the main road and have to climb through ferns and long grass to make it up to the wall where we climb over and jump onto the road. So much for shortcuts.

Once back at the car, we head back to Gallway to hit the street and see what atmosphere is offered by the home town of the Hurling championship underdogs.

My brother and I watch about 30 minutes of the first half over a pint of Guinness, but the fact that we have no knowledge of the rules, game or scoring system, and can't actually see the screen means that we are cheering along with the crowd about half a second after they are. We head out for a wander.

Out on a a wander, we window shop for a little while, have another pint and generally doss about until we meet my parents a the car and head back to the hotel. The most memorable moment during this donner was when we saw a drunk with a radio having a conversation with an Oscar Wilde statue about how the game was going:



By now we've heard almost all the stones album. It's fairly uninteresting. Mick still seems to think that white guitar based disco isn't dead. By far my favorite track is the bizarre Keef vocal lead "track 6???", his gravely weather worn out of tune voice works great on the track. He is a living legend, a knight of the 20th century who wears history on his face. All in all he is a human miracle just on the fact that he can still stand up.

Dinner is a quiet affair in a little restaurant, then we head out to a few more pubs. They are full to the brim, but luckily due to the smoking ban, the bars now spill onto the street. We stand about outside with our pints of guinness and talk to a few locals. I think Gallway would be a great place to some with some mates for a pub crawl.

It's a pretty early night when we head off to bed, having completed the western leg of our family weekend to Galway

Ireland day 2: Back on the road

Today we are going to explore a little more Dublin, then head off in a rented car and explore a little more Ireland, so after a good old fried breakfast, it's out and onto the streets of Dublin. We head over to Grafton street to see the bustle of the shopping streets. It's like any other shopping street. What's nice about Dublin is that the various statues that you find in any other city are given colloquial names:

Molly Mallone becomes the "Tart with the cart"



James Joyce becomes the "Prick with the stick"



Oscar WIlde becomes the "Fag on the Crag"



There are various others:

Hags wi´ the bags



Floozy in the Jacuzzi



The latest is a huge needle which sticks up out of the shopping street near the post office:



No name has been settled, but there have been several suggestions, the "Stiletto in the Ghetto", "the Skewer in the sewer" or just Milligan(After the famous comedian Spike Milligan)

While we are here, we take a quick trip for stamps and post cards in the post office. This is no Ordinary post office, it is the post office that Michael Collins defended when the Irish republic launched a revolt against their British invaders. You can still see the bullet holes in the front of the building. Unfortunately it was scaffolded for repairs when we were there.

We head back to the hotel via a little open market for some picnic supplies. It's now time to head off and pick up the car before hitting the road.

Once on the road, we are reminded that the Irish Hurling League final is on in Dublin tomorrow. The reigning champions Cork are playing the underdogs Gallway. We are on the Dublin to Gallway road, so it seems like every car which passes us in the other direction is heading to the game.



Hurling is a team sport of Celtic origin, played with sticks and a ball. The game, played primarily in Ireland, is the world's fastest field team sport. It resembles the games of shinty that is played primarily in Scotland and bandy that was played formerly in England and Wales. Hurling played by women is also known as camogie. Hurling is Ireland's native sport.
The roads are unremarkable and I'm pretty glad when we get to Athlone.

Athlone (Baile Átha Luain in Irish, meaning "town of the ford of Luan") lies on the River Shannon near the southern extremity of Lough Ree, some 130 km west of Dublin. The west side of Athlone forms part of County Roscommon while the larger east side lies in County Westmeath, but administratively, almost all of the town has been included in Westmeath since 1898, and planning applications are dealt with be the respective county councils. The town's population in 2004 was 15,936, slightly more than that of Mullingar. Athlone sits close to the geographical centre of Ireland. Nearby are Moate on the road to Dublin, Ballinasloe on the road to Galway, and Tang on the road to Ballymahon, County Longford.

We are staying in Athlone to break up the journey to Gallway.

We have a small Bed and Breakfast on the outskirts of town, and once we are settled, we head off into the centre for an explore. The only thing worth seeing in Athlone is the castle. It is however a nice little town, and it is probably more genuinely Irish than Dublin has become. For want of somethign better to do, we head off to the Cinema. I would calculate that our last family trip to the cinema was at least 10 years ago, so it's quite good fun. We go and see "The longest Yard" which is a bad Adam Sandler and Chris Rock comedy. We really enjoy it. Chris Rock is always funny though:



I wouldn't however recommend it. It was just good film to go and watch with your family.

Afterwards, we head to the night life area for something to eat and another few pints of guinness. After lapping up a little bit of atmosphere in "sean's bar" we settle on Indian for the night. We fill ourselves with curry and then see if we can find a space at the bar. The bar is really long and authentic, going way back into a beer garden, the floor is uneven and dilapidated and the whole bar has a great atmosphere. Given that it's saturday night, it seems like everyone in the surrounding area is drinking here toinight, so we squeeze ourselves back out and wander round a little before heading back to the Bed and Breakfast and finding something a little closer to home.

We eventually settle on a little bar whose name I can't remember, but it has live music and Guinness on tap. We tap along to some music while enjoying our drinks, and then head off to bed ready for a drive to Gallway the next day, making sure on our way to the room, that our guinness fueled mother hasn't defaced any of the varnished jigsaw painting which adorn the walls of the B and B