BACK!

Hello hello! TW has finally returned from its annual Eire adventure, with thousands (literally) of photos in tow. Not gonna have a chance to put them up till we do some major editing though (think about it - at least 5 gigs spread over three cameras, can die), some expect bits and bobs to appear over the next couple of days (read: weeks) together with the usual rambling commentary. Despite our concerns that the weather would be shite, turns out we brought some of the tropical sunshine with us... We actually got blue skies and sunshine almost every day, and Pete even got a sun tan! Imagine, we go to Europe for the winter/early spring expecting everything from hail to snow and prepared for a bitterly wet vacation, and Mr Williams comes back brown. Freaky. Either way, here's the short version. Caught up with Gwendy and gang in Birmingham, hit Warwick Castle and the Cotswolds, and even saw Shakespeare's grave (kinda creepy that). Then it was off to Galway where Eoin finally made an honest woman out of Hilary in what might have been the maddest wedding I have ever been to (helped, no less, by the solitary insane Asian gal in attendance). Pete caught up with his NCAD crew and suffice it to say that it was nuts... Staggered down to Cork after to hang with Gladys, Dave and the rest of the troupe. Went out to a gorgeous place called Ballyhass Lakes, where I learnt to FLY FISH! It was awesome. Crap luck though - caught a huge trout only to have it take off with my line coz I wasn't concentrating (bleah), so now I have my own "the one that got away" story. Pete and Dave had better luck - caught a few between them for our dinner/breakfast. Photo evidence to come. Topped off the break with a stopover in Dubai for Pete's birthday, where we did a spot of dune bashing (BRILLIANT). He also got to mess around on the dunes with a quad bike, and then we had this amazing BBQ in the middle of the desert (complete with belly dancers). We also managed to track down and catch up with my long-lost cousin Mehirr, and met his fiance Amna, which was great. Loaded up on great Lebanese/Arabian/Asian food and enough spices to cook for a small country. Anyways, more to come, we promise... But for now, mounds of laundry await. Bleah. Later. Art