First Trip to Dublin

Across the sea for this year's ARA conference (having missed last year in Newcastle).

My first visit to Dublin - took the train to Holyhead to catch the ferry (good deal on the 'Sail Rail' tickets).  Thankfully the crossing wasn't too choppy, even managed to get a rather dodgy picture of a passing helicopter through the ferry window!

Unfortunately we arrived in an extremely wet Dublin, which rather put paid to the pre-conference sight-seeing I had planned.


Much of the next two days were spent in the conference hotel - some excellent speakers mind you, and an opportunity to catch-up / 'network' with lots of people, plus the dinner / dancing on the 'gala' night.

Must admit I did sneak out a little early one afternoon for a brief wander round the streets of Dublin - took in the sights of Temple Bar, and Molly Malone - and we did made it to an Irish pub one evening too.

Journey home could have been smoother (in more ways than one) - a rather rough crossing, late arrival, and mad dash to catch the train home, which was itself late, leaving us with five minutes to make the Aberystwyth connection at Shrewsbury.  Relieved to get back!

Liked Dublin though - will have to return for a more leisurely visit in our own time in the none-to-distant future.

More Connections . . .

 . . .  of the telephonic variety.

This weekend (or more specifically 9.30am on the Sunday morning) also saw the replacement of the telegraph pole outside our house:

Out with the old - which seemed to involve disconnecting an awful lot of stuff (not least the lamp also attached to the post).









And in with the new - with all the consequent reconnecting . . .



Martin is hoping that this is all a sign of things to come (i.e. the arrival of fibre broadband!).

Old Friends and New

Visitors this weekend - old housemates / friends from my University days, and a new friend in the form of our first canine visitor, a border terrier called Wilf.

The sun shone for the most part, walked the prom, kicked the bar, nice lunch out, the returned home to Skype our missing housemate in America - Wilf kept wandering behind the tv trying to work out where she was!  Barbecue tea, lots of wine, more reminiscing, even a Buffy episode or two.

Great to see everyone - house seems empty now without the pitter patter of doggie paws . . .

Lincoln Reunion

Just back from a long weekend in Lincoln, catching up with some old friends from school.

Initially not too impressed with the area around our hotel (the Premier Inn), but a walk up towards the cathedral and castle soon revealed some picturesque steep cobbled lanes and old buildings . . .

. . . shown here the so-called 'Norman House', believed to date from c.1170.

Had a day in the sunshine looking round the Cathedral and Castle and old town, before dinner at a pub by the canal that evening (by which time it was raining - good meal and good company though!).

The Castle was an interesting mix - medieval wall walk, a Victorian prison, and an original Magna Carta (the display of which was very impressive, given that the document itself is rather a dull looking thing).

The highlight for me was probably the Cathedral . . .

. . . soaring pillars, stained glass, and fantastically carved masonry . . .

. . . just beautiful!

On the way home we had the opportunity to call into a National Trust property, Moseley Old Hall, an Elizabethan farmhouse, which once hid Charles II from Cromwell's hoards.  The house doesn't look particularly Elizabethan from the outside, but the interior is very atmospheric, especially when taken over by a troop of re-enactors cooking period food, playing contemporary music, etc.



All in all a great weekend - looking forward to next year's meet-up.