Made a quick trip to Ireland to see the family with Paveena and my daughter Kyrah in tow. Surprise, surprise it was cold and wet pretty much the entire time we were there. We did manage to catch the second night of U2 at Croke Park which was fantastic although probably not quite as good as the last time we saw them on their previous tour (Tokyo). Will still definitely try to see them if they announce Japan or other Asian venues. Worth going to see just for the “Claw” – the futuristic stage set reportedly costing in excess of US$100m. Here i am with the Mrs at the venue.
Anyway we then headed over to the West of Ireland with my two brothers and their families. The landscape is very pretty if you get a break from the horizontal rain. We ate a ridiculous amount of food and it’s a wonder that anyone lives over the age of 50 in these parts. The attrocious weather (remember this is summer) dictates that life is spent indoors and hence involves an endless two way commute between one’s residence and the pub. Locals appear to while away their entire lives in the pub. It’s great for a few days but several decades seems extreme.
One morning, the sun appeared. Everyone rushed out of the house to witness this rare event. However, while the others remained transfixed, i quickly discerned that there was no appreciable change in temperature and headed back to the one warm place in the 200 year old seaside house in which we were staying – bed. But i was roused about 30 minutes later by the sound of screaming and splashing. My daugher and her equally mad cousins had decided to throw themselves off the local pier into the arctic waters (i wanted to include the icebergs in the pic below but they were just out of frame).
All in all it was a fun, if cold and fattening holiday and it was good to catch up with all the family. I leave you with some of the few nature photos i took on the trip. I have processed them in black & white as i think it best captures the wild, moody landscape.
Heading off to my favourite wildlife destination tomorrow for two weeks – the Masai Mara in Kenya. More soon….
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