England and Wales

We always end off our European summer with a stint in the UK. By October it's cold and grim in London but we enjoy spending time with the family, going to concerts and the theatre, enjoying restaurants and pubs and visiting with friends. We are very much at home in Chiswick these days with Charles and Leonie, William and James. We wonder when they will have had enough of us!We also made the pilgrimage to Cardiff to see the Bokke in winning action against Wales at the Millenium Stadium. Thanks Nick and Kerry for being such wonderful hosts in Wales.

Birthday Party Number 4

2 November 2013
Gaunabara Brazilian Nightclub
Soho
London
We planned to start off with a quiet drink in The Prince of Wales Pub, but a football match meant the place was totally packed. We would have really shown our age if we had turned up at the venue at 5.30pm, though! As it was we arrived around 7pm to take advantage of the Happy Hour and buy all the 2 for 1 cocktails and wines!
We had the best time around the bar, chatting and enjoying the music and entertainment! Of course, all my friends are so awesome and everyone just got on so well! Later we moved to tables for dinner and dancing the night away! Luckily, this time Greg and Sarah booked a hotel, so no missing that last train home! We all agreed there is no way we can wait until the next big birthday for a reason to return to Guanabara, so next time we are in London, you are all invited to come and celebrate Life.

Singing in the Rain

At the last minute we swapped a timeshare for a week in Ireland. We stayed in a 300 year old Abbey near Kilkenny. The Irish weather is wet; it rains every day but not all day. It rains hard and it drizzles. It's cloudy and then the sun peeps out but only for a few minutes. Then the wind blows and howls and the rain comes back. Everything is damp and soggy all the time. There must be more pubs per capita in Ireland than anywhere else on earth and it's probably because it's more cosy in a pub than out in the temperamental weather. The Irish may be the friendliest people in the world and you're likely to meet them in the pub. Charles spent the weekend with us. On the first night we went to a grungy pub called Eddie Murphy's in Thomastown to hear an ex Dire Straits guitarist,"Guitar George, he knows all the chords". Kilkenny has some amazing pubs and on Sunday night there was an amazing choice of live music. Over the course of the day and late into the night we went to 10 pubs, 8 with music. We visited Whiskey distilleries in Killbeggan, Tullamore and Jameson's near Cork. We went to Dublin and the Guinness Museum and the Jazz Festival in Cork. We saw a lot of green scenery and some stormy coastal vistas. Back in Kilkenny we spent the evenings seeing more live music almost every day.

Camping in the snow and other stories

Thursday 10 October and its snowing at the campsite in Munich as I write this! Neil has his feet up against the little space heater and we are cooking curry, Durban style to enjoy with Mrs. Balls Chutney. A reminder to self, get the hell out of Europe the minute Oktoberfest is over next year! We will be heading to London on Monday, but we are not planning on getting much sun there either. Oktoberfest was fun as usual. I had more than my fair share of it this year, even representing Neil at the BOC alumni parties when he had to fly to SA for a funeral. We popped down to Venice mid-fest for four nights to meet Andrew and Terri before heading back to Munich for the final weekend of the fest. Venice is just a wonderful city, so unique, with so much to see everywhere you walk. Its a city for strolling and getting lost in. This time we loved all the little Osteria del Anticos, serving drinks, good coffee and tapas style snacks in a cosy, traditional atmosphere. The Biennale was on this year, so we saw some really weird art. Exhibitions are on in all sorts of buildings around the city  and checking out the architecture and interiors is sometimes more rewarding than looking at the art . Back at Oktoberfest, Tommy and Gavin both diverted their business trips via Munich to join us for the final Fest weekend. It's all about the beer in Munich, so Neil and I also did a great little trip to Alsace to taste some Rieslings in September. Alsace is in France but it feels more like Germany. Eguisheim was voted "Best Town to Visit in France" for 2013. It is picture postcard cute and was quite busy for so late in the season. There are  loads of small wineries offering tastings and plenty of nice restaurants to choose from.