Kersti's Corner

They made it

Well Tegan and Cameron made it - took them over an hour from the time the plane landed until the arrived. Tegan's comment when they got through was "we still have to go through customs" - Irish customs is very minimal!

Anyway, I've left them at the hotel (Bewleys in Ballsbridge - got them the tower room, it's 3 levels!) to unwind and we'll meet up for lunch shortly.

On their way

Well, they're on their way (assuming they made it to the airport on time) - Tegan and Cameron's flight departed from Melbourne airport - next stop is Hong Kong.

They should arrive in Hong Kong at 3pm my time.

SNAP!

I know, I've left it quite late to book a hotel. Kept umming and ahhing about which one to get, hate booking hotels - I always worry that there's a better one that I'm missing out on or a better deal.

Anyway, Fiona suggested one place which looked lovely and she phoned them for me (she used to live in Paris so she speaks the lingo - I was dead chuffed that I could understand part of her conversation) but unfortunately they were booked and so was their recommended next place.

So, on to lastminute and we found a place that sounds quite good, within the budget too - and here's the write up "This hotel is housed in an 18th century building and is located within close proximity of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Orsay Museum, the river Seine and the Louvre. You’ll also find yourself in the very heart of the renowned weekly Antiques Fair. Guest rooms are full of charm and well-equipped . The service and professionalism at the hotel will ensure you keep coming back."

Looks good, so I booked. When I finally got home tonight I was telling a friend about it and looked up the website (something I'd normally do before I booked)... my those pictures look familiar I think, but it's the wrong address.

I jump onto the French Yellow Pages site to have a look, they have shots of the street and some good aerial shots too - and guess what - I'm absolutely sure it's the same place that Gary and I stayed in when we came to Paris all those years ago!

Too funny! Well, at least I know how to get there!

Judith & Peter

I met Judith Connors today. She's travelling with her husband Peter - they stopped off in Dublin and will be doing a tour of Ireland. We had a great evening - and we could have continued chatting all night if Peter hadn't put the brakes on us!

Good Friday

WOW! No pubs open on Good Friday - totally bizarre. Even restaurants are not allowed to serve alcohol. Of course that doesn't stop the locals from going to the off-license on Maundy Thursday and stocking up for their home parties. I'm sure that there will be some very sore heads tomorrow!

Ilze flew in this morning. We headed into town for some lunch and for a bit of a shop - thankfully Brown Thomas was open, so we had a good look around at the shoe lounge.

Louis Vuitton has a new range out - the monogram canvass with a silver or gold lace pattern overlayed, it's lovely but only come in a couple of bag styles and really is a bit overpriced like most LV stuff is. Still, lovely to look at.

Next stop was Dior and they finally have in the flat shoes that match the pumps I purchased last year - I just adore them, I've been popping in and out of Dior ever since to see if they'd get them back in. You can just imagine my excitement to find them back, I'd honestly given up! Naturally they didn't have my size in the colour I wanted - they did have in white so I could try for size. The assistant looked up stock lists and found that Manchester have my size - what luck! They store in Manchester is holding a pair for me :)

We next tried for a bit of an afternoon tea at Bewleys - and everything on the menu that I fancied they were out of. Finally I settled on a scone, but they came back to say they didn't have any so I decided to give up - maybe grab some chocolate later on. Was a bit miffed when they girl came out to give the couple at the next table some hot cross buns - they hadn't told me about those! Not to worry, M&S make the best hot cross buns... we grabbed some of those to heat up at home.

Next stop was a quick look in Fitzpatricks where I found a lovely pair of Fendi's in my size going for less than half price :) Love that! Yes they came home with me... I'll upload a photo in a few days. Obviously St Crispin is looking out for me today :D

The rest of the day was spent planning tomorrow....

Toyota HiLux For Sale

Cameron has finally decided to put the toyota up for sale so that he can pay off the loan and come on out to Ireland. It's a great and very manly car - very clean and well looked after and I know it is a huge wrench for him to have to sell. If you or anyone you know is in the market for one of these please spread the word!

He's placed an ad on Carseles.com.au for it - See the ad here

Incidently, if you're interested in reading about Tegan and Cameron's Irish adventure they also have a blog Cam & Teg's Irish Adventure

Mark Edwards' visit

It was so great to see Mark again! It's funny how you don't really know just how much you miss someone until you see them again. Had a lovely weekend - attempted a little caching, although the great cache I took him to had been muggled so no go there. Went out for some great Thai and even popped into O'Donoghue's - one of those traditional Irish pubs complete with traditional band, this was even a favourite haunt of the band The Dubliners. (No, I don't really know who they are, but it seems to be a big deal) Now to figure out a way to get the entire Edwards Clan over here....

Vicky

It took me a few days to put this update in. Sorry, but I only just downloaded the pic. Caught up with Vicky and Aiden on Monday night. Vicky is so beautiful but she's a complete head-case! We met on the bus at the airport in Paris. Poor thing was freezing and didn't know how to put on a scarf, so I gave her a hand - then it turned out we were sitting next to each other for the trip to Dublin.

Vicky's come out here to be with her boyfriend (who she met in Thailand) and she's amazing. It's been a big move for me, but at least I can understand the language if not the accents - she has to contend with English being her second language as well as deal with the accents and the huge culture shift for her. She's doing well tho and has taken to the pub scene with avengence!

Tegan & Cameron wedding pics available

I've added some of the wedding pics from Tegan and Cameron's big day to my Gallery. I know, it was 2 months ago, but better late than never! I promise I'll get the Oslo pics up soon.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to me! Well, it started quite early today - Gary was worried about missing my birthday and ended up getting his times confused so he called me at 3am.... It was just so nice to hear his voice that I didn't care one bit.

Mum and Dad called this morning, as did Christine and George and I've had text messages and emails from heaps of people. I even got a card from my colleagues which was totally unexpected. I'm really feeling the loving, it's quite nice!

Prize for the daggiest message must go to Tegan. She sent me a pxt message which you can see above.

One thing I did notice - it was very dark today! I'm used to my birthday being on the Summer Solstice, but of course here it's the Winter Solstice - not only is it cold, but it's also the shortest day in the year, very bizarre when you're used to your birthday being the longest day!

Hope you all have a fabulous day too!