Dad was here again!!!

Well, the best thing ever happened. Dad came to visit again. He's in Hamburg for work for a couple of weeks so he and his friend/colleague Alex popped over to Dublin for Friday and Saturday night!

They arrived in Dublin at about 4pm and met Luke and I at Pearse Tavern for a drink at about 6pm. We had a Guinness or two and then made our way to Grafton Street for dinner. I had made reservations for the four of us at Cafe Bar Deli in the Bewley's cafe for 7:30. Dad had brought some salmon for Alex and Caroline (The couple that had Dad and Luke over for a big fry-up breakfast last time Dad was here) so he and Luke went across the street to give it to them. Unfortunately they were not home at the time but Luke popped in later and gave it to them.

Dinner was great. We shared a couple bottles of wine and enjoyed the food and a good chat. After dinner we were all pooped and a little tipsy so we opted to go our separate ways and meet up again the following day.

Dad and Alex got up early on Saturday and took the DART out to Howth to have a poke around. They climbed up to the summit to view the harbour and the island and enjoyed breakfast out there. The day was lovely. Quite sunny and warm. Luke and I opted to stay in town and get some errands done while they were out there. We met with them at the pub again at about 4:00 for a Guinness and then we all took a taxi to the hotel to drop their things off and then to Jervis Street to do some shopping. Alex had to find a white peasant skirt for one of his daughters and the stores close at half 5 or 6 so we were on a MISSION. The mission was accomplished with time to spare so my Dad, Luke and I split from Alex and we poked around the shops, agreeing to meet up with Alex for a pint at Mojo's whenever he was finished. After a pint there we started walking to the Grafton Street area to make our 8pm dinner reservation at Turtinos Italian restaurant where Dad, Luke and myself ate the last time Dad was here. We all enjoyed our meals IMMENSELY. This place is fantastic! From there we walked up to Porterhouse Bar to meet Sarah, Tom, and a friend of theirs visiting from Edinburgh where we had a few drinks and some great craic. After a while we decided to head out of there (Dad, Alex, Luke and I) and make our way to Pearse (again) as we were meeting up with Alex and Caroline. We had a BALL. The pub was packed with the regulars who were ALL intereseted and thrilled to meet Dad and/or see Dad again. Alex (Dad's Alex) sang karaoke, we laughed and played the raffle (Dad won a bottle of rum which he kindly gave to us), sang, and generally had a fantastic time. It was Irish craic at its best.