So I’ve been a bit busy with work trips over the last two weeks. From Sept 16th to Sept 18th I did a quick trip to Baltimore. I had no time to tour around as I arrived late on the 16th and flew out at 6:15am on the 18th. We stayed at Henderson’s Wharf and had dinner at the Black Olive (highly recommend it). Here is a shot of the neighborhood near our hotel – very Boston-like.
I came home for a short stay and flew to Ireland on the 20th. I left on the 9:45pm British Airways flight to London-Heathrow and then took Aer Lingus over to Dublin. This was my first flight on BA and I was very impressed. The only problem with the flight was the fact I drank too much before hand. Not a bright idea.
So before I left the house that evening I had a couple of glasses of wine with Steph. I had to check in bags at least 2 hours before departure so I had 2 double gin and tonics in the hotel bar. You would think I would stop at that point. Nope, I had two of the little bottles of wine on the plane. Yep, I was pretty toasty…and really dehydrated. I made it through the flight but not without some discomfort.
I worked in Dublin from Monday to Thursday. We met with two companies while there. The first company setup a private party at the Guiness Brewery – including a private tour.
After dinner we had drinks in Temple Bar at Gogarty’s where we could listen to some traditional Irish music.
On another night we had dinner with many of our Dublin coworkers. I also went running one day in Phoenix Park – had to get some exercise while out there. On Friday I flew to London for a day. Steph and I had spent 8 days in London back in 2004 so this wasn’t my first visit. It was absolutely beautiful in London so I decided to spend most of my time outstide. I walked through Parliament Square (think Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Stree), to Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and then down to Thames and over to Tower Bridge. I probably put about 4 to 5 miles of walking in during the afternoon.
So why did I go to London if I’ve been there? Purely to meet up with George (good friend from College) and her family (Dermid and Max). Fortunately I was able to see them Saturday morning before departing for home. George and Dermid have a wonderful 4 month old name Max. I got a ton of smiles – he was a charming little chap!
George lives in Richmond – suburb southwest of London (not far from Heathrow). It is the greenest community in London with many parks. Here are some shots along the Thames.
The flight home was uneventful – just long. It was great to see Steph and boys – it is very tough to leave them for so long. Today was went to Grady’s one year birthday party so Zach and Nate had on their birthday clothes – they even posed for some photos before we left.
BTW, these might be the first pictures of them together where someone isn’t crying!
