Wedding time

Finally I had to leave Colombia, its been great... again. So its back to Europe for a few days (20/5 - 26/5). I flew int Amsterdam and took the train down to Rotterdam. After a few fairly uneventful days in Rotterdam (been here once before for work, couple of years ago), just dodging bicycles and trams. I headed out to the airport again. I was leaving to go meet Orlaith in Ireland for her cousin Edel's (and her fiance Donal) wedding.

I made a quick stop at the casino in the airport and made a small withdrawal. Then I got to my gate with a few minutes to spare to find tat it was delayed a couple of hours. A frustratingly short flight later (my delay was longer than my flight), I arrived into Heathrow, to be delayed again. Ironically enough, I was delayed just enough to make my original connection, that had been delayed too. Not big fan of flying in the back of the bus and no lounge...

So close to midnight I finally arrived into Shannon. Orlaith and her parents were waiting to pick me up. We got a quick bite to eat and headed out. We drove out to a Jim-in-the-Mills, which is actually a guy's house with a few rooms converted into a bar. We had a few drinks, met a few people and there were people in the other room having a bit of a session (few people singing and playing random songs - old and new). We eventually managed to get out to the house, I'd say where it was but not sure I can spell it. It was reasonably close to Cashel in County Tipperary. Its the old family farm that one of Oralith's uncles still raises dairy cows on. We didn't really do too much the next day, just kind of relaxed. Saturday we drove down to Adare - a "picture perfect"Irish town. It has beautiful stone buildings, churches and even thatched roof houses. It gets loads of tourists and has plenty of weddings.

We headed to the hotel to check in and the test started. For the rest of the weekend I was getting introduced to various friends and family. I am bad enough with my own family and friends, so trying to remember names and who everyone was, was tough. It was a nice afternoon, pretty church and a beautiful ceremony. Afterwards it was back to the hotel and the reception. It was a great time, lots of great food, and fun people. There was plenty of food and some of the best steaks I have ever had. The party went late into the night with lots of dancing, from pop music to waltzes and regional set dances, even weird old 80s songs. It was nice to meet so many people I had heard about and a good time all together.

The next day I actually started feeling sick and didn't do much but sleep. My next flight was at way too earlier in the morning over to Texas. It was a fun weekend with some crazy antics. Thank you Edel and Donal. But now its back to work.