a quick wave from over (irish) seas…
And while I have a minute, a brief update from Derry!
I caught my first glimpse of the place from my first Ryanair flight in ten years or so yesterday afternoon – having observed the airline’s many rules and checked in online to print my own boarding pass (fine for not doing so £60) I was gratified in the extreme to find upon reaching the bag drop that my carefully packed suitcase weighed exactly the 15kg limit, having removed and put on my ever-present woolly hat barely a moment previously. Less happy was the bag drop lady, having missed out on £50 for excess baggage by about the weight of a navel orange (or in her case, missed out on the joy of telling somebody they had to pay it) but since the people next in the queue appeared to be moving house by way of John Lennon airport, I’m sure that she made the shortfall back in no time.
Derry is undoubtedly one of the cleanest and prettiest places I have visited in quite some time, and the convenience of having to stagger barely five minutes in any given direction to find food, shops, banking facilities and virtually everything else I needed was a huge plus when compared with the usual poring over Google Maps, scouting public transport arrangements and extensive list-making I normally associate with a new city; I suspect a fair bit of it can be seen from my window, and a lovely sight it is too. Fortunately for me, because bar my brief forays out last night and first thing today that’s about as much chance as it looks like I have had to investigate further before setting off for Belfast in the morning, but I’ll certainly be back. Even the timewasters are polite.
With my Irish (albeit north of the border) trip off to a flying start, it was nice to find out that the punters of Scarborough are getting a treat in my absence in the form of the seriously gorgeous Darcey Summers; the lovely lady is arriving in under a week and the welcoming committee would do well to make their arrangements in good time – I hope to catch her for lunch-and before she sets off for York on Sunday 12th. Go and look, now – she’ll keep coming back if she likes it! I will be home for a scant eight days before hurtling off to the Isle of Man, and then it’s back to That London for some light relief in the form of Frightfest prior to business as usual from the 28th; Olympic shenanigans notwithstanding (and having sat through the entire splendidly barmy opening ceremony last week I am very much looking forward to what’s hopefully left over of the atmosphere, since the Paralympics begins on the 29th) it’s looking like a fun month!
I have packing to do, mail to answer and the final Derry visitors for this trip are winging their way here as we speak – no rest for the wicked! Belfast beckons in no time, and the punting folk of Dublin 9 and Cork haven’t got too much longer to wait.
More soon…
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