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Published: December 24th 2006
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San Francisco
10 years of my life and 20000 things to remember and only 2 boxes to pack. The last weeks were one of the most busy but prolific of my entire life. We had to pack over 10 years worth, sell a car, buy tickets, finish work projects ( 6 years of IT don't go away easy), buy a ring, go eat and drink, attend dinners and get togethers, party with Emilio an Co. That rhythm had left me exhausted, so much that I think I slept in Madrid and Ireland more than in a year.
Madrid
That didn't meant that I stayed the whole time laying on bed. I had plenty of time for socializing and getting reintroduce to my country's natural habitat. A sort of epicurean life rhythm sets in on you. Wake up early, open the laptop to read news and the e-mails that sendomly arrived to your personal inbox (digital junkie), get breakfast, go down to the bar for a good cortado, read a real paper this time, shop for a few items left for the trip to Eire and beyond, meet the family at Trifon for Starters and wine, meet in
the mean time a world class guitarist Vicente Amigo, go through a 3 course meal and two bottles of wine, sleep some more, get fresh-ed up to go out with Friends and finally find new spots in the neighborhood through long time friends. The joy of cooking and eating is something else in this country I must say. Nothing better that dispatching with my uncle of a lobster family crustacean, that 20 minutes before was looking straight at you hanging from the waiters hand and playing paper and scissors with his bigger brother on his other hand, served along a crisp refreshing albariño. The food of course is best enjoyed with family and friends. My grandfather with his 92 years will still take me around Santander for rabas (fried calamari) washed up with small white wine glasses.
Ireland
Just coming out of the plane I smelled the air. So fresh it felt. That’s Shannon airport excellent location, just on the side of the Shannon’s river estuary, on the West of Ireland. Greeted my girlfriend’s family and immediately we were served the local fry, I already missed it. Next day I was taking to a Rugby game,
Friends with wine
A 1970 wine decanting thanks Stewart, Munster against Connacht. The tension and anticipation could be felt since the stakes were pretty high, Munster needed to win to continue into the Heineken cup and Limerick is where Munster plays. That indeed helped to overcome the bitter cold and rain of that evening. A Heineken helped even more, Roz brothers and friends were not up for it in the first half. That’s when strike me how barely anybody was drinking pints or even swearing!. I mean back in Spain during a football game is assumed that you will leave your voice on the match and those that don’t want to here obscenities should stay on the comfort of their homes, some argue that part of it has to do on how in Franco’s time it was aventing mechanism allowed to the masses during the regime, some would say is just part of the beautiful game, but in Ireland, with Rugby, is as if the game itself is so brutal that audience doesn’t need to add to it. It did hurt watching some of the clashes. Sign of the new Celtic Tiger was the amount of stock brokerage firms advertising on the field in between ballmers or
Heineken adds. I was pointed then to look at the crowd checking their tradings with their latest Internet phones, with their old farmer’s hat on for the cold of course.
First half was a slow and cold one, 2nd half turned out to be very vibrant and it was awesome to see Munster scoring a try, touchdown for the Yankees. I was most impress on how their defense holds the line against their opponents even on the very last yard. Munster won the game and everybody happy and all swarmed the nearby bars and pubs, now it’s when the real drinking started up to the usual Irish standards.
Some days on that week we visited a brand new JJB Gym, stylish and posh, full of equipment, full of flat screens and chic pools it does leave behind any I seen in the states. Yes, this was part of my flimsy and unsuccesful attempts of keeping somewhat on shape after all the Thanksgiving and goodbye dinners in the states plus the added welcome meals in Spain and Ireland, a lot of flavors to catch up with at the Gym. After a few days around Limerick we made a day
trip to Galway, weather couldn’t have been worst but I still could see why droves of visitors head for this Irish Western Coastal town. We kept and moving and we headed south the next day to visit a dear friend on the town of Clonakilty.
Clonakilty is beautiful village with outstanding scenery; you just have to wonder through the patch ways on the old marshes, the landing strip where an American B17 bomber landed in 1942 in neutral Ireland with an African monkey. Stories abound about the plane, its cargo and their crews, like the one were the people of town who had never seen a real monkey before even held a funeral for Tojo on the back of the O’Donovan’s hotel. Our friend Jim still remembers as a little boy the amazement of going to see the plane on a nearby field. Apparently the crew came out with their handguns ready to fight since they had no idea were they landed, it could have been occupied German land on Netherlands for all they knew, and upon a local they asked "where are we?", he looked at the puzzled by the question... "on Pat’s marsh field, that's were you
Coors light???
Cheking Limerick pubs after the game are at".
We stayed at the Inchydoney Beach Lodge and Spa. This resort is situated along a mile long beach, actually on low tide you could almost walk around the Island. The views from the beach on a sunny day were ones of the most amazing I seen so far on this beautiful country. Not only that but we were graced with the presence of swans and even a rabbit while taking the walk around with our friends. When the waves break in to this cove they form a long low wave that is a favorite with surfers around the area. The resort itself has a spa with mineral pools and all sorts of water jets that come close to a real massage. Perfect for those acute pains on the back that driving in Ireland causes you, don’t understand what the government is really doing with all that surplus money. It sure ain’t going to their road system fast enough to keep up with the high times. In the other hand that would probably cause this gem of Ireland to be overdeveloped and loose its magic, like most of the Spanish Mediterranean litoral has experienced, thank god we still
have the weather, the food and most important the people.
So between the scenery, the friends, the stories, the spa and the restaurant I just had to pop the question there and she had no chance but to say yes. Between the screaming and the jumping it actually took some minutes for the word to come out and so I had to neal down to reiterate my point. After that we visited Cork to have some tapas with another friend’s, a must see city that was recently nominated European cultural city. I visited an interesting Market, most of the food on the stalls had not only English and Gaelic signs but also Polish signs. The influx of immigration, especially from Eastern Europe and even African countries, is something that Ireland has never seen before. I guess being voted the happiest European country helps as well.
After that we made our way to Limerick, dammed road again, and all became a roller coaster of celebrations mixed with good byes before our next destination, Dubai and Dhaka. Promise to be back very soon with them blogs, I’m two weeks behind, but now I can see how difficult it becomes to
The Quays
A unique Galway pub find the time to write and type while on the road as I have read many times on this site.
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Ranjani
non-member comment
Yay! The Blog is up and running
Hola Rafa and Roz: Great to see the blog is up. Enjoyed reading every bit of it. Well written. Felt like I was there too. Can't wait to read the next episode in Dhaka. Hopefully you will post more pics next time, particularly as it was a reunion of the old timers from Golden Gate, Academy and the Cole House and, not to forget, a grand wedding. Have fun in India. I sure miss going home and can't wait to see it through your eyes. Congrats on the engagement. Love you both and miss you much Ranj