It doesn’t matter, where I roam, it’s always good to be back home. Perhaps these are the lyrics to a song? If not, then they damned well should be! That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy being away, I did, immensely. As some of you may know, I enjoy driving, which is good, because I’ve covered a far few miles of variably-well-surfaced road in the week since my last Blog entry. Those of you who have been paying attention (not to mention looking at the right URL) will be aware that I’ve been to Dublin. The moment that The Emerald Isle came into sight from the top deck of the ferry was an emotional one for me. As a child, I spent many happy holidays in Ireland, yet this visit with old chums ajd and cam was my first for over five years. I was glad to be back in the land where my parents were born, the land where I have many relations and indeed, the land where Guinness comes from!

Once we’d docked at Dublin Port and been sprayed (just in case my poor little car was carrying this foot and mouth disease that you may have heard mentioned on the news), our first port of call was the bed and breakfast into which we were booked for our stay. Aishling House, in Clontarf was a wonderful B&B, we couldn’t have hoped for anything better. I would recommend it to anyone. Once settled in, it was time to make our way out to Howth on the Dart. Here we met up with my parents (who were also visiting) and my godmother’s family. It was fantastic to meet up with some of my cousins whom I hadn’t seen in years, and I’d like to thank both gf and kf (pictured here) for showing myself and the lads such a great time in Dublin. It was in Howth last a week ago tonight, that we experienced our first pint of Guinness in Dublin (followed by a few more ;-) ).

On Sunday we went sight-seeing, down into Co. Wicklow to Glendalough and Powerscourt, both of which are beautiful places, but quite closed at the moment, due to the aforementioned disease. Still, we managed to take some lovely pictures of the Wicklow mountains before following the roadsign that was marked, quite simply, "Scenic Route". And indeed it would have been, if it wasn’t so misty up there. At one point, when we were at the roadside, taking a few snaps, an English couple in a car coming the other way stopped and asked us, "Do you know where the nearest main road is? There isn’t one up there for hours!". Poor people! Anyway, we took our chances and carried on, finally making our way to the highest pub in Eire, Johnnie Fox’s. Well, it’s a landmark, isn’t it?

Monday was possibly the high-point of last week with a visit to the Guinness Brewery. Now, I’ve been to a brewery or two in my time, but this was the ultimate. A fantastic visitor experience, followed by a pint of the black stuff in the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor, which offers possibly the best views in Dublin. In one of the bars in the brewery, I performed one of my little bar tricks, which seemed to catch the attention of a few of the other visitors who wanted to take some photos. Here are a couple of shots! After a good day’s drinking, it was time for a great night’s drinking in Templebar. Cousin gf and second-cousin "l" joined the terrible trio for the onslaught.

By the time the sun had reached it’s highest point on the next day, our little trip to Ireland was over. So soon, but the lads’ week away was not. Oh no. Next stop, cam’s parental abode in deepest darkest, Herefordshire for a top-class meal in the local. Oh, and a pint of the black stuff! Time being short, first thing Wednesday, we began the voyage down to Swanage on the south-coast of England, where we would spend the rest of the week engaging in, well, more of the same, really, taking it easy, enjoying a cold beverage or two, cracking the same jokes that we’ve been cracking since we first met over ten years ago and listening to the rain hitting the roof of our static caravan.

And now I’m back home and have much catching up to do but first I have to wish my Irish readers a very Happy St. Patrick's Day, and thanks once more to those of you who gave me such a great week!

And so here I am, back behind a familiar monitor. It seems like months since I last typed anything into this little window, which keeps you people up-to-date with all things, well, er… me! In fact it has only been six days. Still, here is the first entry of the year, so I guess I’d best make it a good one. I shall start by continuing where I left off… New Year’s Eve in the Czech Republic:

It was like no New Year’s Eve I’d ever experienced. Of course the evening began, as most evenings on holiday do, in a bar, drinking lots of Czech beer. On this particularly special evening, a few of us even saw fit to drink some Absinth. Now that stuff is strong, not recommended if you want to sober up in a hurry! As midnight drew closer, the ten of us (along with hundreds of other people from many different countries) made our way into Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske namesti). The atmosphere was awesome. There were people letting of all manner of fireworks in the street, a sight that I’ve never seen before. You could feel the excitement building by the minute. Never a group to stand still in the cold for too long, we meandered down to the Old Town Square (Staromestske namesti). More people. More fireworks. After more alcohol and more fireworks, we made our way to the banks of the Vltava River. The little hand touched 12 and the world exploded in a million different colours. The smell of fireworks mixed with the smell of champagne. Corks popped, bangers exploded and people cheered. 2001 had begun. It was truly breathtaking.

The wonderful thing about Czech beer is that never seems to create any problems one waking up the next morning. Hence, New Year’s Day began a lot earlier than one might expect. Armed with kar’s invaluable copy of The Lonely Planet’s guide to Czech & Slovak Republics we made our way to the wonderfully picturesque village of Vysehrad, which I believe means "High Castle". The cemetery here is also the final resting-place of famous Czech composer, Dvorak. You see, we weren’t just drinking all week. From Vysehrad we caught the tram up to the Giant Metronome on Letna Plain, above Prague’s city centre. Most surreal. A short walk from there and we were at Prague Castle and The Cathedral of St. Vitus from where we could see pretty much all of the city.

On Tuesday we decided to leave the city on the train for the Czech Republic’s fourth city: Pilsen (Plzen), home of Pilsner Urquell. Oh yes… a visit to a brewery! I have to say though, if you’ve seen one brewery, you’ve seen them all. Still, the tour wasn’t expensive and it was a day out. The city itself has a fair bit to see, including the massive St. Bartholomew’s Church.

We ventured out of town by bus on Wednesday to an old town whose name eludes me for the moment. This town was host to a castle and, apparently a fine winery. Alas, both were closed. On arrival back in Prague that evening, we caught the Metro to Muzeum station. Wenceslas Square was packed, even more packed than it had been on New Year’s Eve. This was due to a large demonstration about Czech Television, which you can read more about here. It was possibly the largest crowd I’d ever seen on any street.

Our penultimate day was spent outside of Prague too. We ventured to Karlstejn by train to see the castle. Once atop the ice-covered hill, we discovered, much like the attractions that we had been to see on the previous day, the castle was closed to visitors. Bugger! However, that didn’t stop me photographing the views from the top of the hill and, indeed, the castle. Karlstejn Castle is possible the most fantastic castle that I have ever seen. It looks like something that you’d expect to find only in fairytales. I can’t wait for the photos to be developed!

The end of the trip is quite uninteresting, really. Just some last-minute camera clicking, shopping and eating.

As you may have guessed, I really enjoyed my second visit to the Czech Republic. I loved the food, the drink, the sights and scenery, the people and, well… just the whole lot. I think that the thing that impressed me most about the country was it’s public transportation system; it ran like clockwork, despite the holidays and the snow. You wouldn’t find that in the UK. I’ve no doubt that I shall return and visit some more of the sights that I’ve missed. Next time, I shall try to learn some more of the language!

This is just the beginning! --paj