 Rod Stewart - Dublin's 3Arena 19 Nov 2016 I was saddened to hear that Rod Stewart has announced he is to end "large-scale world tours" next year, but thankfully he brushed off retirement plans. So, with a bit of luck, we may still see him in Ireland for years to come. The British star, who will celebrate his 80th birthday in January, confirmed his 2025 European and North American tour dates will be his last major projects. The
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 One of the truly unusual aspects of being Irish is that weird habit we have of sometimes saying the exact opposite of what we mean. “I will yeah!” can mean “I absolutely won’t” and “shut up, you. Ya weirdo!” can mean “I love you very, very much”! The last one in particular could be classed as “slagging”. Slagging is a term used to describe a kind of harsher form of teasing.
 It’s hard to believe that it’s over 11 years ago since I went with Charlie and James to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to see the one and only Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta aka Lady Gaga for her Born This Way Ball performance.
IOM TT 2009 Douglas, Isle of Man - June 2009 (Photo: Charlie Craig) As a child, I loved sending away for brochures and catalogues; my favourites being holiday brochures. Before the internet was a thing, you had to fill in and cut out a request coupon from the newspaper, send it by post and wait a week or two for the brochure/ catalogue to arrive with the postman. That’s how I first saw pictures of the Isle of Man, that beautiful self-governed British protectorate in the Irish Sea hallway between Ireland and the UK. I learned about the picturesque towns of Douglas (the main town), Peel and Port Erin … the Great Laxey Wheel and Castle
 Our Book My beloved mother Peggy passed away in Feb 2014. It took me a few weeks to gather my courage to go through her “bits and bobs”. In a blanket box behind the bedroom door, I found the bundle of letters tied with a red ribbon. Forty years ago this year, my best friend Catherine and I had
 Leopardstown Races - 28 Dec 2012 Saturday when I was growing up was always a day for betting on horses. Not that my parents were big gamblers but little bets of a shilling or two would be made in the local bookies especially for big races like the Grand National. And sure I had to join in for the fun of it. Mostly at the beginning I picked a horse because
 Killarney - 5 Aug 2007 (photo by Charlie Craig) Now most people associate “The King” with the late great Elvis Presley which of course is absolutely the case…but in my opinion, here in Ireland we also had our own King of the Showbands, the late great Joe Dolan. Charlie and I were blessed to see Joe at one of his last concerts in Killarney on the August Bank Holiday of 2007 before Joe’s untimely death on St. Stephen’s Day almost five months later. We also were blessed to stay in one of the most picturesque hotels I’ve ever had the good fortune to stay in, Aghadoe Heights beside the stunning Lakes of Killarney in Co. Kerry (the “Kingdom”). This week’s blog covers this memorable trip and our daytrips to Dingle, the Ring of Kerry and more.
 More than a million people tuned in to see last Friday night’s (27 Nov 2020) The Late Late Toy Show on RTE1 to see what this year’s Covid-19 “virtual” toy show would look like. Let’s face it, since it first hit our screens in 1975, watching the Late Late Toy Show has become an Irish Christmas tradition. The show began as a half-hour slot at the end of ‘The Late Late Show’,
 Worthing, Barbados In 1993, myself and my friend, MaryD, saw a great holiday deal in a travel agent’s window to Barbados, one of the Caribbean islands in the West Indies. Only when we arrived did we discover it was the off-season i.e. RAINY SEASON 😂. During Covid-19 lockdown, I found a little diary at the back of a photo album reminding me of those two weeks. Here it is:
 “Muc’ Off”, he answered, when I first asked Charlie what he cleaned his motorbikes with! I thought he was being particularly rude, until he produced the aerosol can!! Before I met him I didn‘t know my apex from my elbow when it came to motorbikes. I probably still don’t, but I’ve picked up some terminology over the years. I’ve also grown to look forward to the MotoGP season each year, mostly watching it on TV. But in August 2016 we went to see live racing at Brno in the Czech Republic. And this blog is a bit about MotoGP and our trip to Brno and what we saw.  |
AuthorMy name is Mary and this is my bucket list blog ...having survived a near-death experience. I hope it encourages you to "live your best life". See how I'm completing my own bucket list items. And let me know how you're getting on with yours! Archives
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