Arrived Kinsale

Arrived Kinsale (sporting a new haircut) to meet up with Dawn and Becky, followed swiftly by Paula, Sharon, Emma, Jill and Mark ....... and other great friends from around the UK and wider.

What a generous offer, Phil and Noreen invited me to park Ela in their car park - Phil saying for sure it will fit in and get easily through the arch - believe me that was a hair raising moment, but we are through the arch and parked up - not worrying at all about exiting through the arch on Tuesday when we leave. Having delicious home cooked breakfasts, fab.

I will give you a whistle stop tour of what happens in Kinsale over this bank holiday (Irish) every year in Kinsale (and Cork):
- It is the Jazz Festival.
- with over 100 free gigs happening in and around Kinsale, in the pubs, restaurants and hotels.
- The fun runs Friday through to Monday.
- Dawn has been coming to the festival for around 30 years.
- Friends too have been coming along for many years.
- Good friends made along the way include many of the locals and many of the bands, one great friend is Sharon Crosbie who sings her heart out at the festival all weekend, we love her. She has some rather special backing singers too, you know who you are.
- Kinsale is also home to several gourmet restaurants and many artisan shops. There's no watching the waistline this weekend.

So needless to say it is the best weekend in our social calendar that we look forward to being back here from the minute we leave to the minute we return.

This year the antics have gotten off to a great start with a party at Sharon's where the karaoke queens excelled, we took over a near miss hen party and settled down to a good old Angelic Card session. Fizz, wine and gin rewarding us with good old weepy finish to the evening, we had a blast. Thank you Sharon for the send off into the early hours equipped with fluffy dressing gowns, unicorn key-rings, blow up man, diamante earrings and tiaras. Which we will make use off again as the weekend unfolds.

The photos say it all for night one, Thursday, so the gig has not yet begun, will add more of the weekend pictures as they unfold.

And to finish on an unexpected note this leg of the journey, Becci would not forgive me if I failed to mention our two triathlon training sessions early Wednesday and Thursday. We managed to get on our trainers and get out there pounding the pavements and ticking our exercise box - well done us.