Easter Holidays

The Easter break seemed to last a fortnight, which on the scale of things, was a good indication of rest and relaxation. For the most part the weather was great and this facilitated excursions by boat, bike and by car along the banks of the lagan and around the Ards Peninsula to Mount Stewart and by sea to Rathlin Island and along the East coast.

David, a friend from school days, returned from London for a short visit and to celebrate a few of us headed out to the Spaniard on Thursday evening for tapas and vino. I love the Spaniard on Skipper Street. It's a small, cosy bar that's best enjoyed when the place is almost to capacity and you have a good table to sit and relax at. Unfortunately as much as I love the food that is tapas, I hate the quintisential small portions of it so you always spend an arm and a leg on trumped up snack food. Nevertheless, it was a great evening of catching up and getting quite drunk.

On Sunday morning, myself and Lou drove up to Ballycastle to meet up with David and take his boat out to Sanda, a Scottish island off the larger island of the Mull of Kintyre. Unfortunately the sea was very choppy and we had to turn back but we headed to Cushendall for lunch and then to Rathlin on the way back for a quick pint so still an enjoyable day out.


On Tuesday Lou and I were supposed to be heading to the caravan in Portaferry for the night but the weather turned on us mid afternoon although it was dry for us when we stopped in at Mount Stewart for a walk around the beautiful gardens.

On Thursday, it was a warm and sunny day which made it ideal for Brian and I to cycle along the River Lagan towpath to Lisburn. We covered around 25 miles in around 2-3 hours and besides chapped hands and a sore backside, it was a really enjoyable outing worth repeating later in the year.

On Friday we had thought about a cycle somewhere else but unfortunately our posteriors could not handle another journey by saddle and we took to Botanic Park to play boules instead.

So all in all, it was a fun packed break and the mind and body got a full workout and relaxation. It's back to work today but it's my birthday next week and celebrations this weekend so fingers crossed that the weather will stay dry. Hope you had a great time whatever you got up to and see you tomorrow for more.