Natalie and Kirstin's Big Adventure

Wednesday 19 September 2007....
Kirstin is always the one who ends up in hospital! She has been struggling a little bit with the move, which we were all expecting but the funny thing is that she is “presenting” (too much Grey’s Anatomy ;-) ) with a sore tummy. I am fairly sure that this is due to all that is going on but I decided to amuse her and take her to the doctor anyway.
Finding a doctor is also not that easy so I went on to a medical website and searched in our area. The first doctors’ room I called are “not taking on any new patients” so I called the medical rooms at the Dundrum mall and they could see Kirstin so I decided that we would try them. Of course I got a horrible doctor, Dr Shoab who is difficult to understand, his English is not too hot, and he diagnosed appendicitis.
Now Kirstin has had the pain for 6 days so I felt awful and he sent us off to Crumlin Children's hospital….”stat” . Problem….I do not know how to get there so home first to look in a map book and plan my route. I could not find the hospital in the map book so turned to the Internet and looked up the hospital. No address on the website, by now enormously frustrated! I found a phone number so I gave them a call and a very helpful doctor answered and one of her colleagues lives near us so she gave me directions. Turns out that it is basically one road bar a couple of roundabouts and one turn right, but you can’t go left so no chance of going wrong!!! It is about 20 minutes away so I left Jess at home to wait for Malcolm, of course this was the day he had decided to try out the bus for the first time, which had turned out to be a blessing. By now I am having enormous doubts about the diagnosis, it does not really make sense….6 days, surely she would be writhing in pain, but I did ask Kirstin to pack sleep over things and her toothbrush etc just in case. Now we had to go to accident and emergency, with a letter from Dr Shoab in hand and we were sent to the waiting room and then called to triage where a nurse took Kirstin’s temperature, blood pressure and a urine sample. Back to the waiting room for about 90 minutes (thank goodness I had packed magazines and books) and then finally we got called in to the doctor. In a twist of fortune it happened to be the same doctor that had given me directions which I was pleased about because she was really friendly and warm. The urine sample was clear and after examining Kirstin she found that nothing was wrong! Kirstin did not like the diagnosis and insisted that she was in a fair amount of pain so the doctor examined her again and told Kirstin that if she wanted to stay at the hospital overnight they would keep an eye on her and check her in the morning. To my astonishment Kirstin was rather happy with the turn of events even though she knew I could not stay. I asked the doctor if she felt that it was necessary and she said no not at all, I could keep an eye on her at home. I mentioned to the doctor that half of Kirstin’s problem might be the fact that she does not want to go to school so she said that Kirstin could stay at home and I could monitor her. This was also a favourable outcome as far as Kirstin was concerned and she happily hopped off the examining table to go home. I was relieved, but more pissed off for all the running around because of one stupid doctors observations. I also smelled a rat…there was no way Kirstin was staying at home, I had been swindled, not that I think her cramps were not real, I just think that they may have been capitalised on!
Once in the car I broke the news to Kirstin, school was a go for tomorrow and she could take a couple of painkillers if necessary, but she is behind in maths and cannot afford to take more time off as she had already spent a day at home. I told her that I thought part of the problem was anxiety and the rest probably constipation, she seemed to agree with me actually and was not too upset with my decision. Next day I bought duphalac syrup and I have not had a tummy complaint since!

Favourite topics

In Ireland everyone talks about....the weather! Irish people often tell us we are mad to have moved here from sunny S.A. It is difficult for them to comprehend our decision to move here. I was on Wikepedia ( a mom's best friend, along with google) and I found a couple of interesting bits of information that may help some of you out there understand our decison to choose Dublin...hope I am allowed to add this stuff to my blog, the articles on crime and weather are excerpts from Wikepedia:
Crime

Official statistics from An Garda Síochána for 2001-2005[25] show that the overall headline crime rate for the metropolitan area per 1,000 of population is the highest in the country. During the 1980s and 1990s, a heroin epidemic swept through working class areas of the inner city and outlying suburbs. Dublin had 80 homicides from 2004 to the end of 2006. 32 were gang-related. In 2007, as of mid July, there have been 15 homicides, in which 4 were gangland shootings. Homicides in Dublin from 1/1/04 to 20/6/07 took place in many crime hotspots.

Climate

Dublin enjoys a maritime temperate climate characterised by mild winters, cool summers, and a lack of temperature extremes. Contrary to popular belief, Dublin does not experience as high rainfall as the West of Ireland, which receives twice that of the capital city. Dublin has fewer rainy days, on average, than London. The average maximum January temperature is 8 °C, the average maximum July temperature is 20 °C. The sunniest months, on average, are May and June, with six hours of sunshine daily (though daylight in these months is a lot more). The wettest months, on average, are December and August, with 74 mm of rain. The driest month is April, with 45 mm. The total average annual rainfall (and other forms of precipitation) is 762 mm, lower than Sydney, New York City and even Dallas. Due to Dublin's high latitude, it experiences long summer days (around 19 hours of daylight) and short winter days (as short as nine hours). Like the rest of Ireland it is relatively safe from common natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis.
Strong winds from Atlantic storm systems can affect Dublin, though usually less severe than other parts of Ireland. Severe winds are most likely during mid-winter, but can occur anytime, especially between October and February. During one of the stormiest periods of recent times, a gust of 151 km/h was recorded at Casement Aerodrome on 24 December 1997.
An urban heat island effect means Dublin is a few degrees warmer than surrounding areas. There is also a slight temperature difference between the city centre and the city's suburbs, with the city centre slightly warmer, as it is more built up. There are slight differences between the city centre[22] and the Airport,[23] just 12 km north.
The city is not noted for its temperature extremes due to its mild climate. Typically, the coldest months are December, January and February. Temperatures in summer in recent years have been rising to substantially above average figures, e.g. 31 °C in July 2006, over 11 °C higher than the average maximum. Recent heat waves include the European heat wave of 2003 and European heat wave of 2006.
The main precipitation in winter is rain. The city can experience some snow showers during the months from November to April, but lying snow is rare (on average, only 4/5 days). Hail occurs more often than snow, and is most likely during the winter and spring months. Another rare type of weather is thunder and lightning, most common in summer.

AND
from: www.breakingnews.ie/ireland

A new survey by worldwide travellers has voted Dublin as having the most friendly and helpful locals in Europe. The poll, carried out by the TripAdvisor company, was based on the responses of 2,100 travellers.London came out on top for nightlife, shopping and being family-friendly, while Paris was voted best for romance, art and culture.The French capital was also found to have the most unfriendly locals, however.Edinburgh tied with Prague for the title of the most "underrated" European city.

Koeksisters and milk tart

Now why is it that these 2 "food groups" were not a HUGE feature in my diet in South Africa and I have already made both? I will admit to indulging in koeksisters more regularly than milk tart but it certainly was not something I imagined myself making so soon! But make them I did and it actually was a request from South African friends so there!
I had invited Derrick and Rose around for homemade pizza on Friday night (this is where the milk tart please came from) and we were invited to another South African family for a braai on Saturday (the koeksisters please)
Now there were a few unforeseen problems with this mammoth task that I had set myself....Firstly I had dedicated the morning to clean the house (got that done!) and the afternoon to bake all manner of things:
Yeast pizza dough
Tomato base for pizzas
Yeast koeksister dough
Syrup for koeksisters
Pastry for milk tart
Filling for milk tart
The kitchen, well it was not very pretty to say the least, I did not have an inch of space on a single counter top....all my own fault mind, because as I am always saying....I am NOT the tidiest cook! So 2 different types of dough rising, a syrup to be made, dough to be plaited... aarrgghh and....I have to go and fetch Malcolm from work ($%^&*) nothing like cutting a chunk of about 70 - 80 minutes out of your day! Luckily I had decided to pre-bake the pizza bases with the tomato sauce and the milk tarts were done. I left Jessica to make the syrup and Kirstin to clean up behind me, and a fine job they both did. I got home again about 10 minutes ahead of the Rowes (luckily I had taken the casual evening approach) to a clean kitchen, boiled cooling syrup and lots more to be done. By now the koeksister dough had more than doubled so I knocked it down again and concentrated on grating cheese and slicing vegetable toppings for the pizzas. By now the dough was rising again, not sure that this is a good thing...so start plaiting for a while. Realise that this will have to wait so cover plaits and get back to pizza...
Well pizzas were fine, koeksisters were now plaited loaves...knock back down, plait again and quickly fry a few for Derrick and Rose. I decided that the rest could be done in the morning, I think yeast dough can go in the fridge overnight???? Bagged the dough made space in my tiny fridge and sat down to relax and watch the rugby. Of course as the dough was still warm it rose in my fridge again, bad bad bad for 2 reasons....do not think it is good for the dough to rise so many times and my fridge is too small. The syrup which I had placed in the fridge in an OPEN container had been knocked over by the rising dough, luckily it was still there, it had just been tipped to an angle, phew! Or so I thought....when I took the spring onions out of the vegetable crisper they were decidedly sticky OOPS! Now I have to clean the bloody fridge and fry 40 koeksisters...not to mention find the uniform shop to buy Kirstin some more shirts (that is for another post) and be at a braai at 14h30, okay so the cleaning of the fridge can wait!
After all that, the koeksisters were a bit tough, I guess the manhandling of the dough and all that rising contributed to this, I had omitted the cream of tartar when making the syrup as I did not have any, and what difference would that make right? But they were not awful and I guess if you have not had koeksisters in a long time they were bloody marvelous! Mmmmm Rose later googled the cream of tartar and it stops the sugar from crystallising, and I thought I had not boiled the syrup enough! I guess I will have to try again when I have a cold rainy afternoon stretched before me with nothing else to do! So Irene I still owe you some decent koeksisters....someday soon I promise.

The Good...the BAD and the Ugly

Okay people.....here goes I had a bad day! Now of course the desire to fill my blog with all things good and cheerful is very strong, but nothing is perfect and a move like this has to come with some bumps in the road right? Of course i do feel like a toddler having a tantrum over something trivial, so at least I know that I am not being totally rational here, that is good isn't it? The point of all this is that I wish we had 2 cars! I hate feeling stuck at home and not being able to hop in a car and go off wherever I fancy whenever I want to. No checking bus timetables, walking 15 + minutes to the Luas, just climbing in, turning the key and hey ho away I go! I actually miss collecting the girls from school, waiting for them in the hot car (am I mad???) chatting about the day on the way home....or moaning at them because I had to wait in the car park so long, ah it is all coming back to me now....and as silly and embarrassing as this is to admit I feel a bit plebby walking all over the place. Now I have done some serious thinking about all this and I know that it is 15 years of mind set in South Africa that has to be broken down. Generally we all have our own cars (well in my circle of friends) do not use public transport EVER...YUK, and do not walk where we need to go very often. Of course the difference here is that the public transport here is fantastic, you can walk and although mugging does happen, I definitely feel no fear when walking around. So I have to get over this little hiccough up in my life and get on with it! We do not NEED 2 cars as a matter of urgency, it would be nice but it is in no way necessary....so there! And one more itsy bitsy embarrassing admission...I am scared of getting on the wrong bus, I am never sure which side of the road I need to be and generally have to check with a fellow passenger or Mr/Ms bus driver! I did hop on a bus last week and went into town so the 16A is sorted but what about all the OTHER routes...
I will learn to use the bus, I will learn to use the bus, I will learn to use the bus....

A weekend with The Don & Tina

I collected Don and his colleague, Tina, at Dublin airport on Friday night, scheduled to arrive around 10pm and you guessed it, they were late! Even when Don uses public transport he manages to be fashionably late!
I took my guests on the “scenic” route through the centre of Dublin. Scenic is the way I travel most of the time as I usually miss the turns I am supposed to take, despite several attempts I have never actually found the direct route to the airport through Dublin. Anyhow, we eventually arrived home and had a few drinks to relax and catch up. The girls headed for bed around 1am but I was showing Don our new telly and the 24 hour fishing channel. We finally succumbed around 3am.
Nats suggested we all try the Viking Tour, this is a WWII amphibious vehicle that takes you through the streets of Dublin and then around the dock in the water. The driver had a few humorous chirps en route and the highlight for Don was that we had to growl (as in RRRRRRRRRRR!) at the Celts since they no longer allowed us Vikings to kill them. For those of you who know Don Roderick’s affinity for the letter R you will understand how Don delighted many of the children on board with particularly loud and feisty growling at any Celt’s who had the misfortune to wander by.

Once the tour was finished we wandered around Dublin gravitating towards Temple Bar (sorry Mom, no Book of Kells this time!). We enjoyed lunch at Fitzsimmons pub and then made our way North of the Liffey to Henry Street and into Arnott’s department store where Nats and Kirstin acquired Croc’s with “jibbitz” (croc jewels). After shopping Nats and the girls headed home and Tina, Don and I decided to try out a few of the Temple Bar pubs for a taste of Irish life. Needless to say, Temple Bar is tourist capital and you have more chance of meeting Poms on Hen or Stag nights than any self-respecting Irishman. The first place lacked character; besides a rather inebriated Swedish Don Juan who was scaring Hen parties out of the place faster than a thirsty sailor can finish a pint.


We went to the pub that every tourist has a photo of, yip the bright red Temple Bar.

Like many Dublin pubs, it is far more extensive then might first appear and we managed to find a nice nook with chairs where we could observe the crowd and hear ourselves think. There was live music in the room next door and although we could not see the band we could hear them. Don had a few bewildered looks as he asked random people to pose for him so he could take their photo, surprisingly not a single person declined. Don and I kept the Rule tradition of changing drinks frequently so as to guarantee an almighty hangover the following day!! To make matters worse the sneaky Irish have ATM’s in the pubs, no charges and away ye go. Although we planned to sample some of the other pubs on offer the ‘craic’ was far too good and we only managed to drag ourselves out of there to get the last Luas around 12:30.

Don took it upon himself to entertain the weary travellers on the homeward journey while I thanked my stars for not looking too much like family
Sunday was slooooowwwww, the girls, Tina included, were decidedly fresher than the menfolk. We all caught the Luas back into Dublin and after failing to find the café we were looking for, found another pleasant place to enjoy the traditional Irish breakfast séance Black & White pudding. Coffee and juice all round please!
Nats and Jess opted out of the Guinness Brewhouse tour and the rest of us made our way West. We decided to bus it which was perhaps not the best decision as we must have waited about 30 minutes for a bus, felt like an hour. At least Don & Tina got to try out all the different methods of transport besides a taxi. Eventually we arrived and enjoyed a self-guided tour. The building is 8 floors and after the third floor we decided to go straight to the Gravity Bar, a large glass pub on top of the brewery with almost 360 degree views of Dublin city. I braved one of Dublin’s finest while Don, Tina & Kirstin enjoyed a Coke with their token. Kirstin amused herself taking pictures of the tv running Guinness ads while Don spotted Jock’s Dad and took a few pictures…..
Somehow another day had slipped by and we headed home, Nats came looking for us and was a welcome site to the weary walkers making their way back from the Luas stop.
Don & Tina were heading home on Monday afternoon so the school goers and workers bade them farewell in the morning as they prepared for a final shop and visit to Dublin city.
Later Don’s love affair with public transport continued when the bus to the airport sailed past them as they stood at the bus stop. The Irish bus only stops if you hail it like a taxi, live and learn! Fortunately they made the airport in good time in spite of this hiccup and last I heard were preparing for their next adventure.

Part 3 - Cork

Now this is getting boring, Sunday was sunny too! We were planning to go and have brunch in Ballinspittle, the closest town with shops but we all got up rather late and by the time we had coffee etc we decided to just have breakfast at home. Of course with the sun shining and a whole day ahead of us we decided another trip to the beach was a good call. The girls wanted to go and swim in the gully that they had discovered on our first day so Malcolm took the newspaper, I took my latest book and off we went. The kids had a ball and so did we, it was warm in the sun and the beach was not that busy when we first got there. We sat on the rocks while the kids explored the rock pools and walked up and down the gully/stream. The tide was too low for the same fun as they had on day 1. Malcolm and I had 'spotted' a pub with great views on our first day out called the Speckled Door (ha ha) so we decidedto head their for lunch.As you can see it really was a spectacular day and the venue was not half bad either! We loved the view but sadly the food let us down a bit, the portions were big but the food had that rushed mass produced canteen style twist to it! We did discover a great cool drink for the kids though! We saw all these people drinking pint glasses of dark red juice and asked the waitress about it. She told us it was Finch's cordial and we ordered a taster and it was great! The girls each got a pint and it only cost 1 Euro each, so double bonus. After lunch we headed to Ballinspittle to get some drinks for the evening and their was a GAA all Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Kerry so Malcolm popped into the local pub and I took the girls for an ice cream. While we were sitting their Pat and Isabella arrived, small town....they needed some things from the shop for dinner and they told us to come home and watch the rest of the game. So after our ice cream we went to the pub to collect Malcolm but he had a full beer so we sat and kept him company until the sad conclusion of the game....Dublin lost! Then we set off home and the kids went back into the marsh for some more exploring and Isabella made the most divine pizzas for supper.

Monday, Pat and Isabella had to go to work and we woke to a cloudy day! We were actually not too worried about the weather because we were going into Cork to buy a belated wedding present and a thank you present for Pat and Isabella. After spending a few days with them we had a better idea of what they would use and the unanimous decision after all the great food were things for the kitchen! We wondered around the shops and found what we wanted and as we were done by 14h00 decided to go to Blarney Castle. I was really pleased about that as it was one of the things I had planned for the weekend and I thought that we would not get to do it when we had not done it by Monday! Also it is in my book "1000 places to visit before you die"so I can tick it off the list! And boy were we glad that we went! It really was a fantastic setting and our only regret was that we did not have more time as the little town of Blarney is so charming and we would have loved to have spent some time there too. To get to the top you go up a really windy stair case which gets narrower the higher you go. It was very busy and along the way there are rooms to stop in and have a look with plaques explaining what the rooms were used for as the castle is really a crumbling ruin! We all kissed the stone at the top, thought I would share Malcolm's gift of the gab with you all! Here is a selection of pictures, I think you can click on them to make them bigger. There are so many more pictures, but I think that this page is going to be a bit of a mess if i add anymore! But to summarise......if you come to Ireland, I think that Blarney should be onyour list of things to do! After a fabulous afternoon we head off to Ballinspittle for dinner at a pub called Hurleys. Isabella had a dinner at work so Pat joined us and we had a fantastic meal together, the food really was very good. After dinner Pat went to fetch Isabella and we went home to pack and get ready for an early morning departure. The kids did not enjoy our relaxed attitude on the way to Cork and asked that we drive straight home because they could not stomach the thought of a whole day in the car! We had a drink with our wonderful hosts when they got home and went to bed at a reasonable hour for an early start. When we woke up on Tuesday morning it was another great day AND the tide was in because of the full moon and we were treated to a great view ....

And that was our trip to Cork in a few nutshells! Thank you to Pat and Isabella who were great company and helped ensure that we had a relaxing break. We look forward to reciprocating in the near future!

Cork....Part 2

Saturday dawned bright and sunny again, we really did have a lot of luck with the weather! Isabella wanted to go into Cork to do some shopping and we decided to tag along because the visit to the Italian grocery shop was too much for me to resist.
We went to Brown Thomas and browsed around for a little while and then walked the streets and stopped in at a home made soap shop called Lush. They have some very interesting scents for their soaps and bath goodies. Chocolate was probably my favourite and then they had these jelly cups which had pina colada smelling shower soap (jelly) in them, pretty funky stuff! After that we took the long windy route out of the car park and set off towards home and the Italian shop. I bought lots of pasta, biscuits, risotto and some roasted tomatoes and spicy sausage which I thought would make a great pasta salad for our braai which we were going to have that evening. Oh and Italian hot chocolate, now apparently the Italians call our hot chocolate "muddy water"and after Isabella made the girls a hot chocolate we all understood, it really is....muddy water! Their version is a thick pudding style hot chocolate and the girls went mad for it and begged me to buy it. Then it was back to Kinsale for a few purchases and home for lunch. Isabella prepared us a simple but DIVINE lunch of bruschetta, rubbed with garlic and then topped with tomato and basil.......and some with mozzarella. After lunch we went for a walk along the narrow country roads, not that much room for walking...and cars! Then the kids could not resist playing in the mud when they saw that the tide was out and we sat and had a drink and I made salads and Pat got the braai ready.


We had rashers in honour of all our African mates, here they are called pork ribs...but we all know that they really are rashers! Of course we did the typical African braai, about 3 types of meat and plenty left over at the end! After dinner we all sat around the dining room table chatting until we could not keep our eyes open anymore and then crawled off to bed.

Part One - County Cork!

Pat and Isabella stay in a little piece of heaven, the house is like a

dollhouse and the setting is farms with a view of a tidal pool from

the house. On Thursday evening we feasted on the bestestest

lasagne I have ever eaten with a yummy salad and I knew that the diet would not begin until we left Cork! Friday morning Pat and Isabella had to go to work so we were left to our own devices. We decided to go into Killbritain to get a few groceries as we did not want to eat our hosts out of house and home. Killbritain was not a good choice, I have never seen such a little village in all my life, there was a shop, but there was no way we were going to fill a basket there so we drove to the end of the village (about 100 m) and turned around and set off for Kinsale. Driving around that part of the world is horribly pleasant, the roads are windy and tiny but the views are magnificent and there is a sense of calm and peace until some maniac in his BMW comes whizzing by, why are they the same the world over? (Bar a few of my friends that is!) Anyway we knew we had to get into Kinsale early as it is exploding with tourists during the summer, very much like Knysna. In fact Kinsale and its setting reminded us very much of my home town. Finding parking was a breeze because we got into town early, 9:30 so early by Irish standards!!! I had seen a breakfast place called Mother Hubbards which looked really quaint so we set off to find it for breakfast. The kids were very pleased to see that pancakes were on the menu and Malcolm and I had an Irish breakfast sans black pudding thank you very much. With breakfast in the expanding waistline we strolled around town and called gus for his birthday while window shopping. Then off to SuperValu where we stocked up on staples and bought some hot fresh bread for lunch and headed back to HQ. By the time we got home from town it was time to make lunch and pack some things to go to the beach. The kids were very excited at the prospect of swimming in the sea and the weather was obliging so another scenic drive ensued to the beach.

Swimming did not last very long for Jess as the water was icy cold, but Kirstin stubbornly remained in the sea for about 20 minutes and then could not take it any longer! But the sun was shining and we had to make the best of this situation so we went for a nice long walk and found a gully amongst the rocks where a river flowed into the sea and there were lots of kids playing there on boats and with fins. As the waves came in the kids got washed upstream and then as the waves receded they got "dragged" back down. Kirstin joined in the fun but even though Jess desperately wanted to join in she could not stomach the cold water again! We decided to continue exploring along the coast as Malcolm wanted to find the Old Head of Kinsale which he knew was in the same vicinity as the beach. We found it really easily with a lot of oohing aahing as we drove because it really was such a scenic drive, the sky was so blue with little white puffy clouds painted against the blue. Malcolm said that the sky looked like it does in the show The Simpsons. (Isabella said the same thing to me about the clouds later, so no Malcolm is not imagining it) Unfortunately we could not go all the way to the Head as it is a links golf course but we parked the car and walked along the top of the cliffs, a bit like Morgan's Bay actually...
took loads of pictures and just stood there in awe of such beauty. The contrast of colour is awesome.

This picture does not really capture its true beauty, but it is the best I can do! After being growled at by a stupid dog, (ow embarrassing because according to the owner "he has never done that before" until Kirstin walked past and the mutt did it again, never done it before my foot!) it was time to head home. We had told Isabella that she must book at a nice restaurant for Friday evening so that we could take them out for dinner to say thank you for having us and she made an excellent choice by reserving a table for 20h00 at the Pink Elephant. Again we had outstanding views, this was all getting a bit much, system overload!!!!

The setting of the restaurant was outstanding, rolling green lawns going down to the sea with green hills along one side and open sea on the other side. Children were playing on the grass while their parents sat at tables outside enjoying drinks or dinner. The food was fabulous and nobody regretted the choice that was made, Malcolm and Jessica had steak with pepper sauce, Kirstin had pork wrapped in bacon, Isabella had a smoked salmon salad, Pat had black sole and I chose monk fish and salmon gratin. All the food came with chips, mashed potato and veggies in separate dishes so our table was overloaded. I definitely should not have chosen a dessert but the rhubarb and strawberry crumble was squealing "pick me, pick me" so I obliged....Jess had sticky toffee pudding and Kirstin had Eton mess, pavlova gone wrong! Isabella had a cheese board which she shared with Pat,and Malcolm set a good example by having no pud....he had filled up on too much beer!!! During our feasting we were also treated to a spectacular sunset which we tried to capture on film, again it did not do much justice, but does give some idea. The moon shone on the water and the water was this long bright white light while the surrounding water was navy blue with a hint of a sparkle to it, lucky lucky us. So, day one was full of sunshine, spectacular scenery, great company, scrumptious food and lots of fun. The weather prediction for Saturday was good, but at least we knew we had done a lot on day 1...just in case!