The big 30

There always seems to be crazy pictures of Ilse and I....


Ireland gets some Sunday morning snow - this is my home street.


Molly has more than she can carry in her cart!


I hit 30 and decide that posing is a good thing!!!


And there is of course always one of Cait and I


Ahh aren't we sweet....


The cozs, Paddy, Shadia and Alison


Friends old and new Valentines day


My Dhaka chicas


Wine tasting


The castle by night


And the posing continues...


Anna and I


Sitting on the old bridge with the castle in the background.

Yes I know that it is now March, and that my birthday was two weeks ago but life always seems to take over blog writing time. I am off to Slovenia tomorrow on a third year geography trip and decided that it was a priority to update my blog before embarking on a new adventure. Well I can safely say that I had the most fantastic 30th birthday a girl could ask for, and the celebrations were spread out over the course of three week.
The first weekend, the 7th of February, involved some of my peeps jetting over from the UK for a bit of fun and catching up in Dublin. We had a fantastic weekend of eating, the theatre and of course shopping! Even the snow on Sunday which chilled the air, could not dampen the wonderful catching up. The record achieved at the weekend should be carefully noted - how many pairs of shoes can a group of 5 ladies buy??????
Weekend number two, and it was Valentines day. I had about 14 dates and the location was The Long Stone pub. It was so lovely to catch up with old friends, and have them meet new friends. I did not even show my age as we danced in 4 Dame Lane until 3 and then went for the best pizza in town (although they refused us wine!). This was night I also decided that my 30s would be the decade when I would no longer be camera shy, and began an evening of posing! I'm not sure how long this endeavor will last, but it was fun at the time.
The third lot of celebrations, including the big day itself, took place in Carcassonne in the South of France. I know I am spoilt, to have the wonderful option of saying I woke up in the shadow of a medieval city on the morn of my 30th birthday! Carcassonne was an international contingent, with Sarah the first to arrive all the way from Honduras. Given I had not seen her in two and a half years, this was an amazing fact. Anna arrived next, avoiding Ryanair by flying via Munich. Anna and I left Bangladesh on the same flight back in June 2007, and we cannot seem to stop seeing each other since (I would not have it any other way). Alicia arrived from Dublin the following morning, after which we gorged ourselves on cheese and wine while we awaited Hanne Cecilie's arrival. HC abandoned me in Dhaka in August 2006, but seems to constantly be in my life - I love it.
With the first group safely within the walls of my mother's amazing house on Rue Trivalle we set out on our first wine tasting adventure. Along the road to Narbonne we not only supped on fabulous local red wine, but also managed to rate the wine makers - I got first choice being the birthday girl :-) Wednesday night lead us to the Le Stade - a wonderful restaurant up in medieval city where we enjoyed Spanish music and good food.
The big day arrived and began with ridiculous amounts of food - of course - before we set off first to Narbonne, and then on down the coast to Fitou. The sun was shinning, and the atmosphere was electric - apart from the occasional feelings of car sickness! The highlight of the day has to be the two ladies in the little town of Jean ?????, who asked what produce Tipperary made - what was it famous for? I told them it was cows and cheddar cheese - but shock horror they had never heard of cheddar cheese, and no French word seemed to cover it! We drove back from Fitou through the mountains as the sun dipped down over the horizon. The day ended with one of Anna's fantastic dinners - when I am famous I plan to hire her full time. I did stay up past 12, but the excitement of the day sent me to my bed earlier than the chicas would have liked.
Friday was the arrival of Caitriona and Jamie from Dublin to swell our group to a grand total of 7. We spent the day wandering within the walls of the medieval city, a great deal of which was spent in my favourite watch shop! The evening was Divine Comedy night, and the best pizza in town - best pizza in most towns I would say, but I am told I have never been to Italy.
Saturday and a course through the winding snow covered roads of the black mountains lead us to Albi. Home to the Catholics most pretentious symbol of their defeat of the Cathar heresy in the 13th century, the colossal building never fails to astound me. The trip home took an interesting turn, as my poor darling Anna feel ill and was unable to drive. We then discovered the need to always have a spare driver, and I wished for the ability to drive two cars at once! Sarah came to the rescue, driving a stick shift for only the second time in her life. But we made it home in one peace, and with a great story to tell.
Home was where the mushroom soup was! Anyone in Falun or Dhaka knows of the famous Gren mushroom soup, which featured on my blog in July 2007. We were treated to this delight with real Swedish mushrooms handpicked by Karin and Lars Gren - THANK YOU!
Sunday, and the sad farewell to two of our flock had to fly away and leave us. But no tears as it had been wonderful, and given that Anna and HC live in Europe there are too many catch ups to count. The weather had turned cold, and so we kept to the warmth of the middle floor of number 30; venturing out only for the most fantastic dinner imaginable. Just across the road and down the street about 200 metres is a small little restaurant run by two French ladies. The food was amazing, the music was wonderful and the deserts were incredible - need I say more!
Monday 6am, Sarah left - I questioned her as to why she always seems to leave me at ungodly early morning hours! The rest of the morning was the cleanup - much appreciation goes out to my irish crew for their hard work. And so ended a fabulous week in Carcassonne - a week of catching up, eating and generally just being too relaxed for words. Now if there is more of that after 30 I am set....