The Ha'penny Bridge

What with one thing and another, it's been a while since I've met up with my friend Alan. We've been missing one another's calls recently, so when he phoned on Sunday and I was actually there to speak to him, I suggested that we meet this week, even if only for an hour or so. This evening was the evening. I wasn't far from home when the rain came, and I was on the point of phoning him to cancel and just head back to my cosy homeliness. But the raindrops grew gradually smaller and less and less frequent and I decided to brave the elements after all.

I'm glad I did. The bus driver seemed to be thinking of taking up Formula 1, judging from the speed he whisked us in to town, so I was running early for our agreed meeting time and had a good half an hour to stroll along beside the Liffey towards the pub we'd arranged to meet in. Yesterday's blustery conditions were very much a thing of the past, and the river was remarkably calm. All quite pleasant, really.

We only spent about and hour and half together, but it was all very enjoyable and I was really glad I hadn't let the few drops of earlier rain deflect me from our arrangement. Alan got back from holiday in Brazil about a month ago, so we had that to talk about among other things. I told him that Carl and I had finally agreed where we're going next month -- not as glamorous as Brazil, perhaps, but hopefully nice enough. Nerja, which looked a likely option for a while, got shot down quite quickly, as did Lyon and Rome and Carcassonne and Faro and Frankfurt. Not long before I left home to meet Alan, Carl suggested Antibes, and I instantly agreed. By the time I opened the front door our flights had been booked. We'll fly to Nice on 9th November, make our way to Antibes and spend a week there.

Hallelujah!

Yesterday was so full of laziness that I've only now back-blipped it.