Encarna in Ireland 6th Jan

It's Reyes in Spain when the spoilt little Spanish brats have their second Christmas when they should be having a clip around the ear and extra coal shoveling duties. A very respectable breakfast in the Jurys Inn. There's nothing better than a morning after the night before and their scrambled egg and bacon set me up nicely. Encarna is in love so she would knaw on a rotten seagull should you throw her one. We headed off for Athlone and stopped in 'Sean's Bar' reputably the oldest bar in Ireland. It's where I have spent many a happy hour with the venerable Admiral Fleetwood awaiting the arrival of the lock-keeper to allow us passage up, or down the Shannon, the river which bisects Ireland from East and West as opposed to the Irish who bisect Ireland from North to South - and I'm only talking about Dublin folks. Back into Dublin for a wondeful dinner with Mama T, drop off the car keys and go for a quiet pint up the road in 'Kielys - the Mount Merrion House' a refuge from the hustle and da bustle that is Eddie Rocketts in Stillorgan.