Visitors, part three

I was in London July 15-17, then a few days off, then my third visitor arrived, Kylelane Purcell. I took no photos, she took lots. She's making them into a photo album, but that doesn't work for blog purposes.

She came to me from Germany, where she had organised a trip for her divorced elderly parents and her 18-year-old son to her brother, his German wife, their daughter, and his mother-in-law. By the time she got to me, she was ready for a drink so we went right from the airport to the Cathedral Quarter, where we visited The Spaniard and Bittles Bar, a writer's bar--we're both writers. Sunday morning was a romp with Paddy at Belvoir Forest, followed by a rainy afternoon when we sat in a pub and watched The Open--go Shane Lowry! Monday was Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery, then fish and chips in Ballycastle before hiking around Fairhead. We spent the night at Marian's apartment in Ballycastle, allowing us to play 18 holes of golf with Marian on Tuesday. I don't remember much about Wednesday other than taking a break from work to take her to the airport.

We had a lovely time together. We are on the same wavelength on a lot of things and have a similar sense of humour. Spending the night in Ballycastle was total luxury--trying to fit the Antrim Coast into a day is always exhausting. Kyle was beside herself with joy on the the beautiful links course at Ballycastle, not many miles from The Open course. She played beautifully and the three of us – Marian as host – were well matched in personality if not level of play.

July