Old Friends and New Friends

Apologies for my lack of Easter and visitors have kept me busy in the last while.

My apartment looks a lot better after a visit from the mother who has a good angle on the internal decoration and one is still finding things in different places but in general for the better.

Headed to London for Easter week to catch up with old friends from my stint in London, late eighties till mid-nineties.

We have all greyed and many have settled down with their life partners with many kids added to their numbers. Having worked in Lloyd´s of London from early till mid-nineties, I met with some of more former colleagues who are still in insurance with titles and high salaries but far more sober and worried about that their futures than this teacher of English as a foreign language.

The second part of the week involved rugby matches in Cardiff and London with the Super Blues winning out on both days and heading for the semis, Leinster have a date with their old enemies from the south of the island.

Staying in The Crown Hotel in Cricklewood was like going to Ireland without ever going there. The local pubs had rebel songs, Irish decor and RTE on the tv. We ended at three in the morning singing songs with a mixture of Clare people and the mananagement of the Kilkenny Gaelic football team, not as good as their hurlers with seven defeats from seven and bottom of the fourth division.

We have major theatre group in Madrid , The Bridge Project, with many famous film and theatre actors and actresses and Sam Mendes as director.
We went to see The Cherry Orchard on Sunday and after a questions and answers session with the actors in which yours truly made a valued contribution, we managed to catch the attention of the main actress due to our shared nationality.
We ended up having a drink with Sinead Cusack and her son Richard Boyd-Barrett who are very special people.