Quick trip to Aus

Okay so this is few weeks late, but better late than never! On Tuesday April 24 I (Kev) jumped on a late night Emirates flight from Roma to Sydney so that I could go to the wedding of my bro Danny and el amor de su vida Laura. Things are always busy at the ESM, so I could only take a few days off, meaning that the whole trip would take  five days. I landed in Sydney sometime on Thursday morning and took the ridiculously expensive Airport train to Leumeah where I was met by dad. Within two hours I was on Campbelltown Golf Course playing with two of my brother in laws, Pete and Kev. While it wasn't the most impressive of rounds of golf, it was certainly a great way to spend the day and a good way to try and trick my body into staying awake till night time. I made it to dinner okay, but flaked out even before dessert was served. Overall not a bad effort as I had had maybe four hours of broken sleep over perhaps forty five hours!

Friday 26th was the big day and all went great. It was good to meet Laura for only the second time and to meet some of her Columbian family. I was able to catch up with a whole bunch of family and friends all in one day, which is pretty good. The wedding went off without a hitch, with only little Harry, aka Frodo, the ring-bearer having a whinge. It was an early reception at the Catholic Club and the effects of sleep deprivation and jetlag meant I was unable to take full advantage of the free booze that was on offer...quite a disappointment.

Danny and Laura

Saturday was a lazy day, with a trip into Campbelltown being the feature ... while it isn't Rome, it does have the benefit of some wonderful things like, footpaths, grass, trees, traffic lights, clean air, shops that sell things you actually need, manners (did I say that?), and most importantly the Harlequins Rugby Club! I stopped off and watched some rugby there for an hour or two and I must say I was tempted to start playing again. Some of the boys running around had far more gray hair than me, and most of them looked like they had be grazing in some pretty good paddocks... After the footy, I caught up with a mate Tim and then headed home.

That night I caught up with a number of my brothers and sisters, and met my new niece Scarlett for the first time. I then packed bags, said good bye to mum and dad, and some relatives who were at mum and dad's place, and then headed to my sister Annette's place. I stayed there from around midnight till 2am watching rugby on tv and then Pete, her tubby hubby, drove me to the airport. I arrived just before 3am and had to wait 10 minutes for the airport to open. I checked in and waited another hour before security opened, and then jumped on a plane at 6am. I got back to Rome on Sunday night, just in time to see the last part of the Kazakhstan / Latvia cultural evening at the ESM. Needless to say, I was keen to get to bed after travelling 33,000km in five days!

Visitors

Last week we were blessed with the visit of our friends Mary and Keiron. They were popping into Rome for a few days before gallavanting around Ireland. On Monday night we went out for dinner at our favourite local restuarant that guarantees good food, bad wine and bad service at a very reasonable price - it's quite charming.

Then I caught up with them again on Wednesday after attending the audience with the Pope. I hadn't been to one of these audiences in about ten years, so it was a lovely way to spend my morning. I met Mary and Keiron afterwards, and we wandered off in search of a restuarant for lunch. Luckily you never have to go far to find food in Italy. We had some yummy pizzas and (good)wine. It was so good to see them again and to get all the news about Melbourne and the Bookshop.

Keiron, Mary and Hele

I am so grateful to them for their visit. Perhaps one day some other 'friends' from the CCB will come and see us!