Last September we headed over to Lisbon for a week and spent most of the week out in Estoril but had 2 nights in Lisbon itself first.  We managed to track down some live music at OndaJazz one of those nights.  Junior Meirelles played a chilled out solo set which made for a very enjoyable evening. Most of the rest of week was spent surfing so this was a great start to the holiday.  Lisbon and the coast is one place we’re definitely going to head back to.

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• October 26, 2008 -- Mick Flannery at the Lodge in Mallow (0)
• October 23, 2008 -- Clare O’Mahony at The Lodge in Mallow (0)
• October 21, 2008 -- Ian Whitty and the Exchange Album Launch in the Pavilion (1)

A few weeks ago I headed over to Manchester for a spot of footie and looked up gig listings for the weekend.  I spotted that The Magic Numbers were playing on the Sunday night so I thought why not?  I didn’t really know much of their stuff but I had heard some songs.  It’s always great to go to a gig with little expectation and be subsequently blown away by the buzz and atmosphere that they generate.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable gig and for those of you luck enough to get a ticket to see them tonight in The Opera House here in Cork as part of the Murphy’s Little Big Nights Out campaign, enjoy!  I, along with 7000 others apparently, unfortunately got a lovely rejection email from Murphy’s.  It felt like a PFO for a job application!

Just a short note on the venue, Band on the Wall, it looks like it has a great line-up with different types of music going on there all the time.  Well worth checking out if you’re in Manchester.

Lots more photos in the full set on Flickr.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• December 28, 2009 -- Fred at Cork Opera House (2)
• November 11, 2009 -- Julie Feeney at The Pavilion (0)
• September 3, 2009 -- Frank and Walters at Indiependence (0)

I have been watching the evolution of the MAXroam product from Roam4Free to the current offering from Maxroam which recently announced a joint venture with Qik to stream videos online while roaming.  I was only interested in the bog standard talk and text version so I went for the entry level SIM card with a bit of credit for €25.

After getting the SIM card, I tried to activate it online but it didn’t work straight away.   To cut a slightly long story short, there was a bad batch of SIM cards but I was promised another SIM which duly arrived just in time before my honeymoon.  However, I didn’t read the new instructions correctly as I was a little bit busy before my wedding so I didn’t re-activate the SIM properly.  Never fear, a quick correspondence with Pat on Twitter and an entry onto their online support site sorted things out pretty sharpish.

Just as well that I got the MAXroam SIM because I had assumed that my Meteor SIM would work over in Thailand and New Zealand but unfortunately you have to ring Meteor and give credit card details before they’ll let you roam on their uber-expensive roaming partners’ networks.  A quick check of the rates on the MAXroam site will show you how much you can save.  If you do any bit of travelling, it’s certainly worth your while.

When you make a call there is a slight delay of a few seconds before your own phone rings and when you answer your own phone you can hear the destination phone ringing.  The first time you do this is slightly disconcerting as it flies in the face of normal telephone operation but you soon get used to it.  The sound quality was perfect at all times.

Another feature to mention, which I didn’t bother with as I didn’t want to be too contactable on honeymoon, is that you can set up a local number for people to ring which will be transferred directly to your MAXroam number.  You can put up to 50 numbers on your SIM in different countries which makes it easier, and cheaper, for people in those countries to contact you.

It’s great to see the rip-off roaming charges being challenged by companies such as MAXroam, and it’s even better to see that such a company originated in little old Cork!

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• May 16, 2010 -- Junior Meirelles in Lisbon (0)

Cork City Council are looking for feedback from the public on how transport can be improved in the city. I’m sure we all have our own gripes and opinions so it’s a great idea to get the views of the public. However, I hope these are acted upon and not just end up as part of a report and another to-do bullet point somewhere.

My main bug bear is the lack of cycle lanes especially coming in from Glanmire where the traffic is very heavy. I would also like to see more frequent buses and some method to be told how close the bus is to you so that you don’t have to go and queue for 45 minutes and wonder if the bus driver has run off with the milkman’s wife. There has to be an alternative to everybody sitting in single occupancy cars sitting in never-ending traffic going to and from work.

Go and have your say.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• June 2, 2008 -- Cork City Marathon at Dunkettle Roundabout (0)
• July 13, 2011 -- Camera Found in Fota Gardens (1)
• December 28, 2009 -- Fred at Cork Opera House (2)

These birds were perched up high in El Jem Coliseum in Tunisia and were jostling each other around for space.   I took this shot after waiting for them to make another move.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 6, 2008 -- The Steps Oustide El Jem (1)
• March 2, 2008 -- Silhouetted at El Jem (0)
• February 27, 2008 -- The Road to Algeria (5)

On our mammoth two day trip around Tunisia we stopped off at the Hotel Matmata for some welcome food.  Unfortunately it was more couscous!  It was very quiet at the hotel, the pool was actually empty of water but there was somebody outside selling things even here!

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• March 2, 2008 -- Silhouetted at El Jem (0)
• February 29, 2008 -- Into the distance (0)
• March 15, 2008 -- Almost Silhouetted (3)

As we were rushing back to the mini-bus and before we started getting hassled to buy more stuff, I took a quick shot outside the coliseum itself.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 15, 2008 -- Almost Silhouetted (3)
• March 2, 2008 -- Silhouetted at El Jem (0)
• February 27, 2008 -- The Road to Algeria (5)

Whilst wandering around the coliseum at El Jem in Tunisia a couple of weeks back there were archways just crying out to be photographed.  I have a feeling that the two on the left are a pair from Ennis that were staying in the same hotel as us.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 15, 2008 -- Almost Silhouetted (3)
• March 12, 2008 -- Hotel Matmata (1)
• March 6, 2008 -- The Steps Oustide El Jem (1)

Whilst on holiday in Tunisia, we took a 2 day trip around the country because it was quite chilly and sitting by the pool wasn’t an option.  I’m glad we did because we got to see some amazing sights.  Here we visited the amphitheatre of El Jem.  Our guide was very informative and told us lots of interesting facts including the fact that they hold classical concerts in this amphitheatre each summer which must be a sight to behold.  A quick Google found more historical info about the area.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 15, 2008 -- Almost Silhouetted (3)
• March 12, 2008 -- Hotel Matmata (1)
• March 6, 2008 -- The Steps Oustide El Jem (1)

This blog hasn’t been updated in a while but sometimes it’s good to take a break.  Last week myself and C were in Tunisia and had a great time even if the weather wasn’t what we expected.  The coats we took because of the walk from the long-term car park in Dublin came in handy over there!  I’ll post photos from the trip over the next week or so; this one was taken on the second day of a 2 day tour on a little mini-bus in which we travelled almost 1000km.  It was a good bunch of people though so we had a bit of a laugh.  We were crossing Chott El Jerid which is a massive salt lake (apparently 250 km long and 20 km wide) after spending the night in a hotel near the Sahara.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 15, 2008 -- Almost Silhouetted (3)
• March 6, 2008 -- The Steps Oustide El Jem (1)
• March 2, 2008 -- Silhouetted at El Jem (0)