Greetings from the Emerald Isle!

Well we made it through passport control without any need for a passport for either girl, which was great! The flight from Leeds to Galway was smooth, and the building at Galway made Leeds look like Gatwick in comparison. They didn't even look at my passport as I came into Ireland.

It was very odd to be back at Leeds as the last time was when we were on our way to Portugal (in departures anyway). As usual we went straight up to the play area on the first floor, which choked me at first. I could almost picture how it was last time, when we had no idea of what lay ahead in a matter of days. It was a Sunday afternoon, and we had been to Burger King for lunch before being dropped at the airport by Mike and Mary. While the girls played, Nigel and I drank coffee and chatted about what we wanted to do once we were on holiday.

None of the plans came off, as we had planned to go to Slide and Splash on the Thursday once mum and dad had arrived and settled in. We were also going to go out, just the two of us, for a meal on the Saturday night, as we hadn't made it out on our wedding anniversary the previous week.

The one thing we did do was go to Casa da Rio, our favourite restaruant in Alvor, on the evening before Nigel died. There we shared a cataplana, a traditional algarvian dish of seafood, local sausages and tomatoes. At least Nigel's last meal was his favourite dish.

Anyway, not too many sad moments for now. We are having fun here at Cliona's, and the weather is superb. Will try and check in again soon. Sign in and say hello if you are reading...