Fiacre Banks

@xFiacre (15274)

Ireland

Joined myLot 11 years ago

An Irishman who has called many places home, enjoys whiskey in moderation and reads Dostoyevsky frequently.

Discussions (159)

Fiacre Banks's Discussions

The last day.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 9h

We took the train to Florence itself, it was a time I remember oh so well. There was even a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Joan Baez but I didn’t comment because she looked, according to her age, as if she would just ask...

7 responses •

6 people

More gardens.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 2 Sep

Another day and another botanical garden, this time in Lucca. Superb trees that gave very welcome shade and a very welcome piece of advice, warning garden-goers to keep to the paths and talk softly - in Italy!!! Neither pieces of...

4 responses •

6 people

Sometimes I think.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 2 Sep

I’ve had a thought today and disturbed myself somewhat. Did you ever realise that you have always been in your own company? Others come and go but there’s no getting away from yourself. Now that’s something and a half. And we are...

8 responses •

8 people

Quarantaduesimo anniversario di matrimonio

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 1 Sep

The reason for our little trip to Pisa is two fold. Firstly today is our 42nd wedding anniversary, secondly Thursday is my wife’s birthday. So today we celebrated the anniversary, drinking negronis in most of the cafes along the...

6 responses •

6 people

Disappointing pesto.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 31 Aug

It was such a disappointment today to be served a meal that was not freshly cooked. The gnocchi were obviously bought frozen and the pesto was out of a jar - how hard could it be for a restaurant to serve freshly made pesto? It’s...

8 responses •

8 people

On the menu tonight.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 30 Aug

Tordelli alla lucchese is what I ate this evening in a trattoria on the Borgo Stretto in Pisa. Similar to ravioli, tordelli is stuffed with beef or pork, Swiss chard, pine nuts, raisins, bread, spices, and grated cheese. In...

7 responses •

8 people

Forget the tower, just taste the gnocchi!

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 29 Aug

So, Pisa. It’s a wonderful place, but I’m not here to observe the dodgy architecture of the torre pendente, I’m here for food and atmosphere and I’m very satisfied so far. At lunch I had the best gnocchi that I’ve ever tasted,...

8 responses •

10 people

I’m in Pisa.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 28 Aug

Oh yes, and I’m enjoying every minute of it, although the journey to get here provided me with many good reason to complain. The first offence of the day was the breakfast I suffered in Dublin airport at 4 am while others were...

7 responses •

7 people

Enough said.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 20 Aug

My wife told me today about meeting the sister of a woman who died a month ago. They chatted, and my wife asked how the lady was coping. She told my wife that having her sister’s dog was a great help, and the small, yappy dog was...

7 responses •

7 people

Private chef.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 19 Aug

As some of you know I'm for Italy next week (8 more sleeps I think). I just got billed for the apartment which hurt but Italy is an expensive place and I like my comforts. I also got a list of private chefs whose of whose services...

3 responses •

4 people

Too much information.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 19 Aug

There's a lady in this library where I'm sitting who left a urine sample into the doctor's this morning, or so she has just bellowed to her friend. They're both sitting about 20 metres from me, but they obviously didn't want to...

5 responses •

6 people

News from a small country.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 19 Aug

In my corner of this little kingdom I've called into the local library to get out of the rain. I've bagged myself a computer in the computer suite, sanitised my hands, the keyboard and the surrounding area and here I am ready to...

4 responses •

4 people

Win some, lose some.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 18 Aug

After my euphoria regarding the outlawing of conversations on speaker phones in pubs, my bubble was burst quite unceremoniously this afternoon as I waited for my wife in the car park in the train station: she’d been performing...

4 responses •

6 people

I’m so happy about this.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 18 Aug

This from a BBC report referencing an English chain of pubs, and they aren’t even posh pubs. “Wetherspoons has banned its customers from playing music out loud or taking calls on speaker, saying the noise from phones and tablets...

5 responses •

7 people

The latest from my judgement seat.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 16 Aug

He was doing nothing that could in any way be construed as illegal, immoral or sinful (although if it were either of the first two it would automatically be classified as sinful) but what he was doing was offending me and being...

5 responses •

5 people

Treats for all the senses.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 15 Aug

It’s 4 am and I’ve woken to the welcome music of sweet, refreshing rain falling on the garden. It carries through the open window on a current of cool air bringing with it the earthy scents it has awakened as it sinks into the...

5 responses •

5 people

The summer heat abates

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 15 Aug

The world has fallen so quiet tonight. Even my neighbour is not filling the air with silly blethers and shriekish laughter, and her dog is either dead or has barked itself hoarse. Silence is just so charming a state to happen...

4 responses •

5 people

Verbal diarrhoea.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 13 Aug

I have a most logorrheic neighbour. Oh yes. She never seems to stop to draw breath from early morning till late at night, just jabbers on and on all day without actually saying anything. I’ve never seen her because she lives in...

8 responses •

8 people

Evening draws in.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 13 Aug

Dusk is gathering in my garden behind the house. The afternoon clouds have moved away and the heat that built up over the day is escaping, allowing a new freshness to take over and I’m happy. Not happy in a bouncy way of course,...

4 responses •

3 people

We’ve been eclipsed.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15274) • Ireland 13 Aug

In the midst of all the understandable hullabaloo related to last night’s eclipse, I heard one comment that sat head and shoulders above the rest of the babble that commentators generate to justify their existence. An astronomer...

5 responses •

7 people