HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
Weekly Photo Challenge – Graceful
Posted on January 20, 2017
Top sports people always look graceful. They make their sport look easy.
MB gives you a shot of Novak Djokovic at the recent Qatar Tennis Open.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Ambience
Posted on January 13, 2017
Most of MB’s recent posts relate to his end December Lebanese wedding experience. And for this week’s photo theme of ‘ambience’, he, of course, needs look no further that the wedding party venue of said wedding. The venue was previously called Nahr El Kalb in Arabic (meaning ‘The Dog River’), but is now called the less mystical ‘The Legend Venue’. It sits in a spectacular small river valley setting, and has a very spectacular entrance lobby which leads visitors into the spectacular dining hall area when any Irish guy attending blurts out WOW! Ambience!!! Read More
Weekly Photo Challenge – Names
Posted on January 6, 2017
Alida Margaretha Bosshardt (8 June 1913 – 25 June 2007), better known as Major Bosshardt, was a well-known officer in The Salvation Army who was famous for her work with prostitutes in Amsterdam’s Red Light District over many years. One of the bridges over the canals in the district is dedicated to her memory to this day.
Recent early morning photo by MB, who was there for photo reasons, rather than any other!
Weekly Photo Challenge – Resilient
Posted on January 1, 2017
The Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand – If something is standing for almost 1,000 years then it’s pretty safe to describe it as resilient. See MB’s previous post of today for more on Balamand Monastery.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Anticipation
Posted on December 16, 2016
MB has mentioned his recent trip to Amsterdam with daughter MB2 in recent posts. And he now does so again.
On afternoon Nr 1 of the trip, MB & MB2 went on an organised food walking tour of the central canal district. One of the food venues visited was a shop called Van Stepele Koekmakerij – which makes and sells only a single type of (totally delicious) cookie. It is a dark chocolate biscuit cookie, served warm, with melted white chocolate on the inside. According to our lady food guide, the shop is owned by a Dutch lady who previously lived abroad. On her return to Holland/Amsterdam, she spent nine months perfecting the best cookie in the universe, before she opened the cookie shop. Despite pleas from some to expand the range, she has refused to do so. And no matter what time of day one visits the shop, there is a queue of punters out the door to buy the delicious cookie.
As both MB and MB2 are total chocoholics, it became a ritual in the following days to revisit the cookie shop for the daily fix. The ‘anticipation’ each day was palpable, as visits to museums and other sights were indulged in, for the only reason that it’s what’s expected when on a short visit to an historic city. But the real purpose of the day was only fulfilled when the two travelers felt the taste of the melting dark biscuit and warm white chocolate in the mouth, to loud sounds of “mmmmmmmm………….”.
MB just checked online and found a blog post dedicated to said shop – http://www.jadescapades.com/van-stepele-koekmakerij-amsterdam/
(Thanks and acknowledgment to Jadescapes blog for the above link).
Weekly Photo Challenge – New Horizons
Posted on December 10, 2016
Other than the fact that MB traveled there recently, many many years after his first trip to the same city, MB has no idea why he is posting a shot of the Amsterdam skyline for this week’s ‘New Horizons’ photo challenge. Crazy r what!
Weekly Photo Challenge – Relax
Posted on December 2, 2016
MB & daughter MB2 came across this guy on their recent trip to Amsterdam.
A city cycle tour, with MB & MB2 on board, wound its way after some time out to the reclaimed polder farmland, some distance outside the city. Cycle guide Sam stopped the entire entourage in their cycle tracks when he spotted this heron resting, relaxed as you like, on a wooden bridge over a small stream. Faster than anyone could shout ‘grab your SLR’, MB had his 7D ‘click clicking’ and captured a number of shots before Mr Heron flew off to find a more relaxing spot, where annoying camera-guys like MB would not bother him.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Time of Year
Posted on November 26, 2016
In recent years, MB has been lucky on a few occasions to be home for the Christmas Carol service in his home Church at Grange. On the nights MB has attended, the services have opened with a traditional Irish air called Innisheer (or Inis Oírr in Gaelic).
So, without further ado, here are Grange girls Noreen O’Sullivan on concert flute, and Jade Dillon on keyboard, playing Inisheer (& apologies for posting a video as MB’s effort for the weekly photo challenge!):
Weekly Photo Challenge – Magic
Posted on November 18, 2016
MB had a magical 4 days with daughter MB2 a few weeks back in magical Amsterdam. The central canal area of the city is where most of the tourist attractions are located, and was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 2010. MB highly recommends a trip to those who have not visited. It’s magic!
Weekly Photo Challenge – Tiny
Posted on November 11, 2016
Weekly Photo Challenge – Chaos
Posted on November 4, 2016
Weekly Photo Challenge – Transmogrify
Posted on October 28, 2016
“To change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform.”
MB will not post anything strange or grotesque, but will instead focus on the ‘transform’ element of this weeks challenge.
Our local churches back home at Grange & Patrickswell are almost exclusively used for daytime and daylight activities throughout the year. Living in a very rural location there is no great, or hardly any, need for the opening of the churches after dark, save an occasional evening funeral service.
But at Christmas time each year the churches host Christmas carol services, or midnight masses which are actually on at approx 8pm (an Irish midnight!).
Anyway, it’s interesting to see them in their transformed Christmas state.
Grange Church
Patrickswell Church
Weekly Photo Challenge – Shine
Posted on October 21, 2016
‘I was blinded by the light’ – Manfred Mann
Earlier this year, MB was trying to get a shot of the trees behind the visitor center at the lake back home. It was early morning and some rain had fallen during the night. The rain clouds had disappeared before dawn and the sun arose to a clear sky.
But on looking towards the trees, MB was completely blinded by the sun’s reflection off something very bright lying on the ground a few meters forward. MB had to shift his position somewhat to see that the sun was actually shining off a rain puddle, that was a leftover from the night before. Made an interesting addition to the shot.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Local
Posted on October 14, 2016
Weekly Photo Challenge – H2O (Nr 2)
Posted on October 7, 2016
Want to introduce non-Irish followers to Lurgan College in the West of Ireland. The college hosts Irish language summer camps and has become a Youtube sensation in recent years with Gaelic language versions of well-known popular songs.
Their most recent upload is Africa (by Toto), in which H20 plays a prominent part:
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