Goodbye China ! Hello Ireland !

by Chris

Wow ! I can't say enough good things about my month in China. I got to do a lot of lacrosse stuff, made lifelong friends and had a complete blast.

And instead of flying home, I took a zip line into the abyss !

Ok, I actually flew home via London. I've been home for almost a week, and have been sick as a dog.... one of the few drawbacks sometimes to traveling. I've had plenty of time to look through my pictures and laugh again at the fun times I had, and the people I sadly left behind...

Like Tom, Office Linebacker

and my cubicle mate BL

Although all hope was not lost, I brought some of China back with me. BD and I flew to London together, then after he spent a few days there at a tournament, he hopped over to Dublin for a few days. We got to do some stuff around town and of course......work.

BD checking in with Tom in Beijing via video conferencing....very hi-tech

Also got to show BD the facilities where I coach at UCD

We met up with Team Ireland midfielder Leonard ( whom some of you in NY will remember from our March trip)

Len, BD and I had lunch in the Wicklow mountains at Johnnie Fox's and talked lacrosse, big suprise. We drove the narrow, winding mountain roads to Glendalough, to see the ancient monastic settlement and the enjoy the scenery.

and, of course, throw the ball around.

Glendalough, as always, absolutely beautiful.

Playing lacrosse near the lake attracted the attention of kids of course, so we showed them how to play and let them try it out....great fun.

A spectacular afternoon. It was great having BD in Dublin, especially after his hospitality in Beijing.

So whats next ? Well....after another week of downtime here in Dublin, Kelly & I are off to Finland for two weeks for the European Lacrosse Championships....whew.

One last parting shot from China.... This is what it looks like when you strap yourself to a wire and throw yourself off the Great Wall of China. Flaco was the only one of us who had the sense to actually film it.