My Farewell card from the PFS team

SATEESH GUDANDGONIVADA

Most of you will know that within the next couple of weeks the man who signed off as “Sartorially Sateesh” will be deported back to India.

Now there has been some wild and unsubstantiated rumours about why he has had to leave and before I start asking for money to help pay for his journey back I would like to dispel some of these (unfortunately I cannot).

It has been suggested that he has been some sort of “Bestshore Spy”. Befriending people in this country so that he can pinch their work and their jobs. A sort of “Trojan Horse” except he’s not made of wood and doesn’t have lots of men inside him (not that I have heard anyway).

I have also heard it said that he failed his “Citizenship Test” due to his answer to the question “name an important city in England”. His answer of “Sunderland” was simply not acceptable.

One of the more wild rumours is that he has been involved in an illicit affair with Shilpa Shetty, but I think that is some confusion with Amit.

But none of these strike true to me . Ithink I have a more plausible explanation.

Here in the North East we like to feel as we are welcoming to everyone wherever they come from.

We have always been fascinated by tales of people growing up in ramshackle houses without food on the table, battling to survive against poverty and violent neighbours. But we soon tired of hearing about how people from South of the Tyne grew up and welcomed with open arms our bretheren from more exotic parts of the Globe.

But there has to be give and take. We provided Sateesh with our wonderful weather, witty repartee, sophisticated culture and Bob. Sateesh ate all the cakes.

Of course I jest so get your hands in your pockets and help support me in sending the suavest, most sophisticated “bon vivant” that PFIT has ever had.

Trip to Dublin 4,5th August 2007

Got back from my trip to Dublin Last night. It was a fantastic experience

I reached Dublin at 9:00a.m on Saturday. Oh, the joy of not having to wait for checked-in baggage! Just walked straight out to the "air coach" which would take me to my accommodation in Trinity College. I couldn't check in before 2pm but they agreed to keep my solitary bag in safe keeping so that I can go away for sightseeing 'sans' bag.


Had some brekkie and took the tour of the Trinity college and the visit to the book of kells. It is always best to take this kind of guided tours which are informative and give you a history of the place and also the guides tell you amusing stories and make it all interesting. I was glad that I took the tour. There was a bit of queue to get into the old library to see the book of Kells but it didn't take me long to finish.


I wandered off on my own to St. Stephens Green thru the shopping area and had some chinese food for lunch. Then I took a trip on the tour bus to the soutch coast and the malahide castle. The castle was fantastic and one of the rooms has the best oak panelling I have ever seen. The castle is well preserved with all the furniture in it still intact. Yes, it is good to be the king.


Got back to Trinity college at around 6:00pm. Checked into my room and took a shower before heading out for dinner. Had some thai food and then back to the Players Theatre in the Trinity campus itself to watch a play by Samuel Beckett in the players theatre. He was an Irish man but most of his work was in French. The play was a bit weird but funny. I have to read more about Samuel Beckett. After the play I just retired to my room.


On the 5th Morning I woke up to a rude shock. It was pissing down. I had to checkout by 10a.m. Time for a quick wash and a dash to the dining hall. The brekkie was excellent. It was a good decision to pay extra and upgrade to the full irish from the continental which was included in the charge for the room. I stuffed myself so that I didn't have to stop for lunch. I put the bag in the cloak room before heading out to take the city tour.


It was still pouring so the best option was to sit inside the bus and take in the sights. I finished one full round making a note of places where I wanted to get down. I got down on the o'connell st to visit the GPO as suggested by Paul Rankin -


"GPO (general post office) on O'Connell Street. This was the scene of the most important event in Irish History: the famous "Easter Rising" of 1916 where the Irish natives started the war of independence against the British rulers.
The Irish rebels used the GPO as their base. The Irish were defeated heavily here, but the event led the country to revolt and eventually achieve independence in 1922. Bear with me here! Outside the GPO you can still see the bulletholes in the walls and there are commemorative plaques etc - good place for photos!
Then inside the GPO itself is a famous (and beautiful) statue erected in 1922 of "Cuchulainn" who was a great warrior in ancient Celtic Mythology. It commemorates the men who fought this war"



I got on the bus again and this time I stopped at the Guinness factory for the tour of the factory where you get to know the history of the Guinness and at the end of the tour you get to drink a pint of guinness in the Gravity bar up on the 7th floor from where you can get the panaromic views of the Dublin city. The tour was well laid out and informative. I can now brew my own beer! I finished around 2p.m and hopped on the tour bus again to get down at the National museum of Ireland.


It had very nice exhibits and the most notable were the plasters of the Irish crosses, understanding 1916. I also liked the period furniture and the clothes that were on display.


Finished around 5p.m and went to the hard rock cafe. had my lunch/dinner there and bought the t-shirt and the shot glass for babai. From there I came back to Trinity college where there is the store called Kilkenny which is the largest store that sells exclusively all things Irish. Bought some souveniers and a gift for Sasi before getting my bag out of the cloak room. A quick ride on the aircoach to the airport followed by a smooth flight which arrived 15 minutes early to Newcastle put the icing on the cake for me.


All in all, it was a great weekend and I am glad that I did this. I will remember this trip fondly for the rest of my life.