I had my Mum, Dad and sister Ailsa across in Northern Ireland this weekend which was nice, ‘cos I’m usually a bit stuck for things to do at the weekend.

They arrived on Friday, so after a really nice dinner at AM : PM, I promptly went and got completely hammered without them in the Stiff Kitten. I was chasing after a girl with blue shoes, but that’s a story for another time.

Next morning, Saturday, I went down and met the family at the Hilton for breakfast, before we all moved to the Culloden Hotel near Holywood, where we were all staying for the weekend. That’s it in the pic above. I was a bit worried it looked stuffy from the website, but it had obviously recently been done up, and was really nice. Saturday afternoon was spent sleeping and recovering from my hangover while Mum and Dad did a bit of exploring, then on Saturday night we just had dinner in the hotel.

Sunday, I was a bit more active. We went up to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge (above). It is class. It’s a bit of a steep walk from the car park to the rope bridge itself, and the bridge isn’t very long, but it’s still fun, and the scenery is stunning. That took us all day really, driving up and back, although Ailse had time for a facial in the Culloden’s spa. I fancied a massage but was too embarassed about it for some reason. So after a trip to Starbucks in the afternoon, we went off to the Fat Buddha restaurant in Belfast for dinner. (They still don’t have a web site).

My Mum is very picky about restaurants, so I was interested in her verdict. Which was “it’s ok but I don’t know if I’d come back”. She wouldn’t elaborate, so read into that what you will.

And that was my weekend! Busy, and nice to see the family, as I probably only get to see them about four times a year.