An Irishman in Beijing

Move over Frodders.

Lonely Planet:  find a friend.

2 of my China travel books.

 I’ve got a new travel guide and it’s providing me with a uniquely Irish perspective on China.

My Aunt Enda lives in a small village called Rathdrum on the east coast of Ireland in County Wicklow.

She’ s a loyal reader of Deirdre’s Diary.  Truthfully, she’s kind of a online stalker.  Not in a NBC Dateline Chris Hansen kind of a way.  More like a “let’s tell everyone in the Rathdrum pubs about my niece’s blog” kind of way.

In fact, I credit Enda for the global success of my blog.  So does she.

Check out what Enda sent me for my birthday.

 

Read the first line and you’ll see why this book spoke to me like no other travel book has!

The 1st line of Beijing For Beginners.

A four legged followup…

When it comes to the Olympic Dressage Trials, we Northern Californians have a horse in this race.

Rociero is our first Olympic hopeful with four legs and no opposable thumbs.  He’s owned by Auburn’s Margaret Carrera and Phil Joffe. 

The couple is in San Juan Capistrano for two weekends of dressage competition.  We’ll know by Sunday whether Rociero will head to China as an Olympic horse.

Here’s an emailed update I got from Margaret after last weekend’s events.

There was record heart in San Juan Capistrano.  Kristina and Rociero were not up to their usual game.  They still have a chance at the reserve position, but only if Kristina is able to pull it together for a clean ride.