Cigar Loving Doorman: Pt.1 of 2: Birthdays, Afternoon Tea and Cigars!

John F. Kennedy once told a story about the great French Marshal Lyautey. The Marshal asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener complained that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshal replied ;

"In that case, there is no time to lose, plant it this afternoon!"

Time is a funny thing. The quotes are endless. "Time flies when you're having fun", "Time is a great healer", "One step at a time" etc...

The last week can be summed up with the following quote by Melanie Benjamin ;

"What very mysterious things days were. Sometimes they fly by, and other times they seem to last forever, yet they are all exactly twenty-four hours. There's quiet a lot we don't know about them."

There are two reasons I talk about time. The first is a failed business plan, the second, and more important (so I have been told... continually) it was the Mrs birth(day/week/month!!)

I have several meetings over the past couple of months in regards to a business venture I had hoped and planned for. Unfortunately it wasn't to be so. I spent the weekend in work mulling it over but there was no way around it. The plans had to be scrapped. It was a long weekend.

The following five days have flown past. Time Eh..!!

Sunday, I was told, was the Mrs birthday EVE!! It was an opportunity to take my mind of things as we walked towards the Westbury Hotel where I would surprise her with Afternoon Tea. It wasn't the at the top of my list of things to do in my life but I was pleasantly surprised.

Sitting in the salubrious surroundings of the hotel (they gave us a window seat) we were served on by a pleasant waitress who was all to eager to please. We ordered two Champagne Afternoon Tea's. The Moet Rose arrived and shortly after the Tea Stand arrived. I looked at the various finger sandwiches, scones and french pastries and the thought of where we were going to get dinner passed through my mind.

Thirty minutes later, only half of the stand was conquered and I was struggling. The food was fantastic and surprisingly filling. A habit of the Irish is to scoff all the food in front of them as quick as possible. Possibly stems from the famine days!! The Mrs and I sat back for a while, took in our surroundings and enjoyed the following hour or so it took to polish off the rest of the food.

We stumbled out of the hotel in a food Coma and across to No Name Bar where we met up with Hollywood and BicBic aka Mr.Heineken (He also was celebrating his Bday) We had a couple of drinks there while I enjoyed a Cohiba Behike 52.

I had bought the B52 in January and it has sat in my humidor since. I had read and heard a lot about the 52. It was voted Cigar Aficionado's Cigar of the Year. I had been saving it for a proper occasion and Sunday was the day. All I can say is don't believe they Hype.

Don't get me wrong. It is a fantastic Cigar. I enjoyed every puff and I will probably buy another to have alone and contemplate the flavours. My gripe was that I would have to do that in the first place. I have smoked various cigars in company that have not needed that concentration. The Vegas Robaina Unicos that I had later that night was a perfect example.

We left No Name Bar and crossed the road into the Market Bar. I have previously posted about the new smoking area in this bar. Probably the best in Dublin apart from one small problem. They never open it. We didn't stay long.

A quick change of clothes for the Mrs and we were on our way to Harrys Bar. It was a nice evening so we all decided to sit outside. I enjoyed the aforementioned Vegas Robaina Unicos while enjoying a Whiskey Sour.

I love the VR Unicos. It has never let me down. It seems to take on the personality of what you are drinking. The last one I enjoyed was with a nice Cuba Libra and I was treated to a nice sweet, sugar cane flavour. This time I was treated to a nice smokey woodiness. The sugar was still there but not as prominent. I will certainly pick up a box when I am in Cuba.

More than thirty to forty people ended up sitting outside Harrys Bar for the joint Bday celebration, drinking pints, shorts, shots and cocktails. On a Sunday night as well. The Market Bars loss.

The Group split after Harrys. The more drunken bunch decided Copper Face Jacks was the place to be. The others, led by myself, opted for the Grafton Lounge. After all, it where all the cool kids hang out!!

The GL threw up a few faces I had not seen in a while. It is also where we met and joined the Fitzpatricks. A quick few drinks there and we were off to Lillies. Its not every day I get to hang with Pop Stars and Sunday was another such day. Apparently we were in the VIP but apart from one velvet rope and a member of security who didn't know Bono from a No-No, nothing separated the area we were in from the rest of the club.

We still enjoyed ourselves. No matter what the surroundings, it is the company you are with that makes the night. Later on there was talks of house parties and all night session but we declined. Monday was the Mrs official birthDAY and we had an early start.

We were on a mini break to Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. More about that in the next post!!