KaleidoZara

Met in town because it was August holiday weekend. Lunch at Pasta Fresca in Chatham Street began as a really nice pizza, but it was too big (larger than the plate it was served on) and had got cold by the time we struggled through it.

A few pit stops afterwards included a sampling of port at The Port House on South William Street. Our choices were very different; mine (Warre's Otima 10-year-old Tawny) rich and golden, like a sweet sherry, Carl's (Niepoort 2008 Late Bottle Vintage) deep-coloured and more port-looking. I've been threatening to try this place for a long while, but this was a first. It's tiny, ridiculously popular, and definitely worth going back to, though probably later in the day.

Somehow, time passed, and we ended up in O'Neill's on Suffolk Street, even venturing upstairs where a music session was in full swing. Just a guitar and fiddle duo, but really accomplished in a varied repertoire ranging from diddle-ee-eye to folk to ballads. Good stuff, and much more enjoyable than we'd expected. Next-day commitments meant that we we called a halt earlier than we usually would, and I was back home by 10:15.

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I've replaced the original photo, which is now here. This kaleidoscope effort began as a passing snap of the glazed front of the Zara store beside the Gaiety Theatre, turned into this, and then got the kaleidoscope treatment.