It's been a while ........ one year and eleven months to be precise ...... but today was the day Jude would return to Boston for the first time since Marguerite, Ben and he left in mid 2013.
This would be a work trip ..... with a couple of days added on for Jude himself.
There to meet Jude at the airport today was Rob. Robert and Lindsey came to visit Pigeontown Rd just after Marguerite and Jude moved in (June 2014) and now it was Jude's turn to check out their new place ........ 
....... and their new dog Titus! 
Robert, Lindsey and Titus live on the Cambridge side of the Charles River ....... which does have some pretty spectacular views of Boston.
After a quick spin around Cambridge it was time for Jude to head back to his old stomping ground in Brookline. But rather than having his own place to stay this trip would be a lot different as he would be staying in a Guest House at 88 Columbia Street, and very nice it was too.
Here he is sitting on the steps in classic, 'take my pic while I sit here on the front steps', pose!
The houses on Columbia Street were class ..... all big wooden things and all painted different colours.
Cool.
The location was perfect, Columbia St and Harvard St in Brookline.
The Guest House had cool wee decked balcony areas both upstairs and downstairs. 
The Guest House was called 'The Inn on the Park' so not surprisingly there was a cool park right across the street.
Rush Hour (7.30am) in Coolidge Corner. Today was Jude's first early morning commute in nearly two years but he was quick to remember the keys points of this trip ........ things like .....
........ if you get lucky with your timing you could beat the 7/8 minute walk by catching a 66 bus down to ........
....... Coolidge Corner to get the 'T'.
What a great area this is / was to live in. Marguerite and Jude had the coolest 2 and a half years living in this area. It was nice to be back ..... but definitely kind of weird at the same time.
Folks you can't make this stuff up but Jude was even excited about his walk to work. Getting off the 'T' at Park Street and dandering down through Downtown Crossing to the Financial District.
Just around the Corner from Jude's office is Washington Square which is home to Boston's Irish Famine Memorial.
Jude's office is at 100 Franklin St.
When Jude left Boston there was a huge hole in the ground where the Old Filene's Basement shop used to be ......... but now he was pleasantly surprised to see the huge new Millennium Tower creeping it's way skywards from that very spot. Progress!
So this was his first morning back in IIIC in nearly two years so it was a big deal. You see he has worked for IIIC at home in Ireland since leaving Boston and has been working with, and speaking to, some colleagues daily for over a year and a half without ever having met them! So this morning he arranged to meet Blair at 7.30am in his favourite Bagel Bakery, Bruegger's in Washington Square. If you're ever in Boston you could do worse than score yourself a Western Bagel from this place. Nice!
Remember Jude was working this week and so he didn't want to be hoaking about like a tourist snapping photos all day every day, so he left taking pics until Thursday and Friday (you can see those later).
So Jude was determined to maximise his time in the evenings by catching up on some of those things he had often found floating about in that head of his ..... sure he even had a list noted on his notes page of his iphone entitled, 'things to do in evenings in Boston'. First up on Monday night was grabbing a Pad Thai meal with Dr Pepper at the Rod Dee restaurant in Brookline. Perfect! Is this the tastiest meal ever? It's right up there with the best Jude has ever tasted anyway. 
Jude misses some things in Boston besides food. Skiing every weekend in the winter time ...... he misses that. And going to games at Fenway Park, that too. He crammed three Boston Red Sox games into his week in Boston. That's not bad going (hence the careful planning as noted on his wee list he'd been building for weeks).
Tonight he invited along one of his and Marguerite's best friends from their whole time in America, Lindsay and her boyfriend Dave. These guys don't look like they may have smuggled in some swally but they did and just about enough to keep things ticking nicely until about the 7th inning! They're experts at it by this stage!
Tonight's game was fantastic, lots of hits and runs but unfortunately the Red Sox lost by a score of 11-8.
Group pic after the game. By now Jude had another layer on. That's the layer you smuggle the swally in with ..... see ...... ye wrap it around the swally and all, and then it multitasks later in the evening when the chill sets in!!!
It was great to catch up with Lindsay and to meet Dave.
Wednesday night was Pizza night and that meant getting off the 'T' at Winchester Street .............
......... and Pizzeria Dante is the best. Marguerite and Jude got at least one or two pizzas out of here every week without fail. Great staff, great food and sure it's just around the corner from the old apartment on Winchester St.
Pepperoni. Perfect. 
Talking of the old apartment ........ that's it there ...... number 32 Winchester Street, Apt 7 (ehhh ....light on in hallway, top floor, behind tree). Actually Jude blames that very tree for giving him Hayfever because he picked it up weeks after moving in here. Again it was weird being back here after having left for a whole new life at home. Yes, home is home, but two points made it a big deal leaving here: 1. The lifestyle was great / it was a great place to live, and 2. Ben was making the move too, he being born 7 months earlier and that meant a whole new way of life.
Back to the commute. Some folk think that working from home is perfect. Well it's not. It's good in many ways of course ....... but you miss out on certain things like the office craic or the just the dander through the city in the morning or being able to call into shops on the way. It mightn't seem like much but after a while you do feel your missing these things. So it was good to be back heading to the office daily.
The best thing about this trip was Jude meeting his colleagues. Re-connecting with those he knew from his time in the office and connecting for the first time with those who have started since he left. In this pic, L-R are: Paul, Kim, Blair and Jude. Of these three Jude had only met Kim before, as he had worked wit her for nearly two years before going home. Paul and Blair both started since he left but as they are in constant daily communications and so it was totally normal, even though it was the first time they had actually met in person.
The craic always was good in the IIIC office and Jude was delighted to be back in among it. Here Blair and Kim are having a laugh.
Kim multitasking. She is actually helping out with some last minute touches to the new IIIC mural which would adorn the wall of the IIIC's Cyber Café.
And there's Kim sitting in Jude's old desk. Kim quickly claimed Jude's desk when he left and even though Jude dropped plenty of hints ......... she did not give it up to him for this week!! 
Thursday night was designated Jude's 'work' night out. Here are Paul and Jude outside Jude's old favourite Emmett's on Beacon Hill.
In Emmett's Jude was quick to hook up with his auld mucker Ann Marie.
'Ok, whose round is it? Don't all speak up at once!!Enjoying the craic in Emmett's are, L-R: Clare, Ann Marie, Blair, Deirdre, Ambreen, Jude, John, Neil and Janey.
It was great for Jude to catch up with everyone, like Ronnie and Neil for instance. Neil, to the left here, is a bit of a legend around Boston for all the great work he does helping folk out with this and that. Ronnie also does great work but just not for as long as Neil has been at it!
'Ok, bottom's up ....... it's Whisky time', said Ronnie as he bought a round of Bushmills. 
'Ohhh Beer and Whisky ....... ohhh how will the head feel tomorrow', well that's what Jude was thinking .....
........ but not Ann Marie, nope!Clare is no dozer ye see ...... she knows a banana skin when she sees one ..... and she knows how to step around it, step over it or just blindly ignore it.
Ann Marie on the other hand likes to jump right on in there while thinking, 'yippee, this is my kinda party ..... wine, beer, whisky ...... sure this is all just lovely!
'Yeahhhhh I'll have some of that', shouted Janey. Three interesting facts about Janey, 1. She's a talented musician / singer, 2. She has a proper mad Boston accent, and 3. She also likes Whisky.
Hold on ....... how many glasses have you had?
'Cheeeeeers!Spot Neil there ........ he's thinking, 'sod the cheers crap folks, get it in ye'.
Pals, friends, buddies, messers, plonkers, wallies and the best of muckers: Jude, Clare and Ann Marie.
Thursday night in Emmett's was always one of the highlights of Boston at any time and that was no different this week. Jude had a great night catching up on the craic with his colleagues of past and present. Now it was time to go home and Clare led the way.Last to leave tonight?
Jude and Ann Marie .......... nothing new there then!
Consulate General for Ireland based in Boston came along to officially open the Cyber Café for business this year. That is Breandán Ó Caollai there in the centre of this pic. On the left side of this pic are three J1 students and to the right are Jude with his colleague Blair and then Jordan and Siobhan, the artists who painted this great piece of work.
Of course the Cyber Café is a great place to meet and help young Irish and that has been part of Jude's job for years, ever since he started at IIIC. In here today he met Hugh Kennedy from Cork ..... let's just say that Hurling was the main topic of conversation. 
The Consulate General Breandán Ó Caollai expresses his views and observations of the new mural.The launch of this new mural and the meaning behind it all created a fitting way to end Jude's working week in Boston. It re-emphasised the great work that the IIIC does for all immigrants to the United States.
And soon enough it was time to go ........ time to say goodbye again. This working week was fantastic. Being able to be in the office, re-connect with those old colleagues and meet all the new ones in person for the first time ........ well it was just great. Here for the last 'work' pic of the week are: Kim, Ambreen, Blair and Jude.Thanks to Ronnie for making this happen and thanks to all Jude's colleagues for everything this week.
And that was work all done.
After work on Friday Jude scooted up to Brookline, had a quick change, and scooted back down on the 'T' to the Baseball Tavern in Fenway where he met up again with Roberto 'De Matteo' for a few beers and a bite of dinner before heading over to ........
......... Fenway Park. Tonight the Red Sox were playing the New York Yankees and the lads were like kids on Christmas morning as they headed the short staggering distance from the Baseball Tavern to the park.
Another great night craic was had tonight, even though the Red Sox lost again, this time by a score of 3-2. 
'Taxi!!!!!!! Robert is not dancing here, yes it does look like he's dancing, but this is him waving down a taxi in his very own 'Limerick' style! After the game Rob and Jude tried to get a taxi but then decided to grab a burger at the Fenway institution that is ......
.......... Tasty Burger. This place is great ..... but it's even better after you had a few and been at a game. Beer and Burgers ...... what better way to end the evening ...... perfect! 
Now Jude knows his way around Boston so he was not over at this Tourist Information kiosk to ask for directions to the Public Garden ........ he was over here saying hello to Cornelius a former IIIC colleague who was now helping out this great city and those who visit it.
Having said that this does look like a 'touristy' pic though. Well he did want a pic of the new Downtown crossing area so he could show Marguerite, and sure why not jump in the pic when yer at it?Actually, rather than being a tourist, today was designated 'shopping' day. He ran all over the place today grabbing this and that for Ben.
He was down at Quincy Mahhhket ........
....... through the Financial District with it's spectacularly odd shaped buildings .......
......... and classic tall buildings .......
.......... and even down to Copley Square. Folks I don't care what you say ....... you point me out a man or woman who can walk past this building and not look up at it ....... and I'll point you out a bluffer! The Hancock Tower never ceases to amaze.
So soon enough all the shopping was done and all that was left to do was head up to Coolidge Corner for a pint or two.
However when on the 'T' he had a thought, 'this train goes past Fenway ...... the Red Sox and the Yankees started and hour ago ......... sure I've nothing else to do for a couple of hours'.
And in like Flynn he went. Jude was in Boston for one week and managed to see three Red Sox games. Now that's not bad. And to make matters better for this game he managed to score one $75 ticket for $20!!!!The way Jude saw it was that it would be another year before he would see another one of these games so he had better see as much as possible now.
Jude's very first game was also the Red Sox v the New York Yankees, that was back in April 2009. Alex Rodriguez played that night too. 
Boston's latest superstar is Pablo Sandoval, he's ehhhh ...... how shall I put this ...... he aint no marathon runner ........ but he's good at baseball!
Also playing in that first game Jude saw were Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. Legends. 
Anyway, it's not the score that counts! Being there ....... that's good enough.
Jude relaxing just before heading out on Saturday night for a beer or two at the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse.
Sunday was Jude's last day in Boston and in the morning he went to Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel in Brookline.
That's where Ben was baptized two and a half years ago.
And before you could say 'time flies when you're having fun', it was time to go.
Jude took one last cup of tea from the wonderful inn on the Park and supped it whilst looking out over that very park and thinking to himself, 'this place is cool'.
Suitcase packed and ready to go. Jude sat and waited on the balcony of the guest house. Jude had a good week in thon guest house. All he needed now was a car, a driver and a funny set of sun glasses ....... and as if by magic ....
....... Roberto appeared!! Rob had collected Jude at the airport last Sunday and now today he was running him back again.
Rob was a great help to Jude this week.
The Irish Coast. Trip over ......... but was there time for one more surprise?
Pizza delivery!!! Just as Jude had done with his brother Paul 4 years earlier he surprised Marguerite with a Pizza from their favourite Pizzeria, Pizzeria Dante in Brookline.
Nice!
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