Green for go

And there you have it: Auckland's Sky Tower which apparently, surprisingly, was the first city landmark anywhere to be floodlit green on St Patrick's Day, three years ago. Can that be right? Seems amazing, considering that the river in Chicago is dyed green and all that sort of thing. [Update: It must have been the Guinness. Of course, they meant that it was the first thing to go green in the world that day. Time zones and all that. D'oh!]

Anyway, that's what we were told, and it would be churlish to doubt a generous host who supplied such a steady stream of delicious nibbles, and wine, and of course Guinness - which went down very smoothly, I must say.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Ireland in July. It's such an interesting, and pretty, and ancient place - and the locals do know how to have a good time, to be sure.