The Farewell Party

This past weekend, we gathered to say farewell to our friends here in Germany.  They say time flies when you're having fun and HH (Hansestadt Hamburg) has been no exception.  For Jo, it's been over six years here, for Nick, almost nine months - so there were lots of friends to catch up with and explain our mad plan.

We initially planned to have our party at a large outdoor beer garden, but unfortunately the Hamburg weather was Irish (Jo's fault) and we had to move the party indoors.  Nonetheless, what better place for a send-off than Finnegan's Wake, our local Irish pub, where we met for the first time more than two years ago (things really do come full circle!).

We arrived at four pm, claimed the back room to ourselves, ordered a Guinness, and settled in for the day along with Jo's brother John who flew over from Ireland to help with the packing (and the Guinness).  The visitors started rolling in, first whole families (making the pub a bit of a kindergarten) and later the party crowd.  To use an Irish saying, "the craic was mighty."  The drinks flowed as the evening progressed and every so often the tears would too.  For Jo, after more than six years in Hamburg it was tough to say "tschüß."

The party finished responsibly at around midnight, but considering we started at four pm we'd say it was quite the success.