Ireland Part 2- Day 1 The Twins Turn 34 and Fly From Glasgow To Dublin and Paint the Town Red...

Yesterday we started our day with a really pleasant car ride with Trish and Billy as they delivered us up to Glasgow for our flight. The conversation was as easy and fun as the night before and had us laughing- a lot. Especially as we recalled a fantastic conversation where I completely f'd up the Scottish accent and misunderstood something Billy was asking.

I'll try and explain it here, but I'm sure it'll fall flat.

First of all, the Scottish accent is a tricky one to try and understanding. So is the Irish one, most especially after Guinness has been consumed- on my end and the person with the accent! But back to the Scottish one...

Yesterday evening, Trish's daughter Kelly picked us up and brought us for an hour's long drive around the Ay(shire) countryside. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we also stopped at Dunure Castle. So later that night when Billy showed up, he asked us "Did you have dinner at Dunure?" But to me it sounded like "Did you have dinner?" So I said yes. And then Billy asked Trish, or whoever would respond, "Did you really have dinner and Dunure?" I again shook my head and said, "Yes, we had dinner." And at some point someone stepped in and stopped the madness and filled me in on what the f was going on.

We did NOT have "dinner at Dunure." In fact, the only restaurant near the castle was closed. We did have dinner at home. And for the record, the way Billy says dinner and Dunure are practically the same.

It was awesome and something right out of an SNL skit.

Anyway.

The ride was pleasant and as I hugged Trish goodbye, she said "Spud would be so happy."

Not that I wasn't already really happy we made the effort to meet Trish and spend time where Spud lived, but that made it all worth it all over again.

From there, Katie and I flew to Dublin after a short delay where we were planning on spending our birthday. I surprised Katie with a night at the Clarence Hotel- owned by Bono and the Edge (of U2 fame). It wasn't anything truly spectacular, but it was just fun to say we'd stayed there.

Our birthday night out in Dublin was mostly uneventful, but fun. We went to Leo Burdock's- a fish and chips place I'd read about years ago and have been wanting to try. Unfortunately I missed the part where it was take-away only. So by the time we walked back to our hotel room in the rain, our food wasn't quite as good as we had hoped. But it was obvious that it was quality food, even if it's best to be eaten soon after picking it up.

We walked around Temple Bar and then up Grafton Street before settling on a place called Sheehan's for some birthday pints. The pub was off the beaten path and there weren't that many people in there. It was a perfect, quiet place for Katie and I to celebrate turning 34 and enjoy being in each other's company.

I know we both feel incredibly grateful to have this time together and to have the ability and means to travel like this.

Here's to a great year ahead!

Photos from our birthday are below. Tonight, we're at the Thatch for our last night of this trip. It always makes me sad, but I'm so glad I've managed to hang out there so many times since I landed nearly two and a half weeks ago!