Ireland - it’s really good - day 8

Contemplating getting the Full Irish breakfast this morning, Chelsea asked the waitress, “what exactly is black pudding?”

In a charming, lilting, strong Irish accent she replied cheerfully, “well, it’s blood and brrains and … well, it’s rreally good.”

“Mm, right on… I think I’ll have eggs benedict please.”

Following a breakfast that did NOT include blood and brains, we went in search of fishing gear.

My brother Andrew, an avid fisherman, had generously gifted the kids with money to get kitted out to fish, as we are staying in a seaside town.

That of course meant we next had to go fishing.

And we were visited by a sweet-faced seal, who I think wanted to make sure we weren’t going to steal his dinner. He poked his head up and looked right at us, then followed us when, later, we moved to another spot. We blamed him for the fact that the kids didn’t catch anything 😁.

We’ll try again tomorrow.

The walk home - these are considered two-way streets, even with cars parked on them… people do not travel slowly, they don’t beep their horns, and somehow traffic moves smoothly.

We were so excited that this apartment came with a washing/drying machine (yes, one machine is supposed to do both). But alas, sigh, I did say supposed to. We have been trying to do one, small, load of wash for 10 hours…long story short, it clearly doesn’t work, the clothes won’t dry, but Chelsea is determined to keep trying.

It’s 9 pm and Lylah wants to go to bed.

“Mom, my pajamas…” she says with large, mournful eyes.

“Oh honey,” I say, “are they still in the washing machine?”

“The dryer,” corrects Chelsea.

“Oh, are we still pretending the clothes are drying?” I say.

Keeping your sense of humor is mandatory when you travel. There is nothing left to do but laugh.