AM in an unlikely place (a school book; not sure they enjoy being called pop stars though)

The martini police be punching the air right now

WHAT is this 😭😭😭😭😭🫠

How Christopher Give ended up touring with the Monkeys; “when did you realize you weren’t cut out for the rock star life? When my credit card got declined” 🤣

But like this is an elite story

It’s so hilarious how during his bald stage his eyelashes were longer than his hair

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Adore how many people dress up as cornerstone Alex for Halloween

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I’d love for the monkeys to make like a remake of Whatever people say I am that’s what I’m not; the second time round now singing bout how Sheffield has changed and what has stayed the same but also showing how there’s surely been a change to the way you spend your nights now that they’re closer to 40 rather than 20

Day 4 - A trip to Kilkenny

This morning we groggily arose to begin our journey out of Dublin and on to Kilkenny, a little less than 2 hours away. We had our final breakfast at the hotel, though I mistakenly ventured away from the continental breakfast to try the grilled kipper, which was like a giant smoky sardine. And they did not get skimpy on the quantity either (4). As much as I love fish, I abandoned ship on that mistake fairly quickly. Our driver, Patrick, picked us up at noon to take us on our drive west. After I tried to walk around to the driver side to get in the car (typical American mistake), Patrick and I had a lively conversation about all things Irish, ranging from Hurling and Gaelic football, to Viking and Norman history. It was quite informative to me, though Allison was busy entertaining Alex in the back seat as he started to get "the crazies" which he tends to do on long car rides. The drive itself was gorgeous--rolling green hillsides of farmland with the occasional small castle here and there. Quite a few cows, quite a few sheep. Entering Kilkenny city, the streets were lined with people enjoying an art fair, both locals and tourists. Old, tiny roads lined with shops and pubs threaded the town. We wish we had time to explore, but instead we had our sights set on the castle. Kilkenny Castle, we learned, has a rich history--from medieval fortress to stately Victorian home. Upon first entering the courtyard, I noticed a glaring problem with its strength as a fort--it only has three walls. The south wall simply does not exist (good luck defending that castle)--which we soon learned had been destroyed in a battle and never rebuilt. The castle itself had been through many phases of construction, and in fact, the interior was completely restored to closely match the Victorian era of the Butler family's residence up until the 1930s. The castle was actually in great disrepair before it was painstakingly restored and presented as it is now. From top to bottom, it was gaudy Victorian style inside--paintings, tapestries, polished silver dishware, gold foil, exquisite carpets and designed ceilings--quite stunning but surely stifling to live in. The grandest of all the rooms was the gallery at the very end of the tour--a tall long room with bright skylights, beautifully carved ceiling figures, gold chandeliers, and dozens and dozens of paintings lining the walls. Alex again put his photographer's hat on and vaporized quite a few gigabytes on Allison's phone. After the tour, we had another 20 minutes to our hotel for the evening, Mount Juliet Estate. Upon entering the property, we drove through a world class golf course, and arrived at a building straight out of Downton Abbey, grey stone covered in ivy and adorned with bright flowers. The inside was opulent and stately, and upon arriving at our second story room, it really was a sight to see. Outside our window we could see miles of fields, dotted with horses and cows, and hills of the Irish countryside in the distance. Immediately we regretted only booking one night here. If we had been here longer (and if Alex was older), perhaps we could have signed up for a course in archery, or equestrian, or falconry--all skills that will come in handy in kindergarten. Almost immediately, we walked over to the pool, and after navigating a building with no real signs or indication of where to go to the pool or even if a pool exists, we found the pool. It was a small indoor oasis--dark and intimate. Strange in many ways but also very private (to start we were the only people there). Alex and I were instructed we need to buy "hats" (swim caps where we come from) so 8 Euros later we both had royal purple Mount Juliet swim hats which did nothing to protect the pool but did make us look rather stupid. Allison played lifeguard / Facebook-checker outside of the pool and we had a grand time within. Back to the room, I tried to turn on some sports only to find West Ham (my team, whatever) down by 3, and the Hurling match I was excited to watch already over. Instead there was a documentary about a cricket pitcher, a sport which I had learned a butt-load about in a detailed conversation with our driver Patrick, who had been known to bowl a few crickets back in the day (or whatever you would say). Dinner was by the golf course at The Hound--a very good meal, steak, duck, chicken. They like their meats here, for sure. Alex for some reason said the restaurant smelled like "sushi" though the only raw fish was the cured salmon, also delightful. And back to the estate, where we stumbled upon a couple of grand high ceilinged rooms, that just screamed for us to play "The Game of Life" together on an iPad over after-dinner drinks. So we did. And for the record, I won $3,690,000 to $3,680,000 (Allison) to $3,640,000 (Alex). Though to be fair, Alex ended up with 5 children whereas we both had zero. So in reality he actually won the Game of Life with his litter of screaming babies. And that was it for today--tomorrow we head to Dublin airport for a quick flight to Edinburgh to start leg 2 of our travels.