Hello all!

Nolin and I awaited Josh’s arrival this morning with great excitement, though the minutes and hours seemed to roll by with no Josh in sight. As it turns out, there were some interesting complications with his flight and luggage. Something about having to circle Newark airport due to storms, running out of fuel, landing in Buffalo, flying back to Newark, missing a connecting flight, losing luggage, etc. It’s a long and epic tale. If I can convince him, I’ll try to get Josh on the blog to preserve his tale in text. He finally arrived around noon, and as promised we took him to the chipper for a proper Irish burger, first thing. We then explored the city as the complete trio. All is now right in the world. We have reunited. Have no fear. We showed Josh around the Temple Bar area, Trinity College, the river Liffey, and then ended up on a long, undiscovered side-street of beautiful brick buildings with ivy crawling up the sides. Incredibly Irish-looking. It was lovely, especially because it avoided the large crowds and traffic of the major Dublin streets.

Though Nolin and I had a long napping episode on the couch this morning while waiting for Josh, which again meant me sleeping while Nolin read another mystery novel, I guess that just wasn’t enough. Of course, we had to accommodate our friend Josh who spent the whole day on planes… so, alas, we took another long nap. It was tough on Nolin and I, but we were willing to make the sacrifice, because that’s how much we care about Josh. It was truly a labor of love, if you’ve ever seen one.

Tonight, after watching another Euro2008 soccer game (Portugal vs. Germany… Germany won), we ventured out to the Temple Bar area and into the historic Temple Bar Pub. Filled with patrons of both the super-Irish and rather obviously tourist persuasion, the pub was united in song by the Irish musicians in the corner, who played everything from traditional Irish music to Bob Dylan.

Hanging out on the quaint cobblestone streets of the Temple Bar area, we met some teenagers from the Dublin area. It always strikes me as amazing how we can bump into kids our age from a different continent, and have a grand conversation. There was a lot of talk about each area’s slang and lifestyle. We found out that “good crack” means good fun. Though be wary of asking someone for crack or asking if they want some crack…because then you’re just talking about the drug. “Class” was one of our favorites, and is equivalent to “cool”, “top-notch”, “great”, etc. All in all, we had a fun time with some new Irish friends, while listening to “Wonderwall” sung by a kind street musician.

It was a lovely day of reunited friends, delicious food, sleep, new friends, meshing of cultures, and more sleep.

We’re glad to have Josh with us finally, and can’t wait for the Nolin-Josh-Jen triumvirate adventures ahead.

Love and hugs to everyone at home!

Peace and love from Dublin, Ireland