Ireland: Brazil, food and walking

Day 1: Leaving Los Angeles in the wee hours on the morning of a national drinking holiday is highly recommended. The 405 was so clear it could have been the weekend of carmageddon. The flight from LA to NYC was uneventful, which is the best way when flying. We landed at JFK nearish dinner time and found a seat at an overpriced bistro featuring $17 hamburgers and the world cup. Coincidently the gate next to the bar-istro was headed to Rio within the hour. We were surrounded by enthusiastic soccer fans and the crowd exploded into fanatical cheering when Brazil won.
With our bellies full and spirits lifted from the enthusiasm displayed by the cheering section, we headed off to find our gate, only to discover our plane was delayed. Apparently it was flying up from Puerto Rico and needed to fly around the hurricane near North Carolina. We made the best of it and found a wine bar serving $7 large pours of Pinot Grigio.
The flight from NYC to Dublin was a tad warm and we all had trouble sleeping. So instead we watched the Sun, read, and popped in our ear buds. Our flight landed at 7:20 am, which was also wonderful because all of Dublin was still asleep as we fumbled our way out of town in a manual transmission and with shoddy map. But, we are not scared of asking for directions and have since discovered everyone in Ireland has their engine "cut out" on them.
We arrived at Highfield House B&B to a warm basket of scones, coffee and tea and the realization our room would not be ready for a few hours. Allison opted to rest in the back of the car while mom and I took a long jaunt around Trim. It is absolutely lovely. The castle is magnificent and was used in Braveheart. The streets are clean and colorfully decorated with hanging baskets overflowing with petunias, begonias, and ivy. Soon enough we were let into our room where we enjoyed hot showers and long naps.
Dinner was spectacular. I'm not sure if it was because I was starving, or because of the Irish charm of the waitstaff, but wow did we enjoy our selves. Cream of broccoli soup with spring onions, rib eye and sirloin steaks, fresh salads (with dressing options of italian, French or american), potatoes (chips and baked), and an out of this world rhubarb crumble. Whoever said food in Ireland was dreary is eating in the wrong places!
At the advice of our hostess we took what we thought would be a leisurely walk along the river to the second oldest pub in Ireland, Marcie Regan's. It was more like a 30 minute hike to a teensy tiny pub packed to the brim with a wedding party. Disheartened we left and walked back to town, right to the carry out liquor store we saw on our morning walk. We purchased a litre of Bulmer's cider and a few soft serve cones. We slept well.