2/16/08

After we got settled into our room, we met up with our friends the Orrs, who I've forgotten to take pictures of so you will just have to take our word for it that they are a very good looking family--Stephen, Clare, and baby Martha had us to their house for a fantastic dinner and drinks, and we talked about life and music until about 1:00am when we took a cab back to the hostel. Zzzzz.

Day 3 - February 16

Today, we went to Wetherspoons for our first Ulster fry of the trip--bacon, eggs, fried soda bread, fried potatoes, sausage, baked beans, cooked mushroom & tomato all for ₤1.99. Usually this is a big thing for us, but the place was understaffed, the internet was down, and the food was kind of cold. We were disappointed...but we were full.

After a nice walk around the town, we headed to the Crown Bar. This place has been around since 1826 and has remained unchanged since the late 1800's when a group of Italian craftsmen added beautiful tiling and mirrors to the decor. It's a gorgeous place to have a drink and we met Sammy Horner there for a few. We've known Sammy for years via the internet and mutual friends in music circles but we've never managed to be in the same town at the same time. Again, we forgot to take pictures of Sammy, but we snapped a couple of the bar before he arrived.

BAD NEWS!!!

Unfortunately, on our way back from the bar, Randy noticed that his backpack was unzipped and his  WALLET HAD BEEN LOST! 

Since no one has yet turned it in, we can only assume that it has been stolen with his credit cards and a significant amount of cash inside. I think it's safe to say the drinks were (unintentionally) on us at the Crown tonight! We spent the next hour calling credit card companies to cancel them.

Our hostel had no rooms left and the city was practically sold out, but luckily our friends the Hatches who we were meeting for dinner had just been to check out the new Ikea here in Belfast and bought an air mattress. They kindly offered their room to us saying they needed to try out the new purchase for themselves. Liars! Thanks Jon & Amy.