Ireland- Jackie's Birthday at the Castle

We visited several castles in Ireland, including Powerscourt, which was listed as one of the top ten houses and gardens in the world by National Geographic magazine. 

For Jackie's birthday, we checked into the Ashford Castle, which was listed as the third best hotel in the world by Conde Naste. 

The castle's motto is "serving hospitality since 1228", which is when the first castle was built. 

Steve was required to have a suit jacket for dinner. There wasn't any room in cycling panniers, but the hotel lent him one for the evening.  

This is probably the only time in Steve's life that he will get away with giving Jackie a birthday card like this!