Ireland

I will start this by apologizing for too many photos. I really have cut this down a lot!

This is Dublin and there are two things you should know. Yes they are driving on the left side of the road. It was kind of confusing and I kept thinking that cars were going to hit us. And second this is a WIDE street. Ireland is not known for their wide streets, in fact most are so skinny that our tour bus would have to stop to let cars get by.

This is St Patricks Cathedral in Dublin. It was so pretty, just wished we had time to go inside.

This is where we spent a lot of our time. If you look carefully you can see Bob and I on the second row. (I'm the one with the camera) Our bus driver and tour guide's name is Keate. I think having an Irish sounding name was a requirement. He was great, sang us little ditties all the time along with giving us a lot of information about what we were seeing and the history behind it.

You'll notice the street got smaller. This is in one of the smaller towns, but I can't remember which one it is.

You know when you see pictures of Ireland and it is all sectioned off in squares. Well it really is! Part of the famine relief in the 1840's was hiring men to put up these walls to show where their property lines were. They were everywhere. Sometimes even going up hill sides where you knew they couldn't grow anything. Although there was usually sheep or cows on the hill sides. I have never seen so many sheep in my life. And that is saying a lot considering I grew up across the street from them.

A thatched roof house. As the thatching starts to wear out they just add more, and pretty soon the chimneys look like they are sinking. When it is just the thatching climbing up the sides.

This was one of my favorite signs. It was in the middle of a town and you will notice that it is in English and Gaelic.

This is a Peat Bog. Peat is ground where over thousands of years the foliage has compacted. When you walk on it it is squeashy like a sponge. They form it into bricks and then dry it. They then use it for fuel to burn. We really thought that it would stink, but it doesn't. Not even when you burn it. The white you see is Bog Cotton. It is a plant that grows in the bogs and looks just like cotton. In fact they use it to make things.

Bob and the peat bricks. They were just plain strange.

The Cliffs of Moher! We were trying to figure out how to take a picture with the two of us together. I know, we are not too good at this. The hard part is trying not to make a weird face or squint.

I finally had Bob take one with me in front. This is only half of the cliffs, if you scanned the other way they went just as far. It was breath taking.

This is a Castle at the top of the cliffs. See what I meant about not making funny faces.

This is Kylemore Abby. This was one of the selling points for me on taking this tour. It really was pretty. It is a Castle, but when the royality left they sold it to the church. It is now an Abby and a private girls school. We got to tour the bottom floors but the rest is still in use. I have forgotten the name of this flower. But it grows wild like weeds. It is everywhere. All along the road side and across the fields.

This is Ross Castle by Killarney. We took a Jaunting Car ride (horse and cart) into the Killarney National Park to see it.

Here we are outside of the Ross Castle. We had another couple take this picture for us, the only problem is all you can see is rocks.

Ireland is the greenest place I have ever seen. I guess that is because of all the rain they have. However it only rained on us three times. And even those weren't bad. (Not nearly as much rain as they had at home while we were gone.)

This is the Blarney Castle. I was just sure that I was going to kiss the blarney stone. So we climb all the way to the top. Fun spiral stairs going up, up, up. And then down, down, down. Scarier going down than up.

This is the top. You can see at the back where people are lying on their backs and sliding upside down to kiss the blarney stone. After watching them and considering the many, many people who had put their lips on that spot just that day already, I decided I really didn't want to kiss it. Besides I kind of figure that Bob and I already have a pretty good gift of gab.

This is part of the view from the top. That alone was worth the climb.

More of the lush green scenery. With ocean in the background.

These Castles were everywhere. This is just one that was along the road. We would see these newer farm houses and there next to it would be a Castle ruin. It was like they just belonged together.

I think this one is the best. If you look real hard you can see the FOR SALE sign on the front. It really was for sale!

This is in the town of Cobh (pronounced Cove). It was the last boarding port for the Titanic before it started across the ocean.

This is the building where the passengers waited. But the movie is wrong, because the Titanic itself never actually came into the port. The passengers were ferried out to the ship.

This ship is a replica made of the imigration ships that came to America. The Kenndeys came from Ireland on a ship like this and they had this one built to show people how it really was.

Ringing the bell on the ship. Bob really did ring it, and scared us all. It was really loud!

This is the Round Tower, (what is left of the castle) at Glendalough Monastary. It was built in the 6th century. It was amazing what good shape it is still in. Our last night they took us to the Abbey Tavern. We had a wonderful meal and entertainment. This great group did the music and sang and we even had step dancers. Bob prefers to call them dancers that are paralyzef from the waist up.
Our last look of Ireland as we head for home.
It truly was a wonderful trip. Our hotels were grand, and our breakfasts and dinners were all at the hotels. They were really good! Any signs of dieting went straight out the window. I am so glad that we went when we did. And would definately reccommend it to anyone.