Ireland

We started out by flying from Houston to London to Shannon.  It was an exhausting haul, but we got to watch movies sooo.

These are some pics from the Ring of Kerry.  Ireland is absolutely gorgeous.  It does remind me a lot of the Texas Hill Country only greener.  Much greener.

This was an

interesting little stop.  There were vendors set up on the side of the road, selling everything from art to produce.  There was even a dog on a donkey.

 

 

We started in the town of Kilarney, which was pretty nifty, but if I put pics of every place we went, I'd break the internet and bore myself, so as it turns out, I'm a liar-the abridged version is what's going on.

 

We wound up at Blarney Castle a couple days after our arrival.  It was pretty stinkin' amazing.  If you get to live in a place that has castles, it's not a big deal I'm sure.  Since Texas isn't really known for it's castles, I was in awe of this place!

 That little thing right there at the end of the grumpy old man's stick is the Blarney Stone.  If you kiss it, you're supposed to be endowed with the gift of gab and eloquent speech.  You lay down on your back and scootch up to it and plant one with your bare lips right on the rock. I'm not chatty and don't care to be and I'm a bit of a germophobe so I said no flippin way.  I don't think they disinfect it regularly.

 

 

 

 

 

 In one of the "windows".

 

 Fairy House

 

Since we were in Ireland, I expected to catch a glimpse of a Leprechaun or two.  This right here is the closest I got.

 

iPhone pano at the top of the castle. The Blarney Stone is by the crowd to the right.

 

Next was the Rock of Cashel.  It was closed for renovation but it looked cool from the outside. If you look in the center of the pic, you'll see a pack of kids.  They decided to see what was on the other side.  Never mind that they had to climb a fence to see it.

 

 

They were gone a good while, but one girl came back quicker than the others.  If you've ever met bull nettle, you'll know it is nasty, painful stuff.  I figured Texas was the only place to have such a wicked plant, but 'tis not so.  Ireland has a version of that stuff and Abby found it.  She wasn't interested in seeing what else was behind the fence.

 
We finally made it to Dublin and hit St. Patrick's Cathedral.  It was impressive, but I think they NYC one is bigger.

I enjoyed learning more about Jonathan Swift.  I remember reading his story about eating Irish children called a Modest Proposal.  If you haven't read it, I suggest it. 



This is the old library at Trinity College.  Most impressive for a book fanatic like me.  It smelled heavenly.  I wish I had a room in my house like this.

 

 

Their brains expanded some while looking at the books.

 

 

 

 

One of the things I liked most about these cities was the street performers.  You get a pretty good show for a little pocket change.

In Dublin

View on a Dublin Street

 I did see lots of homeless people.  Here is some prose from one of them.

I love vintage clothes.  One of my missions was to hit resale shops and boutiques to see what I could find.  Sadly, I didn't get to any resale/thrift shops, but this little boutique was the sweetest thing.  The lady working in there spent a little time talking to the girls.  For some reason, the conversation got to dancing so they showed her how to two-step.  So if two-stepping takes off in Dublin, you'll know where it got it's start.

These living statues scared the crap of me.

Tomorrow, we'll go to Wales!