The Emerald Isle, Day 3

On our third day we woke up in a super cute little town called Dingle.  It is the kind of town that I would love to wander about in, driving my husband crazy looking at all the stores.  But, we didn’t really have time for window shopping (insert a smiling Glenn here) and so we hit the road.  FIrst we drove around the ring of Dingle.  An extra bonus was that, for the first time, we actually saw the sun in ireland.  And blue skies.  hizzah. 

Our view from the B&B

Our Dingle B&B

These are the Beehives.  They are prehistoric buildings that have been lived in for centuries and, to this day, are still waterproof.  

Isn’t she pretty?

See the stone walls? They’re everywhere!

From here we drove to Killarney (apparently there are some amazing sights to see in the surrounding area, but we only had time for the city itself) and then to Cork, where we saw Blarney Castle- but only from a distance.  We arrived 30 minutes after their last tour.  Cork is a nice city though, it’s pretty large and was all decked out for Christmas.  

We popped into a cute pub for a little bit before driving back to Dublin that night.

It’s one of the few appropriate places to hang out with children in the evenings. obviously.

"…you have a baby!….in a bar!" (name that movie)

We’re gonna be great parents one day.

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The Emerald Isle, Day 1 & 2

"They say mother earth is breathing, with each wave that finds the shore

Her soul rises in the evening, for to open twilight’s door.

Her eyes are the stars in heaven, watching o’r us all the while,

and her heart it is in Ireland- Deep within the Emerald Isle."

A couple weeks ago G and I met up with Rob, Linds and kiddos (my brother and his family) for a long weekend whirlwind tour of Ireland.  We had a really great time.

After braving our Ryan Air flights (discount airline, discount pilots) into Dublin’s airport we all jumped into our rental car and headed for Galway, which if you look at a map, is almost a straight line west across the country to the other side.  (I’ve marked all our destinations in red stars)

 

Lesson 1- After 6pm it is pitch black outside (you’d swear it was midnight).  You’d think we would have anticipated this, seeing how this is the case in both Belgium and England at the moment but for some reason it still took us by surprise a little.  All that to say the landscape across the country could be beautiful or could be a dud, I don’t know because all I saw was black.  It was fun catching up in the car though.

Lesson 2- When visiting Ireland always stay in Bed and Breakfasts.  They are a great price and the Irish are extremely friendly, which means that you’ll have interesting conversations everywhere you go.  We were a little nervous that it might be difficult to find B&Bs.  Not so much.  How should I compare?  Ratio wise- there are about as many B&Bs in Ireland as there are coffee shops in New York.  The first night we arrived the entire street were all B&B’s!   

The next day drove around Galway and then headed down the coast seeing the sights to eventually end up in a town called Dingle that evening.  Ireland has tons of ruins, so we made several stops along the way- taking photos, getting coffee, letting the kiddos see the boats and castles.

Isn’t it amazing how low the tide gets?  That evening they were anticipating FLOODING over the walls, and 6 hours earlier it looks like this.  Crazy!

See the castle in the background?

Us walking around the castle

Lesson 3: Always, always, always make time for puddle jumping.  

Lesson 4: Always, always, always leave time for the expected to happen.  Who knows when you’re gonna get stuck behind a herd of cattle?  (This is especially important while in Alabama- cause this obviously happens all the time there)

An abandoned fortress of some kind.

THE CLIFFS OF MOHER

The cliffs of Moher are pretty incredible, I’d definitely recommend seeing them if ever you’re in Ireland.  Spaning for miles, the cliffs reach up to 702 feet about the water. These are the cliffs that you’d see in “The Princess Bride" (inconceivable!) and “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince." I was told that they were voted as one of the “New Seven Wonders of Nature"- ooo lala.

In my mind they were the epitome of what I imagined Ireland was supposed to be like, so seeing them was pretty cool.

According to Wikipedia, a few people die here every year.  According to the locals, they’re always Americans.

a few more castles for your viewing pleasure :)

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My mom and Granny flew into Belgium from Australia today. I do not get to see them until next week when G and I head back over to the “mainland" for Thanksgiving.  

Welcome to Europe, Granny and GG!  Can’t wait to see you!

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Pen to Paper, Fingers to Keyboard, Heart to Sleeve

I love to read.  I’m not a snobby reader either. I like all genres- fiction, non fiction, romance, mystery, even some sci-fi.  I just love getting lost in a good story.  And i mean lost.  You see, I tend to forget about the rest of the world.  The floor is a mess, dinner won’t happen, I can’t hear anything anyone says to me, and I don’t want to mention how I will sneak it into work.  Several interventions orchestrated by my dear husband have helped, but on the whole I’m still pretty bad.  It’s just that there is something de-lish-ious about a good story.  

Lately I’ve started getting involved in a whole new realm of story: blogs.  I’ve always struggled with the concept of a blog, mainly because I have this nagging feeling that the writer must be  flamboyant narcissist.  I mean really, who puts their thoughts out there thinking that the whole world is interested?  What a me-centric culture we live in.  (I’m sure this thought process was accentuated by the fact that he majority of my friends don’t even update their Facebook.  It’s like they don’t realize that their 2nd cousin’s nephew is interested in what they did last summer.  I have to call to find out what they’re up to)

But then I started to actually read the blogs, and not just judge them. And I realized that here was a brand new genre.  One that is mostly honest and gritty and funny and, most of all, it is real life.  No, it is not perfect, there will be spelling errors.  And yes, there are some narcissists others who wont stop complaining and still more who just give out too much information.  But there’s also a lot of good material out there.  Perspectives about life that are challenging and encouraging.  

A year passes by.  

And then I decided to write my own blog.  This is why we don’t judge- it always come back to bite you.  Good thing I repented a long time ago.

I found a new blog today that I fell in love with.  It’s written by a woman who leaves LA and falls in love with a cattle rancher.  The blog is about her life- the readjustments and crazyness that accompany living on a ranch.  My favorite part is her love story (which, I discovered later is going to be published as a book.  It comes out in the spring).  It’s rather long but she’s a great writer and well worth the read.  You can find it here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/category/black-heels-to-tractor-wheels/?posts_per_page=60#archive-posts

I also think that she and I could be best friends.  But that’s mainly because she did this: http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2006/06/calf_nuts_on_a_/

And I think that’s funny.

Here is another true life love story that I really enjoyed:

http://travisjenny.blogspot.com/p/our-story.html

I don’t know Jenny, but she is friends with my brother and sister in law.  Maybe I’m crazy for passing on her story but I don’t care.  That’s what you get for putting your thoughts on the world wide web.  

The story of her daughter is also beautiful:

http://travisjenny.blogspot.com/p/bellas-story.html

I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I have!

ps- 

Over the past few years I’ve kicked around the notion of writing down mine and G’s story.  We always talk about our various “chapters."  It’s not that I’m anxious to share all with the world, but I think it would be sweet to have something to look back on and remember with.  Also, maybe my grandkids would like it.  You know, when they get all old and mature and sentimental.  It could happen.   

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We stopped by town hall while in Oxford and got to hear this.  Enjoy!

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The Cotswolds

The Cotswolds are a region in southwest England known for it’s wool, rolling hillsides, and quaint villages.  The villages are built mainly from the local stone, and you see home after home built from the beautiful, pinkish-yellow rock.  It is your quintessential, stereotypical England.  Here are a few shots of the local area:

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