Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Some pictures from Ireland . . .

Well, I am back! We had a fantastic trip and saw so many beautiful things. I took over 1300 pictures!! It was hard to chose, but I have chosen a few here to highlight the trip. We sang four scheduled concerts and some impromptu ones as well. The scenery is so gorgeous and my pictures do not do Ireland justice at all, but they are what I have to remember the trip. I will definitely be going back and taking the whole family next time. My daughter loved it even more than I did, and did not want to come home!

Put your mouse on top of any picture to see the caption!

Some quick trip thoughts:
There are more ways than I thought possible to fix potatoes.
40 shades of green is probably not enough to describe all of the colors of the Emerald Isle.
Musicians and dancers from Riverdance, Lord of the Dance and the Chieftains in your hotel ballroom performing a two hour concert is an incredibly special treat.
I have never smelled fresher air.
Seeing an Irish cow, horse, dog, cat, and one of the 9 million sheep is way more exciting than seeing the same animals at home.
Our country is so very young.
Diet Coke is Diet Coke everywhere! (Although much more expensive there!)
Education in Ireland is much higher quality than in the U.S. (I say that as a teacher!)
Shopping makes for happy women everywhere. (And the shopping is fabulous there!)
Pubs have great food, music, and are on just about every corner.
McDonald's has invaded the world.
The Book of Kells is a magnificent work of art and life.
Our coach driver knows more about the history of Ireland spanning three thousand years than I do about America's two hundred. :(
Roundabouts are a better system than exits.
Narrow roads make for increased heart rates.
What a beautiful world we live in.

20 comments:

  1. Welcome back my friend. Looks like it was an amazing trip!

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  2. Welcome back. I love your pictures. I hope to get there one day. Hope all is well in your home town.

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  3. gorgeous pictures! so envious of your trip :)

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  4. Welcome back! Wow, those are some gorgeous pics!!! Looks amazing! I'm so glad you had a great time!

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  5. What a fantastic trip. I loved viewing the pictures.

    Did you find any stamp stores?

    Thank you.

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  6. How is education better? What or how are the children taught that is different than here in the States?

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  7. Absolutely breath-taking photos. My husband was lucky enough to go to Ireland years ago...I'd like to get there someday. It looks amazing. Glad you had such a great time and made it home safely.

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  8. Sound like you had an awesome time, the picture that I did see are awesome. I owuld of loved to of been there. Stac

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  9. Welcome back Judy! So glad to hear you had a FAB time and I'm sorry to hear about your beautiful trees! Chat with you soon!

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  10. Welcome home, friend! Your pics are fab. I love seeing the pics of the Abbey.

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  11. Great pics! looks very similar to the ones we took when we were there last June! We were at that pub - that you labelled Thatched roof - but it was yellow then - it looks so fresh and clean in white! Looks like you had nice sunny weather too! welcome back!

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  12. Great pics! Ireland is my number one pick in the world to visit!

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  13. Wow!!! What a fabulous trip and amazing photos!!! I loved your commentary.......OMG....you are so right about how little we know about our own history!! What a truly memorable and special trip!!

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  14. Thanks for the wonderful pictoral tour of Ireland. Great photos and info.

    Bev J. (Maxell on SCS)

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  15. Totally enjoyed your pics...you did an awesome job taking them !!!
    beautiful country, judy !!!!!
    tfs:)
    chat
    welcome home !!!!

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  16. How amazing!! Beautiful pictures!! I am green!! :)

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  17. Judy...what an awesome experience for you! Your pics are fabulous and only increase my longing to visit that extraordinary country. Thanks for sharing the pics and your "learned facts". Glad your home and stamping again though!!

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  18. I loved looking through your photos - I got to visit Ireland a couple years back, this brought back some great memories! Glad you had a wonderful time! You might like to look through my scrapbook I posted a few months ago :-)
    http://stampinlibby.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-ireland-scrapbook.html
    Your comment about potatoes really made me laugh - on our last night in Ireland my husband ordered a dinner that came with, I kid you not, THREE different types of potatoes - mashed, boiled & french fries! It really cracked us up!

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  19. Thanks for telling me the slideshow was on your blog. It's nice to see how other people perceive where you live yourself! And yes, I recognised a good few places. But gosh, you did well with the Cliffs of Moher. We've been about 5 times and every time it's been too cloudy and misty to see down.
    I agree that roundabouts work well (I can't get my head round the American junctions, they totally scared me), but unfortunately a lot of people don't know how to use them. I think we have always had a good education system - one of the reasons a lot of international (American!!) companies invested here (along with tax incentives), but I am appalled at the standard of spelling and grammar on some of the forums over here so these days I wonder about it. I am glad you had such a good time over here.

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  20. Great card and verse, and I LOVED the slideshow of Ireland! My Father is 100% Irish, and I have always wanted to go there.....Oh, and for Cook22, I am from the Midwest- where we are famous for ending our sentences with prepositions......When I go to Ireland, would you like to go with?.....hahahaha Happy St Paddy's Day!
    Shelly Schmidt

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