# OMG, Totally Loved Ireland!



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

I am a bit bummed at the moment as now I am back home in the States.  See, I had spent a little less than 3 weeks traveling all over Ireland (both the Rep. and the North) and 5 days in London.  Though London had it's own great moments, I was totally suprised by how much I adored Ireland!  I was part of a tour group and it was grand!  Starting off in Dublin and then proceeding further southward in a clockwise motion along the coast and seeing the major cities along the way.  I loved the locals (met many who just made me laugh and many who were eccentric) and having a brekfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon at the B&Bs that we stayed in.  I loved exploring Dublin (Temple Bar, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Moore Street, Grafton Street, St. Stephen's Green park, and walking along the River Liffey).  Heading over to see the Rock of Cashel, and enjoying the pubs of places such as Dingle and Kinsale.  I saw MANY cows, horses, and sheep with color coding on their wool.  Our coach managed not to run over any and the narrow roads remarkably well!  Enjoyed to rich green (greener than Seattle and we're called the Emerald City) of the fields with lots of rock frencing, and had many rainbows and sunshine right through the clouds.  One local guide let us lay down on his patch of land that was on a hill (well, they call it a mountain), look up at the sky for 5 mintues and breathe in one of the freshest air we will ever get due to their location in Burren.  Then we enjoyed the rich clear oceans and the way the water crashed on to the various rocky cliffs on the western side.  Taking a walk from Charles Fort to the town of Kinsale brought us Seattle natives a bit closer to the feeling of home taking in the nature and smelling the salt water from the ocean on our right.  Oh, and how could one forget the fantastic view from the Cliffs of Moher and the strong winds from everywhere that in one place nearly pushed me over the edge!  Oh, and the stone structure of Gallus Oratory...wow!

Then seeing the contrast of the North was cool.  Seeing Derry/Londonderry for the first time after only reading and seeing it on TV...it was so much fun.  Our local guide talked to us about the "Troubles" and saw the many murals along the city depicting the bloody history.  Coincidentally we were there the same time as Bill Clinton (checking up on the peace truce) so it was a bit hectic.  Garvin our guide sashayed along the wall that divided the land explaining to us that this was where to term catwalk came from.  My other favorite spots in Northern Ireland was Giant's Causeway where I climbed up the hexagonal rocks as high as I could go causing some people to worry...and Cerrick-A-Rede (spell check) rope bridge and trying my best step on sheep poop and avoid the stressed out sheep who tried to figure out how to get back in to the barb fencing.  I eve left my first grafiti mark on the peace wall in Belfast on Sackville Street's "peace wall"...we were allowed to it wasn't vandalism.  Though it was suprised to hear of the IRA bombing in Derry/Londonderry not too long after we had departed Ireland...it hit me hard knowing the history more and how promising the truce was going...  

Loved the music in the various pubs with crazy craic and drinking pints of Guiness (it really does taste much better there).  I definately want to go back!  It definately is true, once you experience Ireland once, you always want to go back again.  I want to learn Irish (yes, it actually a language of Irish Gaelic) and speak to the locals in the Gaeltacht areas like Dingle and say more than "go raibh maith agat" (thank you), "slan" (bye), and "conas ta tu?" (How are you?).

Ah, I miss it already!

Tris

P.S.
In honor of my tour guide: "Up Cork!"


----------



## Lomiel (Oct 3, 2010)

I was in Ireland for a week this summer--Belfast, Dublin, Galway, and Kilarney--and loved it as well. It is such a gorgeous country. I especially liked the southwest bit, and I was very sad to only have a couple days there. The people there are just delightful, as well. Irish Gaelic is definitely on my "languages to study" list, although that list is admittedly pretty long!

Say hi to Seattle for me, would you please? I'm away for a year in Germany and I'm starting to have Starbucks cravings


----------



## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

Yeah!    I used to live by St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Glad you enjoyed your stay.


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Starbucks?  Ha-ha, Starbucks is worldwide though!  You must be in a very rural part of Germany because I see Starbucks at the most random of places.  Like McDonalds and Burger King (all of which my mom loved to point them out to me).  

I can't believe you had such a short time!  We had 2 weeks and felt it could have been longer and could have stayed there for a month or more!  Infact I am thinking about going back to school and study abroad in Ireland.  We were there at Trinity University for Fresher's week (we were there to see the Book of Kells and the old library) and it looked awesome!  Did you go there?  I had a laugh as my tour guide looked around for some of the "authority" on campus, and when the coast was clear he rotated the statue of the globe for us.

I want to go back to Dublin and check out what I missed like the Guiness Storehouse, #29, Newgrange, and Wicklow Mountains...perhaps check out Dun Laogohaire.

Now if I can get "Wild Rover" song out of my head...

Tris


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

farrellclaire said:


> Yeah!  I used to live by St. Patrick's Cathedral. Glad you enjoyed your stay.


Really?! Lucky you, I loved walking in the garden and liked it more than Christchurch (our hotel, the Harding Hotel, was right across the street). It was the first time people kept calling me "love" and I felt bad being € 00.50 short but was told "Oh, you're okay Love."

Do you know the schedule Christchurch ring's it bell? My mom thought it was every hour and every quarter hour...but sometimes it seems very random even during the evening.

Tris


----------



## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

Tris said:


> Really?! Lucky you, I loved walking in the garden and liked it more than Christchurch (our hotel, the Harding Hotel, was right across the street). It was the first time people kept calling me "love" and I felt bad being € 00.50 short but was told "Oh, you're okay Love."
> 
> Do you know the schedule Christchurch ring's it bell? My mom thought it was every hour and every quarter hour...but sometimes it seems very random even during the evening.
> 
> Tris


I don't know the schedule come to think of it. It does sound random but they have a regular routine plus extras on special occasions.  Christchurch gets all the business, I think tourists only hear about St. Patrick's Cathedral because of the viking boat tour.

I now live by Guinness Storehouse btw, I've grown up around all the sightseeing places. You should go to Kilmainham Jail next time, (I used to live by there too) it's my favourite bit of history.


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Farrellclaire,

I definately saw Kilmainham Gaol, and it so interesting!  I knew very basic Irish history (Michael Collins, Eamon de Velara, Easter Rising 1916, etc.) so I knee a bit going in, but the fact that children young as 5-8 were at there...for being poor and probably stealing food because they were starving...wow.  Then the over crowding and the stench!  You could almost hear the pain and suffering the people in Kilmainham had, very moving and deeply saddening.  Ironically it was suppose to be the most modern of jails too.  Our guide told us that the prefix "kil" in any name is suppose to mean "church" or that a church existed there once.  So our group thought it was a bit ironic to have "church" in a name for a jail.

I don't know what was going on in Christchurch but the ringing at the odd times
was wierd.  I agree that it was a huge tourist area, but isn't it the oldest?  

Staying at the edge and infront of Christchurch wasn't bad at all.  You couldn't really hear the pubs and it was quieter than the Jury's Inn further up the road.  Jury's Inn had a lot of people going in and out, but that could be because of the Gaelic Football final playing (Cork V. Down).  Our guide, who is from Cork, was totally beaming and everyone at the hotel who knew him kept saying "he must be the happiest man on Earth today."  At the end of the tour we had stayed in the same hotel and that was the night we kept on hearing the random church bells from Christchurch.  We also heard some VERY bad kareoke, but it didn't stop us from passing out as we were exhausted.

Since you live in Dublin, is it hard to live there affordibly and easily?  The DART doesn't seem to really go in to all of Dublin (probably due to the River Liffey cutting the city in half)...but one of my tour friends told me you can't just wait at the bus stop
but wave or put out your arm like you are hailing a cab for the bus to stop.  I'm thinking about attending school in Dublin, so I am very curious.  My London friend who is also pondering a move to Dublin told me that the flat prices are about par with prices in London!  Tommy Martin(?) our local guide in Dublin says that the more affluent people in Dublin live in the northern half of the River Liffey, and the more artsy and working class live south of the river.  Is this true because then you must be fairly well off?  

How is the Guiness Storehouse?  I have been hearing mixed reviews.  I didn't go because my mom was on the trip with me and she thinks drinking (even though you're of age and not drunk) is...not good...got dirty looks when I went out to pubs.  I wanted to see how it was processes which I am told is not shown, but instead you get a bunch of historical adverts that the company had through the years.  Everyone says that the pint with the tour on top of the building is the best part...but you don't have to take the tour for that and it's the best view of the city.

My group saw Phoenix Park and went to the large cross where a very much younger Pope John Paul preached and saw the house/entance gate of Ireland's president as well
as the US ambassador's residence which was pretty much right next door.  We were
also told that we could see some wild deer in the park (not part of the zoo) but I think we one saw 1-2.

Dublin was so cool!  I gotta go back! 

Tris


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

It's been about a decade since I was in Ireland, but it truly was the greenest place on earth I've ever seen - and I'm from the Midwest, so it's not like we have a shortage of grass and trees here.

I saw the wall in Belfast, too, and heard the stories of the violence and border checkpoints, but by then everything was very peaceful.  My favorite part was running down the dunes at the Strand at Portrush and the Giant's Causeway.


----------



## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

LOL @ the bad karaoke, I hear quite a bit of that over here too.   

Yes, it is old.  Because there is so much heritage around the area, it's been built up as a major tourist attraction.  Even my old house used to be part of the tours, it was brand new but the tour bus used to go by and mention the place.   

Dublin is very expensive, the cost of living did go down a bit with the recession.  Before that, it was madness.  But there are plenty of places to get cheap things now if you look.  It's a lot better than it used to be, trust me!  I think we're still one of the most expensive cities in Europe though.

It depends on what part of Dublin you live in but for me, the dart isn't necessary.  Most things I need are within walking distance.  If not, there's the bus or the LUAS tram.  And yes, you do have to put your hand out for the bus.   

Don't mind your tour guide.    I live in a poorer area but there's well off and poverty stricken on both sides of the Liffey.  They like weaving a tale, those guides.   

I've always liked the Storehouse, I love the smell, everything.  I can see the bar from my bedroom window, it's so pretty at night.  I haven't been there in a looooong time.

I only go to the Phoenix Park these days for the Zoo but yep, there's a good few deer roaming around in there.

You really soaked it all in!  You know more about Dublin than most Dubs.  LOL


----------



## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

I've always wanted to go to Ireland and now you've made me want it even more. Thanks for your really nice descriptions.

Linda


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Farrellclaire, 

Ha, thanks for the compliment!  I was in Dublin for about 3-4 days (we were told to arrive a day or 2 before the tour), and read the entire guidebook that our tour would be based on (Aka. Tour Bible).  So perhaps that helped.  Our main tour group guide was great and told us a lot of information as well...many times his information was also repeated again by the local guides.

I just fell completely head over heel in Ireland.  It already felt a bit like home, Seattle, and walking all over the cities both major and not so major was grand.  I mean we were in the major city of Dublin, then down to the Rock of Cashel, then to the small town of Kinsale, then Dingle, etc.  We were shown the spot where Micheal Collins was killed, suggested great pubs, checked out the bogs (and did a "bog hop")...we did stuff and enjoyed the fact the not only did we get an overview of the country (both Rep. and North) and didn't see many other tour groups.  Plus we had free time to explore on our own and unless it meant us traveling to the next city, it was not mandatory.

One of my tour friends was mainly raised in the city, and saw her first real cow and farm in Ireland.  When she found out our coach driver was from the Dingle area she grilled him on cows and even went to a cattle auction he was going to sell some of his cows at...infact a lot of us wanted to go (only we ran out time checking out another part of Dingle and enjoying an impromptu music session at a local record store owned/run by a good friend of our guide).  We all saw our driver's farm as we drove out of Dingle which was fun!

Ah, I gush!  I am glad I kept a journal and between my mom and I, taken a lot of pictures.  We have CDs of the different singer at the various pubs we went to, and just tried to soak it all up.  Oh and of course we all had a pint (or half a pint of beer or something) to celebrate Authur Guiness day, even though we were late due to our coach ride into Dingle.

I know it is suppose to be major touristy thing for women to drink Guiness, but I loved it and hate lighter beers like Carlsberg.  I love stout and ales...the dark stuff, what can I say?!  Especially the creamy foam on top which I hear you can't just drink it all first as it's not a proper way to drink a Guiness...and you should finish the pint before the foam disappears and all the dark beer remains.  But that came from our other coach driver (we had to switch in the middle due to some unforseen hiccup) and he was also joking around telling us that he was a leperchaun at night after he goes to bed...ha-ha!

Tris


----------



## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Tris-

PICTURES?


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

LCEvans said:


> I've always wanted to go to Ireland and now you've made me want it even more. Thanks for your really nice descriptions.
> 
> Linda


What's stopping you?! I too kept going "one day" but being a complete and utter work-aholic my doctor gave me a real big kick in the butt about the dangerous path I was going down. So I said "why the bloody heck not!?" I mean I don't want to be in my mid-to late 60's, retire, and THEN see the world (no offense to those who are doing it this way)! Everyone in my tour group was in their late 50s to mid-60's...and told me "you are so lucky to do it now as a 'young person' because you have the stamina to go on and on. I wish I too came at your age." I am wierd because my family has traveled A LOT! I hear stories and see pictures or the Travel Channel on TV, moved around a lot...I felt claustrophobic in my life and in my own State.

So I took a tour of a place I always wanted to go and knew little about. My passport was renewed and next thing I know I was off to Ireland! It was one of the best things I could've done as well as trying to fit in as a local in every place we visited...I even started to develope an accent!

Now I am trying to figure out how to learn Irish and my tour friends who live in and around my neighbrohood are arranging a small pub crawl. It definately won't be the same, but it's a way to keep reconnecting and remembering Ireland.

Ferellclaire, who knows...maybe I'll be like the Normans and become more Irish than the local Irish?! Ha-ha!

Tris


----------



## Lomiel (Oct 3, 2010)

Hi Tris--

I only had a week in Ireland because I'd been traveling the whole summer in England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Ireland was the last leg of the trip before returning to Germany for the rest of the year, but I definitely wanted to stay longer. My grandmother is Irish and although we don't have any family traditions or ties that I know of to Ireland (besides the mandatory corned beef on St Patrick's ), I felt very at home there and very intrigued by the culture.

This summer was my second time in Dublin, and although I liked it more the first time, I enjoyed it this time as well. Trinity is really my favorite place in the city; I could hang around looking at the Book of Kells and the Long Room for hours. I'm an amateur bookbinder, too, as well as a bibliophile, so I just melt into a puddle of happy goo over old books!

I spent my day in Dublin with a local who'd been to very few of the "sights" in her city despite having lived there her whole life. We both went to Kilmainham for the first time together. It's amazing that a place that is now so silent and clean was witness to so much pain and despair. Somehow, you can still taste it in the air.

Anyway, you're right--I'm in a very rural part of Germany and I haven't seen a Starbucks in over a month!  Usually, wherever I am in the world, I can stave off any homesickness by just inhaling the smell of coffee and caramel that every Starbucks has--don't even need to buy something!--but I've been cut off from my usual supply of coffee and have been forced to resort to tea. It's all very traumatizing.


----------



## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

Tris, my nanny drinks Guinness.  LOL.  Ick, sorry but I am not a fan of it.  My doc told me to drink some while I was pregnant.  It's not bad when it's fresh but after a few sips I start shuddering.  I know quite a few women who drink it with blackcurrant though.

It's so nice to hear people going away with good impressions.  Not everyone does.

And I can't tell you how amazing it is to hear someone say they want to learn Irish when most Irish people think it's an unnecessary subject in school.  (Don't get me started!)  I've lost most of the Irish I learned at school so I'm looking forward to my own children (hopefully) getting a chance to learn it.

Lomiel, there's definitely an atmosphere at Kilmainham jail.  It makes me shiver.

Most locals haven't been to a lot of the places around, except maybe on school trips.  The only reason I have is because my mother dragged us around everywhere as kids.  Not that I complained, I loved it.


----------



## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Tris I just have to say I am completely & totally JEALOUS of you. Ireland is the #1 country on the top of my list of places I want to see someday. and I don't mean for a week or 2.. I mean like spend a couple of MONTHS there travelling all over.


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

scarlet said:


> Tris-
> 
> PICTURES?


Um, I don't know I have so many! I still haven't figured out how to upload them here, let alone pick which ones.

Tris


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Lomiel...

Wow, you're SO lucky!  I was away for a little less than 3 weeks and saw Ireland and London.  I wish I had the money to do what you did!

How is it going?

Tris


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

BTackitt,

Oh, I am so with you on spending more than 2 weeks!  I could spend over a year there!  It's a bit odd because I definately do not have any connections to Ireland what so ever.  In fact I completely stuck out as soon as I took the second leg of our flight from Newark to Dublin.  I went in completely not knowing what to expect, so I guess that's why I enjoyed it so much?  But I am thankful of what I had as it was a great time and a good way to get an overview of a interesting country.

Tris


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

FarrellClaire,

No way, they are thinking about taking it out of school?  Didn't that happen during the "great hunger" period?  I mean wasn't that how Irish became slowly forgotten as the children weren't allowed to speak it as their teachers would hit them everytime it was spoken?  I remember that the children had to wear a tally stick which would count how many times they spoke Irish to be punished at then of the day for each count.  If I recall correctly, the reasoning was that everyone was emigrating to North America where the language was English, so the people believed that learning english was more important as they were all moving away anyway.

That's so sad!  I wish it was easy for me to learn as I can only find a few places which are in downtown which is difficult for me to get over to.


----------



## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Tris said:


> Um, I don't know I have so many! I still haven't figured out how to upload them here, let alone pick which ones.
> 
> Tris


You'll need to upload them to a photobucket or other on-line account, and then you can post the URL to the album or just give us a few to look at...

PLEASE! pretty please....


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

scarlet said:


> You'll need to upload them to a photobucket or other on-line account, and then you can post the URL to the album or just give us a few to look at...
> 
> PLEASE! pretty please....


I used to have a flickr account and tried to upload just ONE picture and it took so long and STILL didn't work so I gave up.

Sorry.

Tris


----------



## Cathymw (May 27, 2010)

Tris, you sound like I did after I went to Ireland in 2006.  I came home being my own little tourism board for Ireland.  Your enthusiasm is also ringing in this thread.

I LOVED Ireland.  I'm so jealous that you managed to be there for 3 weeks (I was in Ireland for 10 days) AND got to Northern Ireland.  I really wanted to see the Giant's Causeway, but my traveling companion didn't want to risk Northern Ireland (although I told him it was safe.)

The country is absolutely gorgeous, but it really was the people that I adored.  My friend that went with me had family in Ireland since his grandfather had emigrated from there. So we got meet his "cousins" and they treated us with such hospitality. Then recommended other people along the way who treated us like family.

They even gave us some pot (Irish moonshine) to take with us.  I sooo want to go back.


----------



## Sean Patrick Reardon (Sep 30, 2010)

This is one cool thread. There is so much great writing coming out of Ireland, especially crime fiction. Stuart Neville, Adrian McKinty, Declan Burke, Arlene Hunt, and Tara French, to name a few of the more contemporary writers. Me and my buddy are heading to the North over the Thanksgiving Holidays. He was born there and has a lot of friends family over there.  He tells me I might have to be known as Steve though


----------



## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

Tris said:


> FarrellClaire,
> 
> No way, they are thinking about taking it out of school? Didn't that happen during the "great hunger" period? I mean wasn't that how Irish became slowly forgotten as the children weren't allowed to speak it as their teachers would hit them everytime it was spoken? I remember that the children had to wear a tally stick which would count how many times they spoke Irish to be punished at then of the day for each count. If I recall correctly, the reasoning was that everyone was emigrating to North America where the language was English, so the people believed that learning english was more important as they were all moving away anyway.
> 
> That's so sad! I wish it was easy for me to learn as I can only find a few places which are in downtown which is difficult for me to get over to.


I think they'll stop making it a requirement. My 6 year old has learned very little Irish so far and my 13 year old brother doesn't seem to get Irish homework at all. On the Irish parenting forums, most people are keen on it being cut altogether as they see it as a waste of time. I hope they won't cut it completely because the Gaelscoil near me has always been incredibly hard to get into. I wanted my children to go to an all Irish speaking school but I didn't put my eldest's name down in time and now it's easier for them all to go to the same schools.

People struggle to learn Irish. I remember in secondary school, for required subjects like English, Gaeilge and Maths, we took a test to be divided into honours and pass. You needed to score almost 90% to get into honours Maths while you only needed 55% to get into honours Irish. It's the way it is taught imo. It's taught in an extremely boring way whereas subjects like French are explained using fun, current methods. It needs an overhaul but I think it will be a shame if the language is lost.


----------



## Philip Chen (Aug 8, 2010)

What this thread needs is some great Irish music:


----------



## Lomiel (Oct 3, 2010)

farrellclaire said:


> And I can't tell you how amazing it is to hear someone say they want to learn Irish when most Irish people think it's an unnecessary subject in school. (Don't get me started!) I've lost most of the Irish I learned at school so I'm looking forward to my own children (hopefully) getting a chance to learn it.
> 
> Lomiel, there's definitely an atmosphere at Kilmainham jail. It makes me shiver.
> 
> Most locals haven't been to a lot of the places around, except maybe on school trips. The only reason I have is because my mother dragged us around everywhere as kids. Not that I complained, I loved it.


The language thing really is a shame--it's a gorgeous language with such a rich history. Unfortunately, it's just not a practical language to learn, and the drive to learn it has to come from the students and their families. It really is a tragedy that the language isn't taught with more fun and enthusiasm! That makes such a difference in students' motivations as well...

Besides Kilmainham Gaol, there were several places I went where you could really sense the fear and despair lingering in the air...the Cabinet War Rooms in London and the air raid tunnels in Stockport, for example. I wonder sometimes if the walls soak up some of the emotion and remember it--though they seem to lose it over time, since places like the Tower of London didn't have the same feeling. Although it's probably just my overactive imagination 

Tris--I was really lucky to be able to travel a bit this summer! I love traveling and I jumped at the chance when I learned I was moving to Germany this year. I'm off again tomorrow to Spain and Portugal for about 10 days and I'm quite excited. I really hope you get the chance to go back to Ireland again soon. I'd love to see pictures too when you get a chance!


----------



## bobavey (Sep 14, 2010)

I was in Ireland once, way back in my army days, but I couldn't get off the plane. We landed at the airport, in Belfast, I think, and we were there for nearly two hours, but the officers in charge would not allow us to depart. I'd love to go back some day when I can venture further than the tarmac.


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Well, two of my group did the same tour (just tweeked here and there) back in 1997.  They saw a different Ireland and definately higher security entering Northern Ireland.  It always amazes me how recent in history the "troubles" were.  

I was hearing a lot of optimism when we were in Derry/Londonderry.  So imagine my disheart upon hearing about a bombing killing or seriously injuring some police officers in Derry/Londonderry with the IRA taking credit.

Tris


----------



## angelmum3 (Sep 12, 2010)

Wow - what a great thread!

We really are hoping and saving to go to Ireland - then dh lost his job.... its on our must do list - my daughter is 14, and we're not getting any younger!  

I have been debating on 2 things, one a tour, or just renting a house in Dublin and spending the week from there?

I absolutely love the travel shows, Samantha Brown, Rick Steeves, et el - I think we fell in love with Ireland a long time ago - the music, and of course we love watching John Wayne The Quiet Man.  DD did Irish Dancing for a few years when she was younger...


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Angelmum3,

I went on Rick Steves' Eurooe Through the Back Door tour of Ireland.  I too wasn't sure if I would like it...but certian reasons doing the tour was the best choice.  My guide was very knowledgable and hilarious!  We tried to stump him with questions but he seemed to have an answer for everything.  One of the reasons I took the tour route is because I am a super work-aholic and lived a very stress filled life with no rest.  So to cut back on the stress, the tour was it.  I also saw more than I would on my own.

I can't rave about it enough!  I learned a lot without anything being shoved down my throat.  I love humor and got plenty of it...and we hung out in mostly the less touristy areas.  I was concerned that we would get utterly and completely lost without someone to meet us at the airport and whatnot, but I was super easy.  Not mention all of the free times you get and the flexibilty!

The main thing is to be prepared!  I studied the guidebook (highlights, scribbled notes, post-its, flags, etc.), listened to the country specific podcasts, and watched the videos on Hulu.  I knew what to do once we got off the plane and heading into Dublin.  

I would be happy to answer any questions about the tour. I knew I wished I had someone who actually went on the tour to answer my questions as it was my first tour.

Tris


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Oh and don't forget your Kindle, especially if it is an international version!  It was a very good tool while on the road!  I got to email and post updates for family/friends on facebook WHILE we were on the coach to our next location.  No one else could do that!

Tris


----------



## AnelaBelladonna (Apr 8, 2009)

I have never been to Ireland but have always felt such an afinity with it. I read lots of books about it and especially enjoy historical Irish novels. I _*WILL*_ go there one day.


----------



## P.A. Woodburn (May 22, 2010)

Having been born in Ireland and mostly lived there until my early twenties I enjoyed reading this. I must admit I haven't been to all of the places mentioned. Some of them I've been to many times. The last time I went we did take a few days to go to Killarney, Dublin, Dingle, Galway and no one mentioned the castles. We went round several castles. I went to these places with my American husband which was fun. We also went to the Giant's Causeway, Portrush and LOndonderry. The main reason for the visit was to see my aging father, and that was very sad. He died shortly after I left. 

I am not sure when I will go back. I have a lot of other countries on my list, and with this economy may not get out of USA.
Ann


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

I think how a majority of people think where they live is like the most mundane of all places.  Take me for example, sure Washington is fun at times, but man, it is very much a bubble!  Some days I want to run out and see more of the world.  That is one of the reasons that drove me to take a trip.  The first night my guide said "You know I've been to _____ (my city)."  I nearly choked on my last spoonful of Irish stew, and said in a completely shocked voice "WHY?!"  I think I had freaked him out, but I live in the suburbs...it's not really known as the place to go for foreigners/tourists.  Of all the places why my city?  It wasn't until later that he said he only driven through via a major freeway.  I told him "Ah-ha, that's what I thought!  That makes MORE sense!"

I'm glad I took the trip.  It gave me a great overview and makes me want to head back as soon as I can.  I think you are really lucky Ann, you've lived there.  It is such an interesting place!  The people are so funny and nice...even in the city.  You and your husband should go back even if the dollar isn't so strong because who knows when or if it will bounce back again and what the situation would be like next year or the years after.  I am quickly learning that I must enjoy the moment more and take more risks.  That and my almost completely empty passport I had to get renewed kind of gave me a good swift kick in the butt.

Tris


----------



## P.A. Woodburn (May 22, 2010)

My sister is coming from Scotland for a month early next year. Showing her everything here will be almost like a trip. Since I last wrote that post my husband's job has changed, and he only has 10 days leave per year, that includes sick leave. We won't be going very far with that.
The good news is that he retires in two years Maybe we'll go somewhere then.

Ann


----------

