The big kiss

I wanted to do one more picture from Ireland today. This is me kissing the Blarney Stone. Some in our group didn't want to kiss this stone because of having to lean over backwards, while others didn't because they felt it was too full of germs from all the other kisses. But it was on my "bucket list" and so I did it.

Oh, by the way, I now have the gift of eloquence, so there was a reward for my effort. Click here to learn more about the whole Blarney Castle experience.

What have you checked off your bucket list lately?

Ireland - Belfast

This was our only full day in Belfast, so we took a "hop on/ hop off" bus ride around the city in order to see what interested us. We could then take a later bus to the place we wanted to visit and then hop on to come back to the hotel. A guide was on the bus with us indicating points of interest and giving us some historical background.

A major theme of his talk was the political struggles Northern Ireland has gone through and that still exist today. These gates that separate a Protestant neighborhood from a Catholic one are opened each morning for travel but then closed and locked each evening to prevent any possibility of conflict. The fence runs for three miles between the neighborhoods. Other neighborhoods have learned to integrate different peoples but there are still some that hang on to the old hates.

Bonnie and I went to look at another side of Belfast. C. S. Lewis, one of our favorite writers, was born in Belfast and spent his early years there before moving to England to continue his schooling and later teaching.

We went to this statue of him in front of a local library. The statue is supposed to be Digory in front of The Wardrobe. We tried to get into Narnia but sometimes the magic just doesn't work.

Ireland - Dublin

Our vacation in Ireland is almost at an end. We said goodbye to the rest of the tour group, who flew home today.

We have added a few days by renting a car and driving back across Ireland to Belfast. I drove the whole way and what an experience to drive on the other side of the road and the other side of the car. Most of the time we were on a divided highway and not much was different, except that I kept drifting over to the left of my lane so that either I was encroaching on the left lane, bump bump bump, or I was getting real close to the curb, "Steve, look out for the curb".

But when we got into the city, that was different. I had to constantly remind myself to stay on the left side of the road, especially when making turns onto a perpendicular street.

We made a side trip to a section of Dublin called Howth, a seaside town. We stopped in to a beach cafe called "East Cafe," which is a quaint eatery on the ground floor of the King Sitric Hotel and restaurant. After a serving of fish and chips, we fell into a conversation with Susanne and Marlene who told us about some local places we should visit.

We were not disappointed with this advise. This reminded me of a fact that all of us had agreed about: the Irish are such kind, considerate, and helpful people anywhere. And we think humor is a mandatory subject in school.

Ireland - County Tipperary

Today we went south to County Tipperary where we saw the Irish National Stud Farm. From there we went to the Rock of Cashel. The picture above is part of the building. It was first built in the 5th century and expanded in the 8th, 11th, and 12th centuries. Because of its historical significance and its original architecture/artistic examples, it is a national treasure.

Turning 180 degrees from the building to see the view, I saw beauty everywhere.

This monument over a tomb used to be twice as tall until a lighting bolt blew off the rest of the cross that continued up.

Ireland 1

We are in Ireland this week and next. It is a country of rich heritage and culture. This is the Long Room at Trinity College in Dublin. Built in the 18th century, it houses over 200,000 of the college's older books. It does not use the Dewey decimal system, but a home grown system with the largest books on the bottom shelf, A, to the smallest ones on the very top, Q. This room is just magnificent. It takes your breath away.

Dublin is such an international city. Everywhere I went I was hearing other languages besides English. Also I was told that there has been a large immigration in the 1990s and early 2000s. Due to the upturn in the economy, many from the continent came over for the higher-paying jobs.

Ireland is so green everywhere you look, except in the city. But they have these hanging pots of beautiful flowers that bring color to the city.