I was so sad as I was taking these pictures, because the camera just doesn't do Ireland justice. So when you look at these, keep it mind that is was WAY more spectacular in person. The beauty literally hurt my heart. Click on any of them to see up close.
I can't believe it, I am now on home soil. I'm not actually home yet, though. I flew into Spokane late last night, and stayed to sleep at the Earl's. It was so good to see my two sleeping babies! I smooched their cheeks and whispered how much I love them. Yesterday was a day that lasted about 60 hours. We began Tuesday with an all-out sight seeing blitz. We walked through the oldest castle in Ireland, it was built in 1180-something. It had been in the family for 30 generations, then sold to the Irish government in the 70s. I was drooling over the library there. Then we drove to the coast (a 15 min drive) and had lovely fresh fish and chips. Yum, with vinegar and salt! We hiked along a scary cliff-side path that left me feeling woozy, then we fed seals on the wharf. They're huge! It began to rain, but we hit the beach anyway. We frolicked in the surf in the pouring rain and got soaked. It was a blast! I have pictures of all this, and I'll share them when i get home. We drove home in various states of undress and got ready to hit the pub. We drove through downtown Dublin, which has been around since 100BC, and marvelled at the architecture. Then we shopped for souvenirs, so fun! The pub we stopped for dinner at was on Temple Bar, and there was a fantastic dinner show. A trio played traditional Irish songs and sang. Some of them were so bawdy that they asked Kimberly to cover her daughter's ears from the stage. I was so frustrated because I couldn't understand all the words. I appreciate a good bawdy drinking song, you know. Then the Irish dancers came on. They had performed all over the world and blew us away. We got home after midnight and started packing. We had to be a the airport at 3:30, so we figured, why sleep? We didn't, so after a 3 hour flight to Amsterdam, some crazy confusion there, (we had a connecting flight not listed in our itinerary) an 81/2 hour flight to Philly, another delay, then a 5 1/2 hour flight to Seattle, then a panicked run for my sis to catch a flight to Salt Lake that should have left before we arrived, I had to take 2 trains, 4 flights of escalators to get to my flight. On my last flight to Spokane, a guy who sat behind me literally never shut his mouth. Ever. But I made it without killing him, or even being rude. I pulled into the in laws house at just before 11 pm. I realized I hadn't eaten since Amsterdam. Then I couldn't sleep. I eventually did, and thus ended the longest day of all time. Now I just have a 2 1/2 hour drive home. I hope I don't fall asleep. If I do, all my gifts for everyone are in the smaller black bag. Got it?
This intrepid traveler has discovered many interesting facts about Ireland. The first, is that you take your life in your hands when you go jogging/walking on narrow winding roads at dusk. Especially if there is a steep bank on either side of the road filled with nettles. It's all trails for me from now on. It was a breath-taking walk though.
Another is that a majority of the people here are, let's just say, on the petite side. I could seriously be a pro wrestler here. I could call myself Amazonia. There could really be a future for me here. Kim assures me that all the men that I see that look to be lighter than 115 lbs are not indeed Irish. All the Irishmen at that time of day would be in the pub. This leads me to my next discovery.
There are tons of Polish people here. The Polish people are slightly resented because they flood the workforce here and work really hard, then send the money back home. Sounds familiar, huh? It was so much fun to peruse the aisles of the grocery store, eavesdropping on all the conversations in Polish. I only remember a few phrases, so unless they were saying they had to pee, I wouldn't be able to understand them. I did make me homesick for Poland, though.
Look at the teensy carton of milk! Not a gallon in sight.
One sister for sale! Did we look like dorks to all the Polish shoppers? Yep.
My mom was a Kerr, so I thought these potatoes were cool.
Look at how bright and clean the carrots are! The produce was so fun to look at, each little container was from a different place in the EU. Cherries were from Greece, blueberries from Poland, parsnips from Spain.... Look, I'm a professional grocery shopper back home. Could I resist the lure of the local store? Indeed not!
Want to know something cool? Everything is in English AND Gaelic. Britain was ruthless at trying to homogenize Ireland. Now Gaelic is required for every school child. Way to stick it to the Man, Ireland!
We're heading into the countryside for a road trip to Limerick today, so get ready for lots of pictures of pastoral fields, cottages and sheep. I can't wait!!!
After about an hour on our own at the airport, we ran into Kim. She'd been there all along, waiting at the barrier with her daughter holding adorable welcome signs. We figure she didn't see us for a reason. While she was waiting for us, she met a little girl who is terminally ill. Her family is throwing a party for her, just to celebrate that she's still with them. Kim, a stranger to her until then, is making her a castle cake for the occasion. It was one of those important connections. It all ended up the way it was supposed to.
After some nail-biting break-neck speed dashes through unfamiliar airports, flight changes and rearranging, we made it to Dublin! We're now international women of mystery. Due to the drama, we're at the airport alone, and my sister's freaking out because she can't understand anyone. We don't have any contact numbers for Kim, so we're livin' dangerous and free. Look out Ireland!
Not even semi-cute pictures of moi.
Ouch. And I think my son has found his calling in life.
Go ahead. Click on it and treat yourself to the full size version. I dare you.
I was looking at the thumbnails on my desktop and saw this:
Despite the fact that Lewis' bulging eye is disturbing, this one made me say, "Awwwwwww." Do you know what we did on Tuesday? Celebrated our 15th anniversary. It wasn't terribly romantic, there were 16 shrieking teens over celebrating Dainon's 14th birthday. Lewis was outside supervising an "Ultimate Water Balloon Battle" with a microphone and ginormous speaker blasting a blow-by-blow and teen music for miles. I was hiding in my room with a book. I didn't need the whole romantic scenario, we just got back from a working weekend in Charlotte. My cup was full.
But take a second look at this creation Dainon made. He entitled it "Welded". Could there, perchance, be a little bit of symbolism involved? See how we've 'become one'? And look in the background. Could those be the very flames of passion? A very perceptive young man.
Here's another one I found, "Ultimate Present".
It's an original composition. He's really into political commentary right now. I never know what I'll find when I log on, but last week it was this:
Who is he? I know all about him. I shouldn't, but I do. I have a certain son that treats me to Chester trivia on an almost daily basis. Did you know he was so excited to try out for the band that he left his birthday party early? I'll bet you didn't.
