They call it the Emerald Isle for a reason...

Random blogging with giant gaps in time is, for me, a sign of a blessedly full life. We had a fantastic vacation last month in Ireland, and I'm finally catching up - the Ireland scrapbook (and 3 other trips - FL, DC and AK) intervened.

Connemara has a lovely lilt to it - you almost sing it to say it - and it's visually lyrical as well
















Driving through the beautiful Irish country side posed a number of challenges...and not just driving wrong-sided. The roads are v. narrow, and we had to share them with a number of other critters along the way.

Religious ruins are fascinating stops to explore. We found a certain consistency to most of them here - with round towers and Celtic crosses no matter what. Except here, at Gallarus Oratory. But it was interesting in its own way.
















Every conceivable shade of green can be found on the Emerald Isle - from the rolling mountains through the fields and all the way down to the coast.















One of our earliest stops along the way was Glendalough, a medieval monastery and village. It was fascinating, and very beautiful.

Glendalough was our introduction to the omnipresent Celtic crosses...logical, I guess.

Another thing that I found interesting, and charming, was the multicolored housing that we saw virtually everywhere. From colorful townhomes to the brightly hued Dublin doors, a very cheerful architectural style. Reminded me a little of the Caribbean. Only MUCH colder!

There's more...much more...to come. When I have more time!

Happy 4th of July !

Maybe fireworks are a good representation of soem of the negative things that people label Americans with - they are showy and loud, even obnoxious to some.

But on the 4th of July, they remind Americans that freedom was born out of strife - "...the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air..."


We Americans place a very high value on that freedom...to the point that many Americans have gone to foreign lands and paid with their very lives to secure and protect the freedoms of others.



In recent years, I've several times spent the 4th of July in foreign lands on vacation. Last year in particular, we were in Budapest, Hungary. To see what the Hungarians endured over centuries of oppression, and how hard they fought to secure what we Americans generally take for granted brought the value of freedom home to me in a way that no baseball game, hot dog or firework ever could.



Yep, I'm proud to be an American...and I won't forget.