Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Thursday 13 v. 50 - The Irish One

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13 Things I Loved in Ireland
In honor of St. Patty's Day, I thought I'd share some of the things I enjoyed when I visited Ireland a few years ago.
  1. Staying in a Castle. It was a rebuilt castle, but it was cool none-the-less. There was a knight in armor just outside our door.
  2. Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road. It kept you alert. ;) We got a few honks before we got used to it.
  3. Driving Through a Big Pile o' Cow Poop. Here's the story. Friend Irish and I had met a cute boy. We offered him a ride to the Cliffs of Moher. We got lost. We passed a cow. Then, in cartoon-like fashion with a big tttthhhhhhhppppppt-plop! sound, we ran through what the cow had left us. We laughed hysterically. Boy was not amused. We got to the cliffs. No more boy. Ha ha.
  4. The Cliffs of Moher. Beatiful views - but hold onto your hat!
  5. Buying a Real Claddaugh Ring. In Galway. It's modern but traditional. It's really cool. But I seldom wear it. I'll have to get it out again.
  6. Saying a Limerick While Driving Through Limerick. There once was a girl and her friend, who went to Ireland. We flew on Aer Lingus, cuz they said they'd bring us, and we had lots of craic (fun) 'til the end!
  7. Having Craic. The Gaelic word for fun.
  8. Kissing the Blarney Stone. Though I think it made me catch the Irish croup the next day. But it was fun paying some stranger to hold your feet while you bend backwards into space to kiss the stone. Looking back on it, I'm a bit crazy.
  9. The Dingle Penninsula. It was sunny and slightly warm (compared to the rest of Ireland) and GREEN!
  10. Kinsale. A little port town in southern Ireland. I had some good shepard's pie there.
  11. The Burren. It's basically flat land with a lot of rocks. But it's picturesque.
  12. Dublin. Ok, I wasn't that hyped about Dublin. It was rainy, I was sick, it was smoky. But I hear that smoking in public places is outlawed now (when will Virginia catch up?) so I'm sure it'll be great.
  13. The Wonderful Irish People. They were wonderful to us.

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33 comments:

Sword Mama said...

I remember Aer Lingus; it was a bumpy little ride from Heathrow. I went to Northern Ireland a while back; I didn't want to go back home. :-)

Lazy Daisy said...

Look at you Miss Thing...already up and Irish too. Sounds like a great trip...what no trip to kiss the blarney stone?

Candy Minx said...

I would love to go to Irelend, the closest going to the river on Sat. when the city dyes it green.

I always wondered what it would be like to sleep in a castle was it at all scary I wonder? Sounds liek a terrific tip and great you were with friend. I love a lot of Irish music!

I finally made a short and sweet Tt list whew! Best male rock singers:

http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2007/03/best-male-rock-singers.html

Darla said...

Ack! I'd forgotten all about St. Patrick's Day. Not surprisingly, I guess--it's not really something Germans even recognize, I don't think. LOL

One of these days, I really have to get up to Ireland. It sounds great.

Robin said...

We're hoping to get to Ireland in November, if my sister-in-law's wedding halfway across the world in August doesn't irreperably break the bank!

Happy TT.

Irish Church Lady :) said...

Some great blarney on your trip! See ~ I'm relying on the rest of you to do Irish posts this week. Dog knows I do enough of it the other weeks!!

Dingle is my favourite spot and I agree about Dublin. It's just a big city ~ that is all. I also really liked Kinsale, I've only been there once.

Love your limerick said in Limerick. Now here's an Irish Blessing for your new house:

Bless this house, o Lord, we pray.
Make it safe by night and day.
Bless these walls so firm and stout,
Keeping want and trouble out.
Bless the roof and chimney tall,
Let thy peace lie over all.
Bless the doors that they may prove
Ever open to joy and love.
Bless the windows shining bright,
Letting in God's heavenly light.
Bless the hearth a-blazing there,
With smoke ascending like a prayer.
Bless the people here within...
Keep them pure and free from sin.
Bless us all, that one day, we
May be fit, O lord, to dwell with Thee.

Raggedy said...

I was hanging on every word.
I would love to go to Ireland.
My dad has been and his stories are wonderful. I wrote a post about it once.
Awesome Thirteen! Thank you.
Terrific Thursday Thirteen!
My TT is posted.
Have a wonderful day!
Happy TT'ing!
*^_^
(=':'=)
(")_ (")Š
Raggedy

Melli said...

Sounds like Ireland was a GREAT trip for you an ol' Irish! I dO think I would rather live on MY peninsula than on Dingle though! I just don't see me telling people I'm from DINGLE! I would love to visit Ireland -- but it's a wee bit down on my list! Greece definitely comes FIRST!

(wondering how daisy missed #8...)

Shelley said...

Awww...I am so jealous. I have always wanted to go to Ireland...with the pale skin and the red hair...I feel the NEED to be there!

My TT is up...come on over!

Anonymous said...

I didn't want to hang upside down to kiss the stone so I told myself blarney was just a bunch of baloney. Mine are wearing a bit o the green.

Darla said...

Just answering your comment on my TT--White Night is great--lots of questions answered--you're going to love it. ;-)

And sadly, no Sci Fi Channel here. :(

Knitting Maniac said...

Color me INSANELY jealous....

FRIDAY'S CHILD said...

Wow! Living in a castle. That is my dream.
Thanks for the visit.

Dragonheart, Merlin, Devi, and Chloe said...

Ireland sounds wonderful! It would be very cool to stay in a castle! Sounds like fun. :)

Thanks for visiting!

Anonymous said...

Happy St. Patricks to you. I would love to go to Ireland.

I think that story w. the cute boy and the poop is so funny!
And to stay in a castle. So cool!

Red said...

I can tick most of those too! I went to Ireland with a girlfriend ooh... a long time ago. The Burren is one of the best places on earth! Fab. Did you go to Newgrange too?

Renee Nefe said...

Sounds like an awesome trip. I would like to go someday, but I don't think that it will ever happen unless DH buys a lot more insurance and I have lots of cash when he's gone....

oops! did I say that?

Gattina said...

I have not been in Ireland yet, but it's on my travel list ! and I have two Irish friends, I know for ages one lives in China married to an Italian and the other in England married to an english. She has a lot of Irish things in her house. It must be a beautiful country.

L^2 said...

I want to stay in a castle! That sounds very cool. Great list.
Happy TT. :-)

MaR said...

I have never been in a place where they drive on the wrong side! it's weird enough to see English cars around here where I see a child sitting on the driver's seat, lol, until I realize what's going on!

Oh, you stayed in a castle!!! was Bono around by any chance??? that would make my trip!

Janet said...

There's an Irish bar in Somerville that I love to go to called The Burrn :-)

Imagine! An irish bar! In Boston/Cambridge/Somerville! Who knew!

Dude, VA is tobacco country, they'll never ban it!

Anonymous said...

Oh, how I recognize a lot of these ones - and miss them! Actually when we were in Ireland we went around on a bus, so no driving on the wrong side - but we've done that in scotland before. It went well mostly ;-)

The day we went to the cliffs of moher, we had to wait until the afternoon if we wanted to see anything because there was such a fog earlier that we couldn't see anything. so we missed a lot of beautiful mountain scenery cause of that. The most beautiful part of that way. Bummer.

Dane Bramage said...

I am jealous. Staying in a castle alone would have been worth the trip for me! My T13 #33 is up it is the 13 Quotes About Men Edition Stop by if you get the chance.

Sparky Duck said...

great list, I know the wife will drag me there someday, so I might as well look on the bright side.

oh did I mention I picked Albany?? :)

KarenW said...

Sounds like a great vacation!

Kimo and Sabi said...

Did you find any leprechauns? Or gold? Waht about cats? Green cats? Please come visit us on St. Pat's Day (we're Irish, ya kent) and they're be plenty o'laughs at our attire!

Christina (BookTasty) said...

I would love to go to Ireland and stay in a castle! So fun!

Sean said...

colour me jealous...

Anonymous said...

I would love to stay in an authentic castle. The closest I've gotten is a hotel near disneyland!

Uisce said...

I want to go back to Ireland. it's such an excellent place, and I miss it.

Blog said...

Oh, I love castles, and irish accents! I'd LOVE to go there!!!

Heather said...

Sounds like such a fun place to go I've never been!

Katherine said...

You so do NOT need a boy with no sense of humor.