Ireland: not as bad as it sounds

So the trip started with a sore back, then progressed to a chest cold (that has now morphed into a double ear infection thanks to our friends at Delta), and was also highlighted by military showers, sleeping on the floor, not being fed on a regular schedule, and being force marched up large hills in the cold to look at old churches (not my idea of fun in good health and warm weather, in case that wasn't clear), but the family trip to Ireland was a really good time. A few select photos will follow, but first, images of the delightful eastern shore Christmas:

Correction: Blogger sucks and won't let me load photos today, so instead you just get captions. Maybe eventually I'll manage to add the photos.

Corrrection to the correction: It finally let me load them.

Our pretty tree and hand knit stockings.

Dinner: ham, fresh green beans, augraten potatoes, and a truly decent bottle of wine, all served on the actual dining room table.


Andy (on the left)and me becoming certified whiskey tasters at the Jameson distillery… at 11:00 AM. Jake (in camo with seriously evil looking red eyes) and Dad (to the left of him) watching. This was an activity both sanctioned and planned by my mother. Amazing.



The brothers and me looking forlornly into the distance with the famous statue at Cobh (pronounced “cove”), the port where most of the Irish immigrants to the U.S. departed from, including those on the Titanic. Thankfully, the visitors center was closed for the holidays. Even by this point two days into the trip, I was so damn sick of tourist gift shops I wanted to puke.




The whole bunch of us at a dolman (ancient pagan tomb) in the Burren (that weird rocky landscape in the background, which was caused by early agricultural erosion and has become a very interesting ecosystem in modern Ireland).


Me and Sallie with some random tourists at the top of Blarney Castle. Not sure how we got sucked into this, but taking pictures with strangers was how the boys entertained themselves during most of the trip. These particular strangers seemed really sold on the idea.

They also found a disproportional amount of entertainment from posing with their thumbs up. That’s Blarney Castle in the background.


A protest against posing for any more pictures, in “The Close”, also at Blarney. Can you tell this was one of my favorite parts of the trip?


“The Close” is a swampy garden full of old druid ruins, said to be inhabited by fairies and witches, including the one that gave the Blarney Stone to the people who built the castle. She’s also said to grant wishes to anyone who can walk down and then back up these stairs backwards with their eyes closed while thinking of nothing but his or her wish. That's me at the top and Sallie near the bottom. I had sprained my ankle earlier that day (it's still blue, nearly a week later), so I think I deserve extra points for playing through the pain. Legend says that the wish will come true within one year. I'll keep you posted.

Jake and me at the Cliffs of Moher. This was another of my favorites despite the cold and wind. Mom tried to get us to take off our scarves and push back our hats for pictures, but that was oh so not going to happen.


For tomorrow (or the next day... or eventually): All the drama that's fit to print