Thursday, 20 October 2005
A Few Ireland Photos
So, I'm woefully behind in blogging about Ireland, but there's actually a reason for that which is another post in and of itself. So, in lieu of a humorous and insightful post about my vacation in Ireland, a post of some photos of Ireland. Enjoy!
In the Republic of Ireland, all the road signs are Gaelic first, English second.
After a brief nap in the afternoon, the last adventure for the first day was to tour the Guinness factory.
The tour was sort of a letdown since it's self-guided, but admission does give you a token for a free Guinness at their sky bar. They even put a little 3 leaf clover in the head for you.
The view from the sky bar around Dublin is spectacular and worth the price of admission. Portions of the window highlight key places in Dublin. In this photo, off in the distance, is Trinity College.
Powers Court Gardens is a huge estate. If you need to reconnect with your inner gardener, behold their expansive gardens.
There were literally hundreds , if not thousands, of roses in this one section of all different colors.
And then there's Blarney Castle where tourists show up in droves to kiss the Blarney Stone.
You have to get all Matrix-style to kiss the Blarney Stone. I gave the Blarney Stone a nice smack-er-oo. I've heard the locals pee on the Blarney Stone at night.
It may look like a tight fit, but you could fit a motorcycle and a pedestrian or two in the space that's leftover 
This is, however, not the tightest road I drove on in Ireland.
People lived in huts like this thousands of years ago. Has anyone else seen that show on HGTV called "Small Space, Big Style"? Yeah, well, you have to respect this 17 sq ft. (if that) space.
I hate to break it to you emo punks, but it's not some underground rock movement. Emo is yet another money hungry, power mongering petrol company 
You sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo wish you made forts like Dun Aengus when you were a kid!
300ft. unprotected cliffs. Apparently, back in the day, families on the Aran island had their own patterns for sweaters. If someone washed up on shore and their body was all bloated and unidentifiable, they knew from what family they came by their sweater pattern.
The Burren is this insane lunar-esque landscape. Lots of rocks.
The Cliffs of Moher are like 700 ft. They basically kick the Aran islands cliffs collective ass.
In Derry, which is located in Northern Ireland, there's a wall around a portion of the city. You can walk it. Also, in contrast to the Republic of Ireland, in Northern Ireland, everything is in English.
If you're a fan of Irish Whiskey, take the Bushmills tour. This tour was far better than the Guinness tour as they took you around the actual production facilities where Bushmills is made. Also, this is the only place you can purchase a bottle of Bushmills 12 year old Single Malt. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Newgrange. This place was constructed thousands of years ago. It was also constructed in such a way that the passage way, where you see the people in the upper corner are congregating, lets through light through to the inner chamber during a few days of the winter solstice.
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