going green

Happy St. Patrick's Day, especially to my Irish friends!

In honor of the holiday, I thought I'd share just a few scenes from our trip to Ireland in July 2007. Sal attended a chemistry conference in Dublin, and then we spent a couple of weeks exploring the country. And we loved it! So memorable.

I'd love to share a glimpse of The Emerald Isle with you ... enjoy!

Sal & I in Killarney National Park (southwest Ireland):EVERYTHING is green in Ireland (including our passport stamps), even their mailboxes!

We took a boat out to Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland. We toured the island with Thomas, an island local. Sal enjoyed trying to speak Gaelic (he had studied a little before we went); this is the part of Ireland where the language is still spoken: One of our favorite things to do during our visit was listening to live music in the Irish pubs, the sound is intoxicating (no pun intended!). Some of the best traditional musicians were in the small town of Dingle, on the southwest coast:Although I totally disagree with their fate, I loved seeing sheep grazing peacefully at every turn in the Irish countryside, and hearing their gentle "baahhs" in the distance ... they're such sweet creatures:

Here's what we toured the country in, a tiny Nissan Micra ... Sal loved the whole driving-on-the-left thing, and he did a great job! (btw, gas was the equivalent of about $5 a gallon there at the time, plus add 40% for the USD-euro exchange rate! ... hence the high-mileage cars):

Have a LUCKY day! :-)