Tag Archives: photography
A Sunday Drive On the Emerald Isle
My fellow Americans, there are three things you should know if you plan a driving tour of Ireland. Well there are probably more than three things but let’s start there Okay?
1. Think small! I don’t care if you are from Texas, bigger is not better in Ireland no matter what Hertz rent a car might tell you. Starve yourself, practice yoga, do whatever you have to do to get into a small car because the roads are TINY!!!!!And the parking garages at hotels are even TINIER!!!!
Amanda and I named our car “Little Me”. It was an Mii and I praised God everday for that car as I watched other self-driving tourists curse their mid-sized sedans.
Amanda and Little Me
2.For goodness sake don’t be bold and order a standard from the rental car company. Driving on the left and having to drive backwards on rotaries is hard enough without having to remember that you are shifting with your left hand and backwards.
3. Rent a GPS from the rental company or order maps of Ireland for your GPS. One of the advantages of taking a self-drive tour over a bus tour is that you can drive into places where buses cannot go. Driving the little mountain pathways or heading out into farm country is half the fun but unless you are a cartographer and can read directions from the position of the stars or the incline of the sun in the sky a map will be of little help. It becomes even less helpful when you have to read it while driving corkscrew turns down mountain roads at 80 KM an hour. Oh and if you happen to rent maps for Ireland from the Garmin do not use the elf. He couldn’t direct you out of the North Pole. Use the woman voice. She seems to know her way around (not even kidding here).
This is not really point four but I am very thankful that I did not have to start driving until Sunday morning. It seems the whole island sleeps in until about 1 P.M. so I had about five hours with the road all to myself. It was a perfect transition to driving on the left and going backwards on rotaries. I am not sure if I have the touring company or God to thank for that wonderful transition so I guess I will thank them both here and leave a word to the wise. Sunday is a great day to cut your teeth on Irish roads!
Amanda and I left the tour buses behind and headed off the beaten path through Killkenny and down through Port Laois into Tipperary so we could see the Rock of Cashel.
The rock of Cashel was once the ancient seat of the kings of Munster. Around the year 1100 they gave the rock to the church and it became the seat of the bishop for hundreds of years after that. The Rock today is a ruin of the once great cathedral that overlooked the countryside.
Me on the pathway up to the rock
Ancient Monastery seen from the Rock Of Cashel near Tipperary
A Celtic Cross in the cemetery atop the Rock of Cashel
The song this day’s drive inspired came as we drove into the region.
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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The Color Green
This week’s Fun Fotos all have to be about being: GREEN
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The Color Green
“It’s not easy being green” as Kermit D. Frog says, unless of course you have just been to the Emerald Isle.
Actually I don’t think green was as hard as blue now that I think of it!
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On the Banks Of the Liffey
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- The jaunting carts of Dublin are another way to see the city.
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- St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, is Church of Ireland a Prfotestant denomination. T
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- The Giant’s Pint at the Guiness factory… and no we did not sample the wears.
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- On the banks of the Liffey
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- Christ Church Dublin
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- Dublin in the glass
People many times before and since my return from Ireland have asked, “Did you go because you have family ties to Ireland?”
The answer is no. As far as I know noone in my blood-line is of Irish descent. I don’t know how I managed to come from Massachusetts and miss out on Irish blood but there you have it. I am not Irish. But I have long been a fan of Irish music and if there is any reason for going to Ireland beyond my daughter’s desire to go then that is it. The music inspired me to the act. And I found it a profound thing that just about everywhere I went on the island reminded me of a song.
Dublin brought up this tune from my childhood:
We spent the day touring Dublin along the banks of the Liffey. At this point in the trip I was sleeping in short bursts as my arms were continually waking me up in the night, or maybe it was just jet lag manifesting. At any rate our touring was done by about three. Amanda napped. I soaked my arms and by six we were eating in the hotel restauraunt. I had a lamb burger. Yummy!
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From Boston To Dublin And Wicked Tired
So these are the chronicles of my recent trip to Ireland.
I think I told you all before I left that I was tired. By tired I mean asleep on my feet with certain pieces of my anatomy in a constant gyration between pain and tingly numb. I badly needed this vacation.
My sister dropped Amanda and I off at Boston Logan sometime around 5:30 P.M. which gave us three and a half hours before our flight. We were through baggage check and security by 6:15 P.M. and that with me being pulled out of line for a full body scan ( yeah, I forgot my glasses in my shirt pocket again).
Us on the way to Ireland.
We ate supper at the café down towards our gate and then watched as our airplane pulled into its dock.
Here’s a question. What do you do when you have three hours to wait for a plane? Amanda and I talked and talked over coffee, a thing we would do throughout our 12 days together. Perhaps that was one of the things I liked best about the trip…. the conversation!
Oh yeah and our game of “Whose Line Is It.”
I love the prop game. If you think this is funny you should see me as Princess Amidala. That unfortunately is on Amanda’s camera.
Despite my weariness I think I slept for just over an hour on the flight to Ireland. My hands started throbbing an hour into the flight and when the pain ended a two-day long tingle session started in. Even in this though God provided. We landed and stayed in Dublin those first two days; So I was spared from gripping a steering wheel. By Sunday when I had to start driving my hands and arms were much restored.
Our rooms, in Dublin,were not quite ready for us when we arrived at the Hotel Alexander; So we stored our luggage with the front desk and took a tour around O’Connell Street and Trinity College:
By noon I was fading; By one o:clock or two cups of coffee later depending on how you mark time, we were in our rooms and I plummeted into dreamland for a few hours. Not even caffeine could keep me up! God knew I needed the rest and so He provided us with the most comfortable beds of the trip those first two nights. It was like sleeping on clouds!
Our resting place in Dublin.
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Skywatch Friday and Redemption
This incredible rainbow appeared over our town hall last night after the day’s torrential rains.
It reminded me of this verse in the Bible.
When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28
We have ebola. We have the entero virus. We have war all over the world. We have weapons of mass destruction being discovered where people assured us there were none. We have fear and anger and well the list just goes on forever it seems. But we also have the promises of God and the good news of the gospel. I can still sing “Jesus Loves Me” and “This World Is Not My Home” and those two things are the truth unshakeable.
Ebola can come. War can come. People can hate me, curse me and hurt me but in the end all these troubles will pass away and I will stand in the garden again with my Jesus and sing! And so can anyone who comes to the cross and receives the grace of the One True Messiah of mankind! Now that is good news that no amount of bad news can undo!
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Cee’s Black & White Challenge: Shadows or Reflections
This week’s B&W Challenge From Cee is shadows or reflections:
http://ceenphotography.com/cees-black-white-challenge/
Here are a few of mine:
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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Vibrant Colors
Well I should be safely back from Ireland by this point but since I am writing this on October 1st that is amere faithful supposition on my part. Cee’s challenge this week is all about vibrancy. Next week I hope to post some of my Emerald Isle pictures on her challenge “Green”.
Check out her other subscribers at:
http://ceenphotography.com/fun-foto-challenge/
Pumpkins on the Mohawk Trail MA
YWAM Coffee Shop Amsterdam
Keukenhof Gardens
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Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Rocks and Such
http://ceenphotography.com/cees-black-white-challenge/
So I know this is a week late but hey I am on the road today and have to post this a week in advance; So if you look at it that way I am actually way ahead! 🙂
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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Soft Pastels
http://ceenphotography.com/fun-foto-challenge/
Even though I am not around to do the Share Your World this week, I want to keep up with the Photo challenges if I can. And since Cee posts the topics ahead I am just going to take my liberty and post this one before I go to Ireland. Today I should be journeying up to Galway and stopping at Kylemore Abbey on the way.
But here are some photos from my trip to The Netherlands and Keukenhof Gardens to tie you over until I get back with those photos.
Lillie-Put 