10 things I loved about Ireland

It's 8:09 and I'm exhausted on this St. Patrick's Day.


To be honest, the only green things I did today was serve them lunch on green plates with green glasses, and there were beans :)

The kids are now in bed but there is a reason little kids need naps...

Moving on.

I've always had a "thing" for Ireland. I don't know when it started but of course, visiting has been on my life list seemingly forever.

A friend is like this about England and one day we were chatting about her thing for England and she said, "you know all the things you imagine about a place? Well, when we came to live here, it was all that but just so much more".

I love it.

Well, when I was first there in 2008, it was like that for me.

All that and then some.

I must confess, I have been addicted to Marian Keyes and Patricia Scanlan novels for years too, and to prepare for my Irish holiday, I stocked up and read lots.

Just to get into the culture a bit, you see.

My favourite part about visiting a new place is the people - how they talk, what they say, what they wear, etc. I'm in heaven just people-watching :)

When I read in one book about how a boy and a girl made a date to meet under the clock at Easons, of course I was tickled when right there it was in front of me.

Anyway, so here are a few of the things I loved!

1. the grey skies and the cold weather. Oh my word, it's just so gloriously grey all the time. Like it looks here when it's about to rain except it's just like that without rain, with rain, whatever.

2. the bright green countryside. It really is that green. Almost unnaturally so like the landscape's been saturated with colour. (I said the other day looking out of my window at work, "this could almost be Ireland if only the grass was a brighter green")

3. Wicklow. If you've watched PS I love you, there's a scene where she walks and bumps into the guy. The scenery is just beautiful. Well, it really is like that. D and I drove up there the first time we were in Ireland and I fell asleep in the car. We arrived and he woke me up. I looked out the window and literally GASPED in wonder. It was (is) breathtaking. So much so that when we went again in 2009 (our pre-babies trip), we booked a tour to take us there again.

4. The drive down to Cork, Kinsale, Limerick, etc. I loved the tiny villages with all the bright coloured shops and the quirky names. The pic of me on my life list page (look on my navigation) was taken at Kinsale.

5. Our hostess at one B&B, Marian. We were deep in the country and this lady was "proper Irish". The thing is, Dublin is so cosmopolitan that you really had to look hard to find a genuine Irish person. And truth be told, our expectations were high because Ireland had just been voted the friendliest city in the world, or something like that. If we'd just stayed in Dublin, I know we'd have been disappointed.

Anyway, this lady was in her late 50s but drove like a maniac. We met her at a common landmark and followed her home. She was all lovely and normal, but when she got behind the wheel of that car, she started driving as if Formula 1. And... our friend kept up. Both of them were normally laidback but the change in driving style was so extreme D and I laughed and laughed hysterically (in terror sometimes!!!) on that windy, 5-minute drive to the B&B.

She was fantastic - baked fresh scones for us every morning (anyone who bakes for me has my heart forever!), set out a lovely breakfast, engaged us enough for us to feel the culture but knew when to step back and let the 3 of us get on with it. And of course, all 4 her kids were called proper Irish names (as in my books) so I was TICKLED when I'd hear her say Declan and Orla. :)

That 3-day trip was one of the highlights of my life. I LOVED every minute of it.

6. The doors. Oh my word, The Doors. I wish I'd taken more pics and been less shy about being a tourist (some of my pics are from the side so as not to be too obvious).

7. Meeting proper Irish people in Dublin and hearing them use phrases I'd only ever heard of in my Irish books. Of course I can't think of any right now except for "I'm after my keys" which means "I'm looking for my keys". And then hearing proper Irish names like Aiofa in the shops.

8. Connecting with our friends. The beauty of the world is that it's been possible for people who all started off in SA and Zimbabwe to live and work all over the world. Two of our good friends live in Ireland. It's so hard to have people you LOVE and that GET YOU spread so far apart. Three years ago, at the time of our last visit, we had 1 baby amongst the 3 sets of people. There are now 6 kids, two sets of twins :)


9. Having endless cups of tea. My one friend and I are copious tea drinkers. We both believe you'll definitely feel better after you have a cuppa. Marian from the B&B was the same and we certainly took her up on that :) Also one of my favourite memories is how C and I kept saying on our 3-day trip, "oh, it feels like it's time for a cup of tea". D would just laugh at us.

10. Blarney. Kissing the Blarney Stone was on my life list and ... I chickened out. I just couldn't do it. You see, it looks like a little gap from far away but when you're up there in the castle, there is a huge gaping hole someone of my (then) small stature could quite easily fall through. It didn't help that the guy working there was all "come on, lass, you'll be alright" and was a bit too blase for my liking. Still, the views from the top of the castle were out of this world, the grounds were GORGEOUS and D kind-of kissed the stone. They have these signboards up there talking about what blarney is. Basically, BS :)

Here are some of my favourite pics from the 2009 trip. Enjoy.

these were taken on a tour we took of Wicklow, Sally Way, etc.

Dublin city centre

Isn't this cool? Sand art

Buskers

see that lady wearing short sleeves in 15-degree weather? Brrr

Henry Street with the Spire of Dublin - that big silver thing

very pregnant (23 weeks)

the fancy side of O'Connell Street

Genuine Irish Pub somewhere in the Temple Bar area

one set of friends. They have another 2 (twins) now.

Our friend, the crazy driver :) and he's as calm and gentle a person as you can get

So, did you do anything special for St Patrick's Day?

Does this post make you want to visit Ireland?

Which country do you have a thing for, and can you tell me why?
PS linking up with Janmary