"Here you have a man I learned about in school," said CJ, my 13-year-old London tour guide, as he pointed to a tall statue. "I don't remember what he did, but it's really important." A few minutes later my guide excused himself while he joined the other kids in Trafalgar Square to climb one of the lion sculptures that flank the statue. Wikipedia tells me this is known as Nelson's Column, which is in honor of "Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgarin 1805." After conquering the bronze lion, CJ pointed out the corners we would be visiting. Way off to the left would be the London Eye and Big Ben, to the right was the National Gallery, and straight ahead (okay not really straight, but close enough) led to Buckingham Palace "where ... read more

Every one is still sleeping. Birds are tweeting, Joe is snoring and the occasional truck or tractor rattles by on the road out front. In a few minutes I'll wake them all up because today we're going to the Ring of Kerry. We picked this day because it's supposed to be warm and sunny. Yesterday was one of my favorite days on this trip. Ericka and Tracy went to Ennis and a castle somewhere near Shannon (and got caught behind a fox hunt!). Joe, Kaylene, Kelly and I decided to stay closer to the cottage and hike around Ballina and Killaloe, two ancient towns (is there any other kind in Ireland?) divided by the Shannon River. I'm in love with these two towns. If I were to ever be able to move here, this is where ... read more

Yesterday, we pulled into Kinsale, a brightly colored harbor village packed with fairy tale cottages, cobblestone allies, flower beds, stain glass windows and, of course, pubs and a steeple. It's where the Irish go when the sun graces them on a weekend, and they want to live their own version of a fable. Prior to Kinsale we embarked on a harrowing journey, which was our Ford Focus equivalent of sailing the high seas to unknown lands. Imagine being on a tiny road that looks barely big enough to be a one-way street, midway through it you realize a tour bus is coming right at you. Now, you have stone walls and parked cars on both sides. The bus keeps coming, and you can't back up because there are cars behind you. What do you do? Well, ... read more

You read about how green the "emerald isle" is, and you read about the rain and the friendly, accommodating people, and the pubs, and all that good stuff. But you fully don't know what any of that is until you experience it. We've done so much in the past few days --- all of which deserves its own blog entry --- and I wish I took the time to write about it all, but, well, you know I'm having way too much fun doing the holiday thing. So, here's a run down of it all: Day Two: Book of Kells, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse and Temple Bar area. Awesome, awesome and awesome. Both mornings in Dublin were spent sipping lattes on a busy cafe corner. Do you have any idea how cool it is to ... read more

In case you haven't heard, we've been planning an awesome trip to Ireland. Forgive this boring entry, but I'm testing out the old blog to make sure it works. I've also discovered that it's tough to post via my iPad, so I'm testing to see if I can start it here and then add to it from iPad. okay, here goes...... read more