Swept Away!

So the story goes that during a dinner party a strong storm hit the castle (Dunluce Castle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland). Unfortunately...it hit so hard the kitchen, staff and dinner fell off! Yep...slid right into the Atlantic! My camera rocked! I have 10x zoom so here are the shots!

Giant's Causeway

Part of our reason for going to Belfast and Northern Ireland was to visit the Giant's Causeway. Legend be told, Finn MacCool the Irish Giant was in a bit of a feud with a fellow Scottish giant. He built these large stones to walk over to Scotland to spy on the giant. The giant awoke and went to chase Finn...Finn returned to Ireland rather quickly and in a ploy to preserve his life, his wife dressed him in infant clothing and put him in a crib. When the Scottish giant went to Finn's house and saw the "baby" he worried what Finn might look like in terms of size, if he could produce such a large baby. He ran back to Scotland in fear....ripping up the stones on his way so Finn could not follow him.

These stones are awesome! They are NATURAL volcanic rock formations, and absolutely stunning. The rocks continue underground and emerge in Scotland on the other side. Scott and I stayed here for quite a long time, just revelling in the Earth's beauty! The last image was amazing! The colors seemed unnatural...this was our first image as we cleared the ridge, before coming to the Causeway! LOVE IT!!!!!

Glendalough

You're wish is my command! I felt a little like my sisters...finding the perfect shot, and I must admit, these are a few of my best shots! We're in the Wicklow Mountains. There are a couple of lakes at the top of the "mountain" where a hermet named Kevin - later made into a saint, went to escape and ponder life. I can see why! These are some images of St. Kevin's monastery in a place called Glendolough (pronounced Glen - dough - lock). It was so peaceful - except for the drive to get here...the road was wide enough for half of the car, the other half was in the ditch!

Baile Atha Cliath

After 20 years of wishing one day to go...I finally did! Here's a view from my hotel the first night. We stayed at The Clarence...yep, Bono's (and others) hotel! You really couldn't tell that there was any affiliation with U2 other than knowing the owners. The service was impeccable, but parking cost nearly $40 per night! Our room had a view of the River Liffey and part of Temple Bar.

So of course I had to hit all the U2 hot spots before the rest of the group came! Hence...Bono's street sign on his brick wall that I lovingly added an autograph to, me in front of his beautiful ornate walls, and then of course, the shot into his gates after the garderner opened them!

More to come later! Oh...the title of this post is the Gaelic form of Dublin! Love to all!