Some photos from our trip

In the posts below, we've added some of our favorite photos from our trip. Angela took 650 pictures and videos on the trip, but we've only included a sampling. Hope you enjoy - be sure to comment...

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(keep scrolling, there's more...)

Beautiful Kilarney National Park

"How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 28:17)

Guinness

No trip to Ireland would be complete without a tour of the Guinness Storehouse and a little sample taste of the good stuff. (Note the shamrock on the top of the beer!)



Although she sampled it, Angela doesn't see what all the fuss is about.

Some "artistic" photography...

We had some fun playing with the freedom of a digital camera to try some cool shots. Here are a few of them:


(It's a cow looking through a hole in the stone wall.)

Here's an unintentional self-portrait by Angela:

The Cliffs of Moher

Despite sharing the view with 1000 other tourists, the Cliffs of Moher were spectacular. It was a bit hazy the day we visited, but still beautiful.

Just like everyone else, we didn't follow the posted directions very well:

Some signs, however, were far less subtle:

Driving on narrow Irish roads

Although kind of scary on the first day, driving on the country roads of Ireland is kind of fun - fun like a video game where you're not sure you'll survive the next corner! Speed limits tend to be self-enforcing:

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When two vehicles meet, its like a game of chicken, especially when the other vehicle is a truck or bus. This road has an 80 kilometre limit...

Parking rules are simple - you can do anything, so long as there is no sign saying you can't:

One road sign I had not seen before has a "Z" on it and means, obviously, the road has a crazy curve in it (still 80 km limit, mind you!). This beautiful stone wall with the stream running through is actually the road surface on one of those z-curves:

Road signs are easy to read and directions to various locations are always given, making finding your way simple:

Several times we were struck by the wisdom of road markings. After saying "SLOW" several times around some tight corners, we then came across this 'idiot-proof' sign...

Irish drivers in our experience tended to go under the posted limit, tended to be generous in letting others go first, and were patient when another driver was going slower than they wanted. When the road narrowed, there was no fighting for position, and they just worked together to get around the problem. We could learn a few lessons from them!

Now that we're home...

Angela took 650 pictures and videos during our 11 days in Ireland. Once we get them onto the computer and edit them down, we plan to post a bunch of them here to share with you. Please check back soon.

We had no trouble getting out of Shannon and through Toronto to Montreal. Just as we were getting onto the plane in Shannon, there was a big rainstorm coming into western Ireland, so we knew it was time to leave. We felt as if we were blessed with perfect weather the whole time we were there. There almost always seemed to be blue sky overhead. Temperature ranged from 16C at night to no more than 23C during the day. Not too humid either.

When we got to our car at the airport in Dorval, Dad realized that instead of dropping off the hotel key that morning in Shannon, he had dropped off his car keys and kept the hotel key. After checking every single pocket of our luggage, we called Grandma and Grandpa in Pointe-Claire to have them pick us up instead. When they arrived, they handed us a spare key to our car, which Jennifer had happened to leave with them two years ago, unknown to us. God is good!

Angela slept the whole way to Lennoxville, but we made it home safe and sound (and tired).