Ireland - round two...

Our second trip to Ireland (fabulous as the first) – the land of Guinness, sheep on the road, “the full Irish”, mile upon mile of rock walls, Bronze Age ruins, ruins of castles, churches and assorted ancient buildings, little pubs where the craic is good and alive with traditional music, more Guinness and yet more roadside ruins – or, as we would laconically remark in the car “AFR” (another f**king ruin). Did I mention the Irish Whiskey and soda bread?

This was a great opportunity to read some of the local literature, including Brendan Behan and Brian O’Nolan (writing as Flann O’Brien). One (of many) famous Behan stories: one biographer recounts that one day, at the age of eight, Brendan was returning home with his granny and a crony from a drinking session. A passer-by remarked, "Oh, my! Isn't it terrible ma'am to see such a beautiful child deformed?" "How dare you", said his granny. "He's not deformed, he's just drunk!" Ah, the Irish.

A great vacation. Relaxing, entertaining, fun, musical, and time together. Or, in Gaelic 'Beidh ceol, caint agus craic againn'.