Happy St. Patrick's Day and a touch of nostalgia

Happy St. Patricks Day! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I can't believe how amazing it is in Chicagoland today! Sunny and 80+ degrees! UNREAL!

Happy St. Patricks Day, thinking about Ireland

I took an hour walk in my new neighborhood today and I got to thinking and being nostalgic about my trip to Ireland back in March of 1998. It was Spring Break of my senior year in college (yeah, I just totally dated myself...) and I had just started dating this guy and out of the blue he asked me to go to Ireland with him. Sure! What could go wrong?

It was a terrible trip. I had the worst cold of my life & was sick nearly everyday I was there. And, to make matters worse, my boyfriend broke up with me a few days after we arrived (yeah, that was a little awkward for the rest of the trip.) I ended up cutting the trip short and coming home early because I wasn't confident enough to be in a foreign country alone (I totally regret that decision...)

For the short time we were there, we spent a day in Dublin and then we had to find someplace else to go because there was a HUGE Rugby tournament and all the hotels, B&B's and even hostels were booked. (who knew rugby was so popular?) We took a train out west to the Dingle Peninsula where I was sick for the remainder of the trip. We stayed at a wonderful B&B and the owners did a fabulous job of taking care of me complete with chicken soup, and hot tea! The most memorable part of the trip (beside the break up...) was going on the tour of the Dingle Peninsula and hearing about the history of the country. Amazing.

Despite all the drama, I still look back on the whole overall experience as being positive. Ireland was my first real trip-- I had never even been on an airplane before! It was soooo incredibly beautiful. And green (I think there were shades of green that Crayola hadn't even named yet!) I so want to go back. I would definitely go back with the eye (and the camera) to take better photos, and to see the Cliffs of Mohr (which I didn't get to see when I was there.)

Here are a few photos of Ireland that I took back in the day before digital cameras (man, what I would give to go back and take photos with the Canon 5D Mark II...) I scanned these in a few years ago. Perhaps when I find the rest of the pics, I'll scan those in too!

Slán!