The Many Faces of Ireland - A Journey in Selfies

Squinty eyes

in Dublin

Imagining being locked into the library at Trinity College!

On Ha'penny Bridge

still looking somewhat normal...

Relaxed on the ferry. 

And we are picking up speed!  Hold on Annie!

Have reached the island of Inishmore and the sun is shining!

Trying to capture the cliffs behind us...

We are focussing hard on getting the cliffs in the shot!

Forcing ourselves to smile on THE WET DAY!!

Looking for Annie behind me - can you see her?

 Shopping for a disguise?

(these photos are not in chronological order!)

Taking advantage of all the mirrors in the castle.

Hey, we've got this "selfie" thing down pat! 

...or do we? On the move...

...I may not be smiling if that dark cloud catches up to us!

HAHAHAHA - can't catch me!

My nose is getting redder and redder! 

Checking on Annie...

 At the top of the mountain pass - it's a wee bit colder up here, but sunny.

Time for lunch with St. Patrick.

Trying to show the mountains...

 Eek! The clouds are getting very dark and I feel like

I'm being watched!

Phew...it's Annie!

 On the road again..., a rather wet road.

Oh look, more mountains and rocks!

I have another head on my shoulder!!

We'll get the hang of this thing yet!  Beautiful Killary Harbour

in the background and

I got half of Annie at least!

Oh there, that's better! 

One of my all time favourites!

We lurve the strong and dependable Yellow Man Walking!

He never led us astray though there were a few moments

in the bog where he was kinda hiding.

Thank you Yellow Man.

Back to civilization!

NEW sweater! Gorgeous!

Feeling kinda smug at Blarney Castle

 She did it she did it!

Annie kissed the Blarney Stone!

 I like it here....

 ...so much!

Wow, in a tank top in Leenane!

And I have "hat hair"!

Checking myself out in yet another mirror!

(in Dublin)

Wishing we could get into jail!! 

But the tours were booked up for hours.

I look drunk!  Hiccup. 

Having a great time out on the road in the sunshine :)

Rain is threatening behind me. It didn't catch us.

Enjoying the lovely lane, lovely sunshine - 

what more could you want?

 The tide is in. What an absolutely amazing view as I stand

on the little balcony of our hotel room, feeling happy.

Here to Stay.....maybe...

Hi everybody! It's about time I got started on my holiday photos don'tcha think? I'm going to stay put for awhile (maybe) so that means getting caught up on previous events like Annie's and my BIG HIKE and my journey to PEI. ( Annie's blog - Northernlivingallowance)

Thanks to the weather today (rainy) I cancelled my hike this morning and am taking the opportunity to get sorted out a bit. So here's a few photos from the day before the hike started. We stayed in Newcastle upon Tyne 2 nights so we could explore the city a little, neither of us having been there before.

*Annie is now a pro at taking selfies :)  (though let's work on eliminating the extra chins!!) We had nice weather and enjoyed a river cruise complete with tea, flapjacks and shortbread! There was also an outdoor market along the riverfront where Annie found a unique gift for her cousin. The fact that she managed to transport it across England in one piece is rather amazing!

While Annie completed her purchase I goofed around with my phone taking pix of the unique mirrors and mosaics - I found I could get some interesting affects!

It was like the hall of mirrors at the fair!

Newcastle has successfully (I think) recreated itself from being a major exporter of coal (think 19thc dank, dark and dirty!) to being a modern city full of public sculptures and weird and wonderful architecture like this duodenal-looking centre for the arts. Newcastle provides many products needed by off-shore oil platforms (so they haven't quite gotten out of the fossil fuel business!)

Just one of many amazing sculptures - everyday objects (past and present) dipped in pewter coloured paint?

The Millenium Bridge that has a walking/biking etc part that raises up as high as the other portion to let ships through.

Annie! - look over here!

Annie!

ANNIE!

Oh, there you are!

Fortune teller complete with gypsy wagon :)

 Cakes, everywhere cakes!! We got some sliced lemon cake and she threw in an extra piece! :) Bless you! We scavenged for every pack of cookies, yogurts, fruit and cake that we could put our hands on during our hike for much needed energy (read "sugar" :p ).

There are lots of excellent examples of older architecture...

...some really lovely bits...

...some looking sort of squeezed in.

Whaddya mean I'm sweeping the wrong hallway??

Awesome ethnic brass band playing some lively toe-tapping music at a second outdoor market in an older part of the city!

La piece de resistance! I haven't had a hamburger in 10 years!!

So I thought I'd get the one  covered in macaroni and cheese!! Storing up carbs for tomorrow's hike! Yeah, right - I'm sure I'm still carrying that around on my hips!  It was as scrumptious as it looks!

We had a nice room at the Premier Hotel and got a good sleep.  Good thing.  On Monday morning, Sept. 21st, REALITY quickly set in...