Melissa, 

Welcome home!   

What a wonderful St. Patrick's Day gift for you and your family. Just think, if you hadn't taken everyone to Ireland a couple of years ago this might not be happening. What a fantastic way for your daughter to spend her last year in college. I know you are ecstatic.

Michele

-- Edited by Michele Erdvig at 22:17, 2008-03-15

Melissa,

We took our granddaughter to Ireland last summer and now she wants to go to college in Ireland....Trinity no less.
The only problem, she is only 11 years old. Now that is planning ahead!!!

Congratulations to your daughter. What a wonderful experience for her....and you.

Judy M

Michelle, thanks for the welcome home. oh yes, I am so ecstatic that I'm afraid I might scare my daughter! After all, this is meant to be her big adventure. But on the other hand, she knows that she will not have to be too homesick, because I will be trailing along behind, for a visit in Ireland!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and I just watched a wonderful special on Ireland on the HD theater Channel. There was lots of Irish music, dance, scenery, and Eddie Lenihan, the storyteller who believes in fairies. apparently he convinced the town to avoid building a new road right through an area where the fairies live! Only in Ireland!

My husband wanted to watch a special on the desert. But in honor of St. Patrick's Day, he let me watch this special on Ireland. He was tired from a whole day at work, and our new yoga class which we are taking together. We shared a Guinness, and the next thing I knew, my husband was snoring away. I was so excited, and nostalgic about remembering our first trip to Ireland, that I believe I shed a tear as I listened to the Irish music, watched a ceilidh on television, and saw the Burren and the cliffs of mohr, all on television. Just the way I remembered them from our first trip to Ireland.

As you might remember, I researched the entire country of Ireland for my first trip. So, for my second trip, I will only be needing my memory, your newest book, and of course advice from my favorite Irish travellers! First, though, I have to wait and make sure my daughter gets accepted for study abroad in Ireland (she had to put down 6 choices, so there is always the chance she could end up in Edinburgh , Scotland, or London... But we're pretty sure she'll get Ireland because they said the program wasn't full yet and Ireland was her top choice (top 4 choices!)

So, I'm thinking (can't stop dreamin') that if she goes to Dublin, I get to see Newgrange, Dublin, Trim Castle, those gardens and mountains south of Dublin...gee...maybe the Rock of Cashel at last!

If she goes to Galway, of course I HAVE to see the Aran islands and Connemara and Yeats Country...oh wow...

If she goes to cork (another university there) there's the whole southern coast of Irleland...



-- Edited by Melissa5 at 03:01, 2008-03-18

-- Edited by Melissa5 at 03:03, 2008-03-18

Judy M, how wonderful to share Ireland with your grand-daughter.  It's great to have dreams and inspiration at such a young age. Did she have a favorite experience in Ireland?

My daughter could end up at Trinity, actually...that was one of the choices... You never know. Her major is literature, though she has a lot of other interests as well. She says she's done with boys, and the next man she dates will be her husband! (Do you think I could end up with an Irish son-in-law?    )

I hope to be back here when I have a grandchild, planning yet another trip to Ireland!   (Wait, but I didn't mean any time soon...my son and daughters aren't married yet!)  

Melissa,

What fantastic news you have chosen to share with us. I feel honored that you have done so. I will include a prayer for your daughter and her new adventure in my morning prayers.

As for your first trip being a bit too fast-paced, I think we all have that first trip as a marker of how we will design our second, third and twentieth trips.

Slan Beo,

Bit

Melissa --

I JUST booked my tickets for June '08.  Flying into AMS for three days, first, but then direct to Cork.  I plan to spend most of a week there, in the SW and then MOST of a full week, in Westport, before scooting over to Dub before flying home.

Have a tenative "Date", to meet up with SiobahnP and her NEW husband for the long-promised (and now, multiple EARNED) drink that I owe her.

So, it LOOKS like I'll be able to break 'fresh trail' for you ....   

LAST year, I entered Ireland in Belfast, via Ferry from Scotland, took the train down to Dublin, and then COMPLETELY CIRCLED the ENTIRE island by car, before flying home from DUB!  It was probably NOT your kind of trip.  

I dunno about being a GREAT writer, but I DO tend to make up in VOLUME for what I lack in TALENT.  So, if you find yourself with SEVERAL hours of 'Dead Time', you MIGHT want to check out my Trip Report -- particularly if your daughter settles on either Trinity or UCC ....

Trip:  http://ireland.activeboard.com/index.spark?forumID=65127&p=3&topicID=12825158

Pix:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/itallian_chauffeur/


Your daughter wouldn't be the first American to bring home an unexpected souvineer from Ireland.



Bob

-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur at 23:03, 2008-03-18

We went to the Food, Folk & Faeries night in Dublin and enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it even more if it hadn't been the last night and I had packing to look forward to.

Merle

Merle, I hope to have enough nights in Dublin so that I can just pack and maybe go pubbing on the last night! Better yet, I'll go pubbing and leave my husband to pack for me.   I really am starting to feel like I am "destined" to visit Dublin...why else did I devote so much time to studying Dublin before my first trip, and then when I had to delete Dublin from our itinerary, I knew it would be okay!

So, Merle, do you believe in fairies now? I must meet this fellow, Eddie Lenihan...the way he told stories on TV reminded me of my Irish grandmother...she never said, this is only a story...she would just launch seriously into telling you all about something until you couldn't tell fact from fiction, and didn't really want to, as they seemed woven together.

Judy, I just love the images of your granddaughter dancing on a rock in the Burren. So she danced her way all over Ireland. Regarding college, just tell her to dream big, and have a back-up plan.  She's a bit young to be fretting about this, but since she is dreaming of Trinity college, here is how they recommend young people apply to colleges now:

#1 Your Dream College...you wish you could be here, it's #1 in your heart, so you will apply, but you understand that it is so popular, lots of people will want to go there, and they don't have seats for everyone. But it's worth a shot.

#2 This is your realistic college. It's one which is easier for you to get into, and while it might not be your top choice, you realize you would be content there.

#3 This is your back-up college...the one which is easy to get into, so that you have somewhere to attend college in case you get unlucky with your top 2 choices. (You can always transfer later if you wish...)

My son and 2 daughters started out with their #2 choices.  But if you do well in college you can always transfer...so my daughter transferred from her #2 college to her #1 college as a junior...and now, she is reaching for college in Ireland, which she had never even dreamed to do before...

WEll I have blabbed too much here! It's best for young people to explore their interests while very young...colleges are no longer impressed with a straight-A student who hasn't shown any passion for interests outside the classroom.

So tell your granddaughter to dance her heart out, and explore whatever else excites her interest...plus doing well in school.

Happy Easter everyone... We're going out of town for Easter so I won't be able to get back to the computer for a few days.

Good to see you again, Melissa! I remember your trip reports fondly.

And thanks to Michele and Merle for mentioning the Food, Folk & Fairies night. That's at the Brazen Head, yes? I'd been looking at that, but we were wondering if it was just a bit too "twee"... We wanted to have a meal at the Brazen Head anyway, so I think we might look into it.

PS--We hit the one-month-out mark yesterday. Getting so excited!!

Melissa,

I was just think about you! I hope that she is fairing well. I will keep her in my prayers.

Slan agus Barrogs, Bit