Thanks to everybody who helped me plan our first trip...it was brilliant! Just returned July 23. And thanks for being patient with my obsessing over the little details. You guys are terrific!

I must say "brilliant" seems like the perfect adjective, considering we had pure Irish sunlight most of the time, with only a teensy bit of very Irish rain. Loved it all.

Yes, Michele, we did see a couple of rainbows! A special thanks to you...your patient and expert friendly help was more than valuable. I will gladly tell the world! Your book went everywhere we went in Ireland. Today I just gave your web-site to a waitress who has been saving her money for her first trip to Ireland. She saw me making notes about Ireland.

I have started doing my trip report on Michele's "Ireland Trip Reports" section, in chapters. Each chapter is for one county in Ireland. I thought that would make it easier for people who are researching regions for their own trips.

I miss the musical pubs crowded with friendly folks and accents from all over Europe; I miss the good steaming hot cups of tea with milk... the beer with a bite...wide open spaces...funny communication gaps...

I miss looking out over awesome seascapes and pondering how much we take for granted...long ago starving Irish without even a potato to eat during the potato famine had only Irish humor, stories, music, and community to keep them going...no wonder so much poetry and music has come out of Ireland, there is poetry in the very rocks and sea.

I went to Ireland with my husband and 2 daughters, searching for "Nanny", my Irish grandmother, who was born and raised in Ireland and then emigrated to America at the age of 17. She passed on a love for Ireland and a curiosity about Ireland to all of her grandchildren. I went to Ireland searching for her "spirit", and I found it. If you want to know where, stay tuned for my everlasting trip report chapters in the trip reports section. Oh, no, just when you thought you were rid of me!