warning: the following post may lead you to believe that my lifestyle has become that of a booze hound. i promise that this is not the case. i'm just trying to embrace the culture of each place i visit. irish culture is full of beer, banjos, and brilliant accents.
because of the traveling that i have been lucky enough to do i have made friends from all over the world. ireland was my next destination to pay a visit to my wee irish friend, ange.
to kick off my stay in this lush land, ange and her boyfriend treated me to a proper irish experience, tickets to a semi-final hurling match. before attending the game i had no idea what the sport of hurling was but i have always been a fan of all sporting events so i jumped at the chance to go. after a quick run down of the sport i caught on fairly quickly. i only made the mistake of cheering for the wrong team once, it was the silence and the awkward looks from my irish friends that let me know that i was in the wrong. it has been on my bucket list to experience a soccer match in the uk, as i have heard that the environment at the games is unlike anything else. though it wasn't a soccer match, i'm sure the 80 000 screaming fans that were at the hurling game gave me an experience that would be a close second.
my girlfriend, katie, flew over from new brunswick to tour the country with me. we rented a car and drove the entire west coast of this amazing land. the majority of our time was spent overlooking the atlantic ocean from the many beautiful beaches and cliffs. on our down time from zipping around the country listening to the band mumford and sons (their song 'I will wait' quickly became our trip theme song. scroll down to find link to listen to the song) we could commonly be found in a small cafe journaling or drinking beer at one of the local pubs with all the friendly old irish men.
on many occasions i found myself standing in the middle of endless fields of green grass, speechless from the sites that surrounded me. ireland was exactly what i had expected, a chilly, slightly rainy paradise!
while exploring the sights of ireland, time and time again katie and i found ourselves being reminded of the scenery back home. the endless rolling hills - alberta. lush, magical rain forrest - british columbia. tiny little fisherman villages that ooze of a very unique culture - nova scotia. the longer i am away and the more of the world i get to explore the more i realize the beauty that we call home.
i suppose that these blog posts are supposed to be filled with exciting pictures of far off lands that cause readers to long to escape to these places. however, i will have you know that when i reflect on the places that i have been privileged to visit, as far as beauty and diversity goes, there aren't many countries that would take canada's place. every time i leave on a trip and then return back home, all it takes is a trip to banff for me to think to myself, 'man, canada's still got it!'.
i have seen many, many amazing places in the last month and a half. however, it makes me proud, and still excites me that at the end of my trip i get to return to a place that is just as stunning as the place i'm leaving. sometimes it just takes leaving the nest for a short while to fully appreciate our home and native land.
love from one beautiful place to another,
lauradanielle.
 Tiny country highways. If you can confidently drive these highways I am certain you can drive almost anywhere! These roads are made for two-way traffic, and gutsy/crazy cyclers and runners. To top it off, the speed limit is usually 100km. Needless to say we had a number of heart stopping swerves while on our journey.  | ||
| Doing my best at keeping a straight face while doing what the Irish do. Failure! I hate Guinness!
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| My beautiful friends, Ange and Katie. |
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| Silly self-photos. |
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| Dingle, Ireland. A typical, perfect little Irish town. They are just as lovely as I imagined them to be. Side note: there are 3 pubs in this picture. It's true, they really are everywhere! |
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| After a hundred roundabouts (traffic circles), I have mastered left-hand drive! |
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| West coast, Ring of Kerry. |
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| Cliffs of Moher |
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| Temple Bar. A trendy area in Dublin filled with great night life, and as you can see, tacky tourists. |
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| I'm certain that this is some sort of Irish motto. |
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| My first hurling match, a proper Irish expereience. My eyes were popping out of my head when I walked into the stadium of over 80 000 rowdy Irish fans. I loved every second of it! |
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| Cliffs of Moher: an overwhelmingly beautiful site to see - if you can live to tell of it. It was extremely windy. You had to crawl to the edge so you didn't get blown off.
Mumford and sons - I will wait:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0kS8RTRi7HA |
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