Suzanne’s Personal Quote and Blog for 9/18/2022

Quote

Remember to be in love with life.
Let amazement overcome internal conflicts and strife.

Within each heart is a child that wants to be amazed.
We want to wonder at such beauty and let ourselves be dazed.

Let the flowers enliven the senses.
And wonder at those who built perfect fences.

Appreciate all that appears in each day.

Let ocean waves hit you with its spray.

Each moment is a blessing and a kiss.

Such times sustain us when we are older and reminisce.

~Suzanne Wagner~

Blog

Well, the boat ride was gorgeous with calm seas and clear skies. I could not pick a more beautiful trip to Ireland. I prepared for rain with lots of raincoats and hats and have almost not used them.

Garth Brooks is here in Ireland, and I did not know that he loves Ireland more than anything and the people love him in ways that I did not completely understand until now.

Our wonderful driver Sharon had a “hard to get” ticket and we were going to be in the Aren Islands for the day, so she dropped us off at the ferry and then she went to prepare and go with family to the concert.

Meanwhile, we wandered on the island and got to have a horse and wagon ride around this wonderful place where families have lived for generations.

We saw our carriage driver’s house, the school he went to when he was a child, the well were they got their water when he was young. We saw an amazing series of stone rings that were three thousand years old, which is a World Heritage site “Dun Aonghasa” which is set on dramatic 300 ft cliff edge.
Again, showing how historically ancient the people of Ireland actually are. Some of the oldest megalithic structures seem to be in Ireland or on the islands of this amazing country.

I got to pet the horse and tell her what a great job she was doing.
It was amazing to be on a small country where the primary language is Gaelic. Even the commands to the horse were in Gaelic.

On the Aren Islands they have more stone than they know what to do with. The uplift of the ground from the ocean floor has made the erosion break the stones into blocks and to have any land to grow things on … they have made endless rows of stone enclosures.

But what was so incredible was that they figured out how to capture the water for the livestock. They have carved stone rain collection areas, and then angled other stones so that when it rains that the water flows off those stones and into the area for the animals. Very efficient way to do it. Allow nature and the rain to naturally fill up what they need.

We had a late lunch in the town by the ferry and the food was again amazing. Even the regular pub food is way better than our regular restaurants in America. It is always simple but flavored in ways that satisfy. And never too much food.
I just love that.

Then our driver, Sharon arranged for another driver to pick us up and bring us back to the hotel. We had a simple dinner at the hotel, at the Pullman restaurant, which is inside a couple of real “Pullman” car trains used from the Orient Express.

No dessert for me! As my tummy was content and happy. Then we got a picture from Sharon and her family all dressed up, cute as a bug’s ear (as we say in the south) in western dress with cowboy hats to complete the look as they were waiting for Mr. Garth Brooks.

It was adorable. I hope she had as great of a day as we had in the Aren Islands.

Today we are off the Cliffs of Moher.
While we already saw the highest cliffs at Sliabh Liag, these will also be quite spectacular and we can walk along them which will help us work off our fabulous food over the past few days.

Wish me luck.

~Suzanne Wagner~

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