Somebody has a Birthday today!!

[LyleW]

Hey there! Missed it, too!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=t+ ... &FORM=VIRE

[Duke Maddog]

Happy belated Birthday Fermis! I wish I could go to Ireland too. Have fun over there but don't kiss the Blarney Stone!

[Stikpusher]

Happy belated Birthday Fermis! I wish I could go to Ireland too. Have fun over there but don't kiss the Blarney Stone!

Hah, my friend did just that (kiss the Blarney Stone) when he went there over this past New Years.

[BlackSheep214]

Must've been fun hanging upside down kissing that rock huh, Stik?

[Stikpusher]

He said it was.. a bit of acrobatics are required to perform the task so he said...

[Thomas_M]

[Fermis]

Thanks again dudes!

We did have a good time. WE started in Dublin...just the one night. We are not "city" people! Then down through Wicklow, stayed the night in Huntington Castle...then along the southern coast, with nights in Kinsale(Cork), Kenmare....did the "Ring of Kerry"...BEAUTIFUL!!! Stayed along the eastern coast, working our way up to Castlebar. LOTS of driving, to take in the sights. I did all the driving...on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road!!! We added almost 6000 kilometers to the odometer!
It was a great time...but it is nice to be back home....other than this 80+ degree heat and all the bugs. Weather over there was 60-65 the whole time and there were no mosquitos trying to carry you away! I thoroughly enjoyed the lack of bugs over there!

[BlackSheep214]

Any Irish castle kits in your future? The last one you did was simply marvelous.

[Fermis]

Mayhaps! I have not looked into it yet.
Most of what we saw were in ruins. Of all the places we stopped at, only 2 were really "touristy", and those areas were packed with people and not much fun (because of all the people). Most of the places (castle and abby ruins) we stopped at had little to no signage, and very few people around. Those were the best. I can only imagine the "cash cow" that those types of places would be turned into, if we had them here...and that would completely ruin (pardon the pun) the experience. Things are very different over there, and I really like some of those aspects, but at the same time it makes me appreciate where I am at, and what is readily available here. I see an over abundance of indulgence in "things" here in the US, that I have not seen in other parts of the world. It's kind of sickening and embarrassing, really. What I miss most...I realized as I was mowing my lawn this morning, sweating like a pig....even though I was on a riding mower...is the cool air and lack of bugs. To go a whole two weeks...in August...without breaking a sweat once, is amazing to me!

[Stuart]

Any Irish castle kits in your future? The last one you did was simply marvelous.

Most of what we saw were in ruins. Of all the places we stopped at, only 2 were really "touristy", and those areas were packed with people and not much fun (because of all the people). Most of the places (castle and abby ruins) we stopped at had little to no signage, and very few people around. Those were the best.

You're a man after my own heart Fermis - I spend a lot of time going around old ruins with my family - Castles, Abbys, Houses, Roman Villas. It's partly my Wife's fault as she's doing a degree in Medieval studies, but thankfully we all love history - anfd the kids love climbing over them.

There are some really good ones in England and Wales - we visited about five Castles and a few other runis when we on vacation at the start of August, although like you we stay away from the busyist ones - Alnwick for example (very Harry Potter). We walked a part of Hadrian's wall - that thing is 1700 years old!

We may not have much in the UK, but we do have us some good History mainly due to all the wars we've had!

Cheers!