So my family and I have been staying in Ireland for a couple of weeks. At the beginning of this week I was trying to figure out what to blog about. As we were driving along the country side I was noticing the different green colors of Ireland and all the sheep in the fields. Then I started to think about the gas stations we like to stop at and the ruins we like to explore, not to mention all the little towns we pass through. There are also so many different styles of homes we see all over the countryside. As well as in the villages. That got me thinking, why not write about the places we like to go to, the things we like to see and the food we like to eat.
First of all let me tell you about the green colors of Ireland. I mean there’s green and then there’s green. Ireland has dark green, light green and sometimes neon green colors. It’s truly a beautiful sight to behold and you know they don’t call it the Emerald Isle for nothing.
The sheep in Ireland seem to be plentiful. After all they do use those animals to make some warm sweaters, scarfs and hats. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many sheep in one place. Some fields have what looks like hundreds of sheep where as other only have a few. And a good number of them have these colors on them as tags. Some of them are blue and some of them if I remember correctly are green. It is fun to watch those sheep and depending on where you are there is a good chance of seeing them standing smack in the middle of the road. In which case you have to wait patiently for them to move.
As I said above there are also some gas stations that we seem to prefer over others. There is one in particular we have been going to this Summer called Topaz. It’s like a one stop shopping place for us. We get our gas when we need it. We also get our breakfast there. We very much enjoy their coffee, sausage rolls, white pudding, potato wedges, croissants and scones. Some of them even make a decent sandwich for lunch.
Like I said before we love exploring the ruins of Ireland. Between the castles and the abbeys I can’t get enough of them. Sometimes it feels like the creepier they are the better. I know that probably sounds a bit sick, sorry about that. And that’s usually only the abbeys. As for those castles: the bigger the better. That gives us more to explore. I wish I could explain to all of you what my fascination is with castle and abbey ruins, but I can’t. I know they are cold damp places, but there is just something about them. I even like the clothes from the medieval times.
There are two other places that I have found my family likes here in Ireland. The first is Tesco. We like shopping there. We find good deals when it comes to food shopping there as well as clothes if we go to a large Tesco. If your wondering what Tesco is that would be the equivalent to Walmart only in my opinion nicer.
The second place is Boots. Boots is a pharmacy. There are other pharmacies in Ireland, but for some reason Boots happens to be the one we like. I don’t think there is any particular reason. Maybe because that’s the first pharmacy we found when we were in Ireland last year.
So if you are ever in Ireland I would recommend these places to you. Whether it be for gas and breakfast at Topaz on your way to see some ruins, snacks at Tesco or shampoo and conditioner at Boots.
Kathleen Smith is an author and blogger. Her books are all full of memories both good and bad. Among these books you can read Good-bye Brooklyn Hello Upstate and learn what it was like for her going from Brooklyn to Upstate NY
