Gaelic gifts...a plethora of serpentine brooks...sheep monopolizing the road and 40 shades of green.

I had been going to Europe for over a dozen years when my mother, of Irish descent, said, "Why don't you go to Ireland?". Promptly,I replied, "It's probably just a bunch of rural beauty which I have already experienced in New England,some of the mid-Atlantic states, Germany, France,the Ardennes." Why bother,I thought. But I loved my Irish grandmother and often as an adult, reminisced about the tales of her youth. She was such an interesting story-teller. Much better than most of my teachers. After some deliberation,I called my sister and said, "Let's go to Ireland this summer!" Immediately,she assented.
We went to Dublin,naturally, Killkenny, Killarney, Lisdoonvarna, Kenmare, Doolin,
and Dingle. You can research those places on any search engine and discover that there are castles,cliffs, beautiful,unique beaches,pubs cranking out festive music but,there's something missing on those search engines: PASTORAL MAGIC
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Ireland isn't just about green. It's not just about sights. It's a sensory panacea. Ireland breathes. When you step outside your door in the wee hours or later hours of the morn for that matter, you feel her breathing. Ireland embraces your body and your soul. You breathe in her breath and mesmorizing, crisp air permeates your entire being. My sister, DiAne crawled along the ledge of the Cliffs of Moher, hung over the ocean and breathed in the hypnotic mist. The mystical effect was like a nasal version of the sirens from Homer's THE ODYSSEY. I think she would still be there if we hadn't coaxed her with a cold Guinness. We cried on the plane all the way back home. We were in love with Ireland! And guess what? We haven't stopped going.

If you are looking to fill your whole being with new air,new life,majestic colors of green,the gentle sounds of brooks whose stones look like petrified flowers,very delicious food flavored with fresh herbs and 3 kinds of potatoes served with your meal in most venues, beautiful ,enchanting music or the rhythym of music that requires one to down a few GUINNESSES in order to participate in the pulse of the eternal beat,
cool,crisp,clean air, you need to stop reading this and start researching.
slan go foill,my friends!