Reporting from Galway, Ireland

Hello! I'm waiting for laundry to be done, and Bethany is at a hair appointment having herself pampered, coloured and cut. We're past the halfway point of our honeymoon, and it's been really amazing -- Ireland is a charming land, just as we'd hoped. Endless beauty, fun driving, great people and good craic everywhere we've been. We're blowing plenty of Euro on our accomodations, and why not? It's a once-ever kind of trip, this one. No time to go into great detail, but hilights:



- Newgrange, a 5,000 year old underground temple used by the ancients, where the sun lines up to come into the pitch-black chamber once a year at winter solstace (clouds permitting). It's older than the great pyramids, and is mind-boggling in the same sort of way.
- Trim Castle, the largest in Ireland, it was where much of Braveheart was filmed.
- Giant's Causeway, a major attraction, pretty cool and unique in the world -- save for its counterpart over in Scotland.
- Live music in many of the pubs we've visited. Befriended an Irishman named Padraig in Ballycastle, a small town with great hospitality. Old men jamming (or, 'having a session') on fiddles, pipes, flutes, guitar, accordian, and the bowran (Celtic drum... spelling is wrong). Lat night here in Galway, a quartet of young men were putting on a show that blew our minds.
- Stayed in two fabulous splurge-like hotels: in Newry, and here in Galway. Living like royalty! All the B&B's we've been using have been great too, not a bad night yet.
- All the driving has been a blast -- left-hand side, the roads are windy and tight, green all around with high speed limits. Feels like rally driving at times. I've been doing most of it, but Bethy has taken several spins behind the wheel. Great car, a Nissan automatic. Fuel cost here is around 1.30 euro per litre, though much higher in the North.



Taking plenty of photos and videos with this awesome new camera of ours.... I'll put up a sampling here as best I can. Good health to all!