I visited Ireland almost two years ago.

(March 16-24 to be exact) So yes, I was there for St. Paddy’s Day (and it’s not spelled St. Patty’s there. If you spell it that way, be prepared to be taught a lesson on that one!) and no, it wasn’t as crazy as you would think it would be.

So why post about it now?

a. I didn’t have a blog back then

b. I want to share my experience with you

c. I have nothing better to do

d. all of the above

(and yes, this is a ‘Gone Girl’ reference. I just finished reading the book so I figured I would steal a writing idea from Amy. After all, everything we say/write is just a bunch of things we’ve heard in songs, movies, and/or books – stringed together anyway!)

But in all seriousness, another reason I’m choosing to write about the Emerald Isle now is because I want to remember it. Not in the way I would remember it 30 years from now – OH! Ireland was BEAUTIFUL. It was so green and there were sheep everywhere! Well….of course it was green, because it was grassy. And of course there would be sheep everywhere because there were farms everywhere. No. Nobody wants to read about that.

I’m here to tell you about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the EXTREMELY ugly (aka my near death experience, but I’ll get to that).

As I’m writing this now, it’s still somewhat fresh in my memory – thanks to the meticulous notes that my OCD self took during the trip, I’ll be able to piece together most of the details of my vacation. But also because I actually do remember most of the things I did on this trip – because it was my very first international trip. My very first time crossing the Atlantic Ocean. My very first passport stamp. My very first time into a foreign country. Not including Canada of course, because come on…Canada doesn’t really count.

So to give you an idea of what I saw, I’ll leave you with my favorite photo (taken by yours truly) from each town/city/county that I got a chance to visit – Dublin, County Cork, County Kerry, Country Clare, Galway, Belfast, and Country Antrim.