Ireland

Should be dated: Nov. 4-6

Dublin/The Liffey

Dublin again.

Part of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Dunmore East

Lunch in Wexford.

A fox hunt...check out that green!

Exploring Selskar Abbey.

I could do this all day, every day. Dunmore East again.

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Let me introduce you to Mary Margaret. When we first arrived at our B & B in Waterford, Jerry (quintessential Irish farmer/B & B owner) invited us to tea and scones in the parlor. We showed up only to find the one and only Mary Margaret. We all assumed she was part of the show--playing the role of the senile gma or something--and I continually wondered how much they must pay her because it surely was not enough. This lady was priceless. Staunch Irish Catholic 80 year old wearing three inch red high heels. Randomly broke into Gallic about every five minutes. Referred to me and Andrew as "the children" the entire conversation. Gave her thoughts freely on Saddam Hussein and the Middle East. Anyway, it turns out she wasn't getting paid anything for this gig, but she was actually paying the B & B owners as a guest in their B & B. I still can hardly believe she was merely a guest; she owned that place.

Five years ago I would have found Mary Margaret frightening, but thankfully I now appreciate the entertainment people past a certain age provide. We had the audacity to ask for a picture with her. Just as Andrew's dad was about to take the picture, MM pauses, rolls up a piece of paper, thrusts it upward, and grins from ear to ear. See below.

And then the day after, in all brillance, Andrew had us recreate "the rolled paper" pose freshly coined by Mary Margaret the night before...