1. Laundry drying on the clothes lines--rural and urban communities both. In many U.S. neighborhoods this is against zoning or neighborhood regulations. You don't realize it has disappeared until you travel where it is common.
2. Unusually large windows, even in modest homes--there used to be a "window tax" in Ireland, but they're over that now! Glass enclosed entry ways for front doors of homes and town houses so the house can be open but not exposed to the weather.
3. Very strict no-smoking rules. Fines for public places could be over 3,000 euros (over $4,000).
4. More auburn and red-haired people in one location than I'd ever seen in my life, and I married a red head. Even so, most are brunette with very pale skin and light eyes. Recent DNA testing show the Irish are probably not Celtic at all, but descended from an area of Spain from which they migrated after the last glaciers melted in Ireland (earlier global warming). When the Celts arrived from Europe, the native Irish absorbed them and took over their culture.
5. Dark skinned, head covered nannies pushing prams of chubby, pale Irish babies on cobble stone and brick walks. The Celtic Tiger has spawned 2 income couples with few or no children.
6. Immigrants from many countries--Eastern Europe, Africa, middle east, far east, Pacific islands, even the U.K. and Germany. They were working primarily in the tourist industry (I'm guessing strict unions keep them out of the skilled trades), so that's who the tourist from America sees. Looks just like home!
7. More Mercedes and BMWs than I've ever seen in Central Ohio, even in our wealthiest suburb, Dublin. However, there are one-car garages attached to the most upscale, newest, elaborate homes. There might be 4 or 5 luxury cars in the drive-way, but the building space is being used for the house, not the automobile. A welcome change from our pattern where the garages often dwarf the main house and the cars are still in the drive-way.
8. Platters of food with mashed potatoes hiding under the fish, and roast potatoes mixed with either parsnips or rutabagas on the side.
9. The most beautiful large, healthy grass-fed animals I've ever seen--the soil is very thin and rocky but extremely nutritious. Pastures are ribboned in stone fences, with cattle lying down, calves frolicking, and horses grazing.
10. Brightly painted stucco homes of yellow, maroon, blue and red in the city and white stucco houses on the farms. An artist's dream (except for the barns which aren't very attractive) when found on curving streets and gentle hillsides. Our Midwestern climate has such extremes that stucco is not a good finish building material--Ireland's climate is very mild with few extremes.
11. Public toilets in Ireland are very clean and modern with ample t.p., but with the same long lines for women as we have in the states. Separate spigots for hot and cold in the sink; every toilet is water-saving, which means you flush 2 or 3 times. Yes, Ireland like all the EU is very "green."
12. Very exotic landscaping. Some yards looked like postcards from Florida or Hawaii. Fabulous flowers, especially roses.
13. Bill Clinton is Ireland's newest saint. He is revered everywhere for helping to broker the current peace in the North. That achievement abroad and welfare reform at home (forced on him by the Republican Congress in the 90s) should be enough legacy for any 2-term President, without the need to be First Laddie, and we can all be proud.
| You Are Sunrise |
 You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be. |
I was talking to my daughter after supper tonight to wish her Happy Anniversary (14th). She had just returned from a medical conference in Chicago, thrilled that she neither had a cold or DVT. 
You won't catch me reading another book about a hopeless war--I just finished "1776" by David McCullough not too long ago. But I was interested in the review of "The Coldest Winter" in Saturday's WSJ by Peter Kann. Halberstam died in an auto accident before it was published, but many reviewers say it is his finest work.
This cubicle might hold a family of 6 or more, or if they had no family, it might be people unrelated. They were sick and starving, so many didn't live through the passage. The passenger/actor who talked to us, a widow with 6 children, didn't make it.
First class passengers had more space and better food. Sort of reminds me of the difference between first class and coach on the airlines, but at least the time is less.
Only first class passengers could come up for a little fresh air--I suppose it helped control the spread of disease, but just worsened conditions for those already sick and using slop pails. I think only the most hardy Irish-Americans and Irish-Canadians survived to pass along their genes and desire to make it in a new location.
If this sight doesn't put your heart in your throat, it's as hard as a rock from the Burren! Call it a castle, a fortress or cathedral, but it is incredible. Our guide Bridget seem to be one of the few guides who talked to us who believed with her heart the Christian symbolism she discussed. 
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