Innitou Photo: Blog https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog en-us (C) Innitou Photo (Innitou Photo) Fri, 22 Apr 2022 05:04:00 GMT Fri, 22 Apr 2022 05:04:00 GMT https://www.innitouphoto.com/img/s/v-12/u290097351-o599161338-50.jpg Innitou Photo: Blog https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog 80 120 Back Again! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2022/4/back-again It's been a long time since I have posted!  What can I say.  I am basically a lazy person when it comes to writing.  I would rather be shooting or playing with my photos on the computer!  LOL

Recently I have rejoined a website called View Bug.  I used to have an account (which is apparently still there but for some reason I can no longer access-no clue) and now I have a new account.  Anyway, they have contests all the time.  Some have big prizes and some are just for exposure (these are called 'Photo Challenges').  One of the challenges I entered was about "details" in a photo.  Which, to my surprise (seldom win anything) I won!  So, here is the photo that I won with!  And if you would like to see what else I have posted there (some stuff the same as this and my other sites, some different), you can go to https://www.viewbug.com/member/InnitouPhoto.   Brown Feather with DropsBrown Feather with Drops

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(Innitou Photo) detail feather macro water drops winner https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2022/4/back-again Fri, 22 Apr 2022 01:55:17 GMT
More Ireland, FINALLY! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2018/2/more-ireland-finally Well, the last time I posted Ireland photos was back at the beginning of October.  I started working on the next batch and then in November, the whole house got sick!  We had a horrible chest cold that morphed into pneumonia for three of us (including the baby), sinus infections and laryngitis.  It was so bad that we had to cancel my big open house I do the day after Thanksgiving!!!  Then of course December was spent recuperating and getting ready for my Grandson’s first Christmas!  Didn’t even get the tree up till the week before Christmas!  That’s late for me!  January rolls around and we were all sick again!  This time it was a head cold that went into an ear infection for one of my daughters and the poor baby was so stuffed up he slept propped up in bed with mommy and daddy.  In fact most of us slept sitting up for a good week! 

Now it is February and I have finally gotten back to my Ireland photos!  So now there is a collection of five galleries from my time spent in County Kerry with family (people who live there make GREAT tour guides and driving navigators!) and two galleries of the two major Castles we visited!  We went to Bunratty on the way to Kerry and then after spending a week with family traveling around Dingle Peninsular, the Ring of Kerry and other fascinating places we headed out to Blarney where we stayed two nights in a little B&B literally across the street from Blarney Castle!  You just walk across the street, through the town park and there you are at the entrance to Blarney Castle and gardens!  And no, I didn’t kiss the Blarney Stone, but one of my sisters did! 

Enjoy!

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(Innitou Photo) https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2018/2/more-ireland-finally Fri, 09 Feb 2018 21:34:16 GMT
Doolin and the West Coast of Ireland https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/10/doolin-and-the-west-coast-of-ireland Well, I finally finished the next installment of Ireland photos.  This batch is from our 4 day stay in Doolin on the West coast.  While we were there we had two days of tours with our own private tour guide, Fergus Lally from Celtic Chauffeur Services (www.celticlimo.com).  He took us to the Cliffs of Moher, Kylemore Abby and lots of other places.  He was a terrific guide with tons of information and he knew all the best ways to get to places.  (If you ever go to Ireland booking private tours in different places is the way to go!  You get to see so much more than just driving yourself and they know everything about the places they take you.  And, you get to pick the places you want to go.)

The last full day we were in Doolin we took a boat out to the closest of the Aran Islands, Inisheer.  It was a rocky ride out and an even rockery ride back.  But we had a great time while we were there! 

Hope you enjoy all the photos.  Just go to Ireland then Doolin and the West Coast.  There are nine galleries.

Gerry

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(Innitou Photo) cliffs of moher connemara county clare doonagore castle galway inis oirr inisheer ireland kilfenora cathedral kylemore abby photography poulnabrone dolmen saint bridget's holy well the burren the quite man bridge https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/10/doolin-and-the-west-coast-of-ireland Fri, 06 Oct 2017 23:20:45 GMT
Sunset/Foliage/History walk around Horn Pond https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/9/sunset/foliage/history-walk-around-horn-pond Sunset/Foliage/History walk around Horn Pond

 

When:   Sunday, Oct. 15th @ 4:00 pm

Where:  The Pump-house parking lot at the south end of the Pond

What:    We will walk clockwise around the Pond so as to arrive on Arlington Road for sunset.  

      We will talk about the history of Horn Pond both natural and man-made, and the natural

      environment as it pertains to the foliage we might see.  

 

This walk is suitable for all ages.  We will be on the pavement at all times so it is suitable for strollers.  Please no pets.

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(Innitou Photo) guided walk history horn pond nature walk sunsets tour https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/9/sunset/foliage/history-walk-around-horn-pond Fri, 08 Sep 2017 14:34:47 GMT
The Ancient East https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/8/the-ancient-east The Ancient East

After we left Dublin and picked up our car, we headed to the town of Trim.  Even though our GPS was weird, it brought us to a main road junction and there was our B&B right in front of us!  As it turned out, our B&B host was a wealth of information about the Castle which was only about a ten minute walk across the street and into a field which was the parkland of Trim Castle, known as the Prochy fields.  There are several ruins in this parkland including the “Sheep’s Gate” and the “Yellow Steeple” (so named because it looks very yellow in the sunset I was told by a gentleman I met walking).  It was overcast and threatening rain but we walked through the field down to the town center to a great restaurant for diner (recommended by our B&B host).  We were very hungry so we didn’t stop to admire the ruins and when we left the restaurant there was a light rain so we walked straight home.  

The next day we were picked up by our first tour guide Martin, from Beautiful Meath Tours, and off we headed for the “Ancient East” (Newgrange & Knowth).  From there we headed to the Hill of Slane. It was beautiful, a good walk with a fascinating history (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slane)!   After that we had lunch and had planned to head to Tara, but the traffic in that direction was tied up for miles (four traffic accidents as it turned out) so Martin took us to a place called Monasterboice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasterboice) where we saw beautiful ruins and two of the best High Celtic Crosses in all of Ireland!  We never got to Tara.

The following day we were leaving to go back to Dublin to pick up our other sister at the airport, so I got up early and walked the route back to Trim Castle.  It was a beautiful day, clear and bright!  I took photos of several of the ruins and the Castle Keep, (it wasn’t open yet as it was too early) as well as the “Curtain”, (the wall that surrounds the Keep and the land around it).  There were several other ruins which I never got to as I was hurrying to get back, have my breakfast and head out to the airport!

I have uploaded the next Collection entitled "The Ancient East".  Hope you enjoy!

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(Innitou Photo) https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/8/the-ancient-east Sun, 27 Aug 2017 02:37:58 GMT
At Long Last https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/8/at-long-last At last, I’ve got the first installment of photos from Ireland uploaded.  There are two collections so far, one for Dublin and one for Northern Ireland.  These are the first four days of the trip.  We covered a lot of ground in those 4 days.  Just look for the folder labeled Ireland!  Enjoy!

More to come soon!

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(Innitou Photo) book of kells carrick-a-rede dark hedges dublin dublin castle dunluce castle giant's causeway grand canal ha' penny bridge ireland northern ireland trinity college https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/8/at-long-last Wed, 02 Aug 2017 05:29:17 GMT
I'm Back! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/im-back Well, I’m back!  Got in early evening on Thursday.  Finished downloading my over 3000 photos and am now in the process of making multiple copies of everything: my desktop, my laptop and a portable hard drive.  It’s going to take me a long time to process them.  I figure I will do the best of the highlights of each place and get them into galleries on my Innitou Photo website.  Then I will go back and take a closer look to see what else should be added.  There are multiple shots of at least 60% taken at different exposures.  Plus a good deal of shots of relatives!  So I am not actually going to be processing all 3000 + photos!  Thank goodness! 

If anyone is interested, I have compiled a few tips for traveling to Ireland and traveling in general!!!  It is long, so just skip this part if you want.  If you want to read it, just scroll down after the photos.

 

 

  1.  If you are going to Ireland, don’t fly into Dublin Airport if at all possible!  It is one of the most disorganized airports I have ever been in.  It is huge; you have to walk very long distances to get from the plane to baggage, then from baggage to customs, then from customs to the actual exit!  And sometimes the lines pile up!  We got to customs and the was over an hour!  Coming back into the airport to leave it is also extremely confusing.  Things are not well labeled. 
  2. If you are staying in Dublin, for even a night, don’t hire a car until you are ready to leave!  Very few of the hotels in the city proper have any kind of parking.  And driving is horrible (think very big city with very heavy traffic, in narrow lanes, where everyone J-walks all the time) and there is major road construction going on which will be at least till 2018.  Even my cousin, who lives in the outskirts of the city proper, parked her car and we walked a lot of places.  The major city attractions are very walkable!
  3. If you stay in a hotel near the airport, they all have shuttles to and from the airport.  BUT, they all park in a carpark for shuttles that you have to walk to (again, a long walk) dragging your luggage.  We drove up to Dublin the day before we were leaving to return the car and stay in a hotel I thought was very near the airport.  Easy, right?  Wrong!!!!!!!!  We had a terrible time trying to find the car rental place (again, terrible signage).  We lucked out after our third run around the airport and stopped at a red light beside a rental company truck and asked where to go.  He just said follow me.  Good thing as we never would have found it otherwise!  Turning in the car was easy (as was picking it up) then we had to schlep all our luggage onto the Hertz shuttle bus, go to the airport, then schlep our luggage into the airport and out the other side to the hotel shuttles car park.  Then onto that shuttle and over to our hotel.  In the morning we schlepped everything back to the airport.
  4. Ireland has this thing called VAT (Value Added Tax) which if you are not a citizen, you can get back.  If you are lucky enough to shop at a place that gives out the little FeXco Tax Free Shopping card you are in luck.  They probably won’t tell you, but you can put all your “tax free” purchases on the same card (meaning no one told us) and when you get to the airport you just go to the kiosk, scan the card, fill out a form, scan your charge card and all the VAT gets credited back onto your charge card.   If you don’t have the card, sometimes you get a sales slip with a form to fill out as part of the slip, and sometimes you don’t.  Sometimes you will just get a plain sales slip with the VAT printed on it.  In which case you have to fill out a separate form (usually an envelope some kind vendor has given you to hold all your sales slips).  If (and that is a big IF) you have this all done when you get to the airport, you can go to the FeXco desk and get everything back then and there.  If not, you ask for an envelope to send it all in when you get home.  Needless to say, I took the envelope as it is very confusing.  Oh, and by the way, not everything has a refundable tax.  Think mainly souvenirs! 
  5. The food portions are enormous!  A “full” Irish breakfast includes eggs (usually whatever way you want them), bacon (Irish bacon is more like thick-cut ham with a large strip of fat around the edges and they don’t do ‘crisp’), beans (kind of like baked beans but a little different), grilled tomato halves, black & white pudding (look it up), mushrooms (usually grilled or fried), Irish brown bread and/or toast.  Juice, water (usually with lemon and/or lime in it), juice and all the coffee and tea you want!  After a couple of those (minus the black & white pudding) I opted for the ‘mini’ Irish breakfast.  Just eggs (two instead of three), tomato, mushrooms & Irish brown bread.  Eventually I went to eggs & brown bread! 
  6. Pub food is great!  I had the best salmon I’ve ever eaten in a little pub call McGann’s In Doolin!  And if you want traditional (Trad) Irish music you have to stay till 9:30 pm when the music starts!  But in most restaurants during the day what you hear is the same music you would hear in any American restaurant.  A little disappointing, actually!   
  7. If you go to one of the Aran Islands, make sure it is a really nice calm day; unless you like lots of rocking and lots of wind!!!  I sat up top to take photos and loved every minute of it.  Even when it started raining about five minutes into the return trip!  However, if you are in any way, shape or form prone to sea sickness, think twice!  We went to the first island Inis Oirr (pronounced Inissheer) which takes about 30 minutes.  It was cloudy but dry the whole time we were on the island.  Not commercialized, but places to eat and stay over if you want (you will need reservations well in advance).  Just check the weather real well!
  8. If you can afford it, hire a private tour guide.  It was split between three of us so not so bad.  It was worth every penny.  But some are better than others so if you are thinking of it at all, contact me and I can give you recommendations.  Mostly it is in new, high end Mercedes touring cars and your driver is also full of history and information.  You will get to many more places than going on your own as they will drive faster than you and they know the best routes so they will cover more ground.  (When I was driving I tended to go really slow on the small back roads, REALLY slow!!!)  We did take one large bus tour out of Dublin to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.  Basically it was driving on the motorway (translates as divided highway) really fast with some commentary now and then, getting from one stop to another.  It was a long day.  We left at 7:00 am and got back to Dublin at around 8:00 pm.  If we had done it on our own, it definitely would have been a two day trip!  But it was a great price and we saw a lot of other places as well.  Again, if you are interested, email me for recommendations.
  9. There are things for everybody’s interests!  Like Ancient History and/or Archeology, make sure to check out the Boyne Valley with the ancient passage tombs, older than the pyramids!  Like the ocean and incredible waves?  Make sure you do at least some of the Wild Atlantic Way.  Lakes and mountains, rolling hills, horses, ancient ruins and castles, beautiful cathedrals; Ireland has all of these and more. 
  10. Do not believe Google maps when it tells you it will take X amount of time to go from point A to point B.  Maybe for a native driver, but definitely not an American tourist!  Unless you are on a motorway, the roads are small and windy and sometimes extremely narrow.  Think little hot toped road barely wide enough for one car, with grass growing down the middle and you meet a farm tractor!  Yup!
  11. Packing is an adventure.  We were there the first three weeks of June.  We left Boston in cool rainy weather.  We arrived in Dublin in cold, rainy weather.  Take a REALLY good rain coat/jacket. One with a zip in/out lining would be perfect.  I do not do umbrellas because it is hard to hold one when you are taking photos.  But I did see plenty of them.  Take both short sleeve and long sleeve shirts.  Don’t overdo it.  If you are the average tourist, you will be buying shirts there!  Take a sweater or sweatshirt.  If you plan on buying an Irish knit wool sweater, having something warm with you will give you the time to shop around for the best deal.  If you need cotton (I am allergic to wool) don’t count on finding anything.  Wear comfy slip on shoes for traveling (you have to remove them in airports).  Make sure to bring a really good pair of walking shoes.  Unless you plan on doing actual trail hiking, you won’t need hiking boots.  Bring several pairs of socks.  Dirty socks can irritate your feet.  The second day I was there was beautiful; sunny with big puffy clouds.  We didn’t see the sun again for about 10 days.  Towards the end of the trip we had five days of unseasonably hot and sunny weather for Ireland.  One of those days it actually got above 80 degrees F.  The average is usually in the mid 60’s. (Ireland’s temps are measured in Celsius, by the way).  When we left Dublin it was back down in the 60’s with heavy cloud cover.  Most large towns have pharmacies and grocery stores (villages do not, usually) but the names are all different.  So trying to find a cold remedy that you are used to can be a challenge.  Leave plenty of room in your luggage for souvenirs, brochures and books or other information about the places you are visiting.  Just remember, paper can get heavy.  This holds true for anyplace that you visit, in country or across the ocean!
  12. Bring a book to write down your adventures in.  You think you will remember, but you won’t!  I wrote in my blog (probably not often enough) and my sister wrote in a little book I had brought.  Even just a few lines at the end of the day, is always a good idea.
  13. Where ever you travel, relax, get to know the people.  Do things that you wouldn’t normally do.   But above all, have a good time!
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(Innitou Photo) Airports Dublin Irish Breakfast weather https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/im-back Tue, 27 Jun 2017 04:47:59 GMT
More Pics https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/more-pics Here are some photos of Mizen Head.  I walked all the way out to the end to the Signal Light.  It was a great day and I got some fabulous photos.  The bridge is concrete so it is very sturdy.  Long walk but worth every second!  Going out you go down a slopping trail but coming up you climb 99 steps!!!

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(Innitou Photo) Atlantic Ocean Cork Ireland Mizen Head dramatic ocean & rocks rocks waves https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/more-pics Mon, 19 Jun 2017 19:48:13 GMT
Long Trip Today! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/long-trip-today Well, today was our last hired tour.  It was through a large company called Viator.  Our tour guide was a great guy by the name of Craig!  He made sure we got all the way out to Mizen Head and always looked for places to stop along the way for photos.  The car he had been given, however, left a lot to be desired.  It was an older Mercedes Mini Van? that was in need of shocks and simple things like an arm rest that wouldn't stay up!  Very rough ride!  Also, it rattled a lot so it was very hard for my sisters in the back seat to hear what our tour guide was saying. 

Highlight of the trip was Mizenhead, Ireland's most southwesterly point!  This was the last view of home for all those Irish who emigrated to America.  It was spectacular!  I did the whole walk all the way out to the Signal Station across the bridge!  What a place!  Rocky cliffs, crashing waves, birds, blue sky (at last!)!  Couldn't have asked for a better day!  

Tomorrow we do Blarney Castle and then head for Waterford!

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(Innitou Photo) Blarney Ireland Mizenhead Viator Waterford bridge ocean photography rocks https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/long-trip-today Sun, 18 Jun 2017 18:35:54 GMT
Proud of Myself!!! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/proud-of-myself This week has been FILLED with relatives!!!  So many it's hard to keep track!  Thursday & Friday we did the Ring of Kerry and I DROVE!!!  I had my cousin as a navigator and Thursday wasn't too bad.  Visited more cousins as we went.  Stayed in Kenmare overnight, then we wound our way up a mountain and down to Ladies View!  (It's called Ladies View because in the 1800's Queen Victoria visited with all her Ladies in Waiting and this was their favorite spot!)  It was a very narrow road with lots of twists and turns and the car we have is not very small!  But I did it and my cousin never once gasped!!!  Of course my sisters in the back seat did a lot of gasping!!!  Basically it was foggy with low hanging clouds until we got to the down hill side of the mountain and by the time we got to Ladies View it had cleared and we could see it all!  When we got back to Ardfert (where we are staying with our cousins) it was clear and beautiful!  Took an hour and shot an Abby ruins near the house!  Had a great time!

Today we are off to Blarney Castle and one of my sisters fully intends to kiss the stone!!!

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(Innitou Photo) Blarney Blarney Castle Blarney Stone Ireland Kenmare Ladies View Ring of Kerry clouds fog low hanging clouds mist https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/proud-of-myself Sat, 17 Jun 2017 09:36:27 GMT
The Dingle Peninsular https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/the-dingle-peninsular Did the Dingle Peninsular today with one of my cousins.  Left my car in a parking lot in Dingle Town and all took off in the cousin's car.  I was very glad as the road up to Slay Head was a little hairy!  Very twisty and narrow.  It was heavy overcast with low hanging clouds.  Eventually it started to rain a heavy mist.  Stopped at a place with a 4000 year old ring fort with bee-hive huts inside.  Steep walk up a hillside but worth it!  Love the ancient stuff and and the view was out of this world out over the bay toward Great Blasket Island!  By the time we got to our B&B for the night the scenery was pretty socked in with fog which was actually low hanging clouds!  Back to our cousin's in Ardfert tomorrow and off on a new adventure!

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(Innitou Photo) Bee-hive Huts County Kerry Dingle Dingle Peninsular Ireland Slay Head https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/the-dingle-peninsular Mon, 12 Jun 2017 21:35:13 GMT
Whoopie https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/whoopie Well, I am at my cousin's house in Kerry and he has great WiFi!  So I am finally going to get to upload some pics.  These are very minimally processed, just resizing for the web and adding a little contrast.

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(Innitou Photo) Ireland Poulnabrone Dolmen photography https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/whoopie Sun, 11 Jun 2017 23:40:02 GMT
Almost ready for the next leg...... https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/almost-ready-for-the-next-leg Yesterday, June 8th, our Tour Guide, (Fergus again from Celtic Limo) took us on a whorl-wind tour that lasted for 10 hours!!!  First stop was Galway city!  One of my sisters got a beautiful Aran knit sweater and I got a beautiful wool Irish Celtic Ruana Wrap in a shop our guide told us sells authentic made in Ireland products.  I would love to get a sweater, but I am allergic to wool and it makes me rashy and itchy!  So I settled for a wrap that you would wear over a light jacket!  But I really like the pattern and am very happy with it!!!

When we left Galway we headed for the Burren.  This area of 250 square kilometers is a strange place where there is very little soil, just slabs of limestone rock with over 700 different kinds of ferns and flowering plants growing in the cracks!  And right in the middle of all this rock is a 5000 year old Portal Tomb called Poulnabrone Dolman!  It was foggy and misty when we were there so it made the tomb look even more mysterious!  Then we headed for Connemara and Kylemore Abby!  A very long drive through absolutely stunning country!  The only hiccup was that there was scaffolding over about a 3rd of the Abby!  I still got some good shots and the walled garden was beautiful.  On the way there we made a quick stop at a little bridge made famous in the movie "The Quite Man" with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara!

It was a long way back, but again, through breathtaking county!

Today we took a boat out to the closest of the three Aran Islands, Inis Oirr (pronounced Inisheer).  It was a bit rough going out but we had a lovely tour and lunch and I got great photos of the hundreds upon hundreds of stone walls!  On the way back (out was about 30 minutes and in was about 1 1/4 hours) we went to the base of the Cliffs of Moher.  Only problem was it started raining shortly after we left the island!  So it rained when we went to the top of the cliffs, and it rained when we went to the bottom of the cliffs.  But this is Ireland!!!  This is why it is so green!

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(Innitou Photo) Cliffs of Moher Connamara Galway Inis Oirr Ireland Irish Celtic Ruana Wrap John Wayne Kylemore Abby Limestone Maureen O'Hara Portal Tomb Poulnabrone Dolman The Burren boat boat trip ocean rough water stone walls https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/almost-ready-for-the-next-leg Fri, 09 Jun 2017 23:42:30 GMT
Having a Ball!!! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/having-a-ball I had planned on adding photos to this blog.  But the wi fi here at our hotel and B&Bs is not that good and I can't seem to get them to load.  So when I get home, and process them, they will go into galleries on this site!

Been super busy and have seen lots of wonderful things!!  Friday we took a bus tour up to Northern Ireland.  First stop was Belfast for about 45 minutes.  Just enough time to get some Pounds Sterling at the ATM and grab a cup of coffee!  Then it was back to the bus and we headed to the Dark Hedges, a road lined with 300+ year old beech trees that hang over the road blocking out the sun.  It is used in Game of Thrones so has become very popular!  Next up was a quick stop to take photos of Dunluce Castle!  It's a very famous castle on the very edge of a cliff!  One of the places I really wanted to see!  Got my wish!!!  Then we headed to the Giants Causeway!  Amazing place with all these Basalt columns formed by a volcano, millennia ago!  We were scheduled to go to the Carrick-a-Rede bridge (a rope bridge over a chasm right on the ocean) next.  Sometime the end of May vandals had tried to destroy the bridge.  They had repaired it and reopened it but it turned out that it was closed again for more maintenance.  So we got in for free and could just walk down to the bridge.  I ended up not going all the way down as I was taking so many photos along the way, I ran out of time!  Our last stop was this little seaside village with a small cave in the cliff in a pretty little cove.  I didn't bother with the cave as I was busy shooting the pretty little cove!  Back to Belfast for 30 minutes and then back to Dublin!  A very long 13 hour drive!!!  But what the heck, I wasn't driving!  LOL

Saturday we tooled around Dublin and went to see the Book Of Kells!  Magnificent!!!  Something I have wanted to see since I was a child! Another wish fulfilled!  Later we went to the old piers in Dublin Bay.  They had just celebrated their Bi-centennial.  Then Saturday night I had a Dublin Photo Tour which was going great until 10:00 pm when it started to pour rain with a strong cold wind!  That ended that!

Sunday I got to shoot lots of Georgian Doorways on our way to the National Museum to see the ancient Gold artifacts (think lots of jewelry)! After that our cousin drove us back to the airport to pick up our rental car and our REAL adventure began when we headed to Trim, Ireland with Me driving!  Let's just say, it's different!

Monday we had a wonderful private tour of the Boyne River Valley to two megalithic passage tombs, Newgrange and Knowth.  After that we went to The Hill of Slane, Slane Castle and Monasterboice (pronounced like Monstaboyce).  Thank you Martin from Beautiful Meath Tours!  Next morning before taking off back to the airport to pick up my other sister, I took a walk and photographed Trim Castle, about a quarter mile from our B&B!

Which brings us up to today, Tuesday.  Another private tour to the Cliffs of Moher (everything they say they are and more), the Burren (a carst limestone environment), the Poulnabrone Dolmen (an megalithic portal tomb) at the Burren,  Lahinch Beach, St. Bridget's Well and some other small church and castle ruins!  Another FABULOUS day!!!  Even with the rain!!!  Thank you Fergus from Celtic Limo Services!!!

Again, I am sorry that I am not able to upload any photos.  I will keep trying!

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(Innitou Photo) Cliffs of Moher Dublin Giant's Causeway Hill of Slane Ireland Knowth Newgrange Poulnabrone Dolmen Slane Castle Trim Castle https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/having-a-ball Wed, 07 Jun 2017 21:52:42 GMT
I'm HERE!!!!!!!!! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/im-here Well, we arrived in Dublin this morning at 8:30 am after flying all night (actually it was only 5.5 hours but when you only get about an hour's sleep it feels like all night!  Took us an hour to get through the passport line (seven flights just from the states! Yikes!)  My cousin picked us up and brought us to the hotel where we dropped off our luggage!  Couldn't check in till 3:00 pm.  Then we went on "walk-a-bout" to get the lay of the land, so to speak.  Oh, and that's another thing, they use a 24 hour clock!  Quick, off the top off your head, what time is 16:30?  And of course they drive on the left side of the road, the driver is on the right side of the car and they all drive like Boston drivers!!!  Thank goodness that when we pick up our car on Sunday, I do not have to come back into Dublin!!!  And the walkers are just as bad!  They walk very fast, they J-walk and it is very crowded!  And, there is a ton of construction going on.  I have a Photo Walk scheduled for Saturday night with a professional photographer.  It was supposed to be this first night but it was raining and Saturday is supposed to be better!  Tomorrow we are doing an all day tour to the Giant's Causeway and Carrick-A Reed Bridge.  We'll see what I bring home from that!

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(Innitou Photo) Dublin Ireland photography https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/6/im-here Thu, 01 Jun 2017 21:30:00 GMT
Down to the Wire https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/down-to-the-wire Getting down to the wire!!  One week from today!  Ordered Euros from Bank of America (they had the best deal) today.  Also applied for a “Travel” VISA charge card.  My regular card charges 3% for every transaction overseas.  New one doesn’t charge!!!  Saving money is always a good idea!  

Getting the last of my B&Bs lined up.  We will be using B&Bs throughout the trip.  Dublin is a big hotel, but then we go to Trim to a B&B, then Doolin to a B&B, down to our cousins in Ardfert (they have a guest house) and while there we will be hitting the Dingle Peninsular (maybe a B&B there for one night) and a few days later a B&B in Kenmare as we do the Ring of Kerry!  After that down to County Cork to a B&B in Blarney and then our final place is a Hotel in Waterford.  So we begin and end in hotels but visit lots of great sounding B&Bs along the way!

Also, found a nighttime photo tour in Dublin for my first night!  Really looking forward to it!  I hope to get some great night shots along the river!  I really love reflection photography!!!

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(Innitou Photo) https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/down-to-the-wire Wed, 24 May 2017 22:40:24 GMT
15 days and counting! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/15-days-and-counting Well, I haven’t done any video yet!  Maybe now that the rain has stopped for a while I will be able to give a few things a try.  I will probably go down to the Pond and look for swimming waterfowl, hopefully with babies, to practice video.  And if I can get a decent sunset, I will give time lapse a try with the new intervelometer that I bought!   

Did you know that they make special earplugs just for jet travel?  These little things are called “earplanes” and they are designed to dampen noise while helping to equalize the pressure that occurs when flying!  I usually just chew gum, but that’s kind of hard to do when you’re trying to sleep on an overnight flight!  (We’ll see if I really do get any sleep!)  

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(Innitou Photo) Ireland bucket list flying photography trip planning https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/15-days-and-counting Thu, 18 May 2017 02:43:19 GMT
Lovely Time at Stoneham Rotary Art Show https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/lovely-time-at-stoneham-rotary-art-show The Stoneham Rotary Club had an Art Show fundraiser this past weekend (April 28th & 29th) for the first time this year.  They got a tremendous response from local artists and had paintings (oil, acrylic & watercolor), photography, mixed media and sculpture from amateur, professional and even a student. Yours truly took home a third for my green & purple cabbage and a first for my Cape Cod sunset.

CabbageCabbageReceived a third place ribbon in the first ever Stoneham Rotary Art Show fundraiser.    

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(Innitou Photo) Art Show First Place Stoneham Rotary Third Place https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/lovely-time-at-stoneham-rotary-art-show Tue, 02 May 2017 22:47:59 GMT
Trip of a Lifetime! https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/trip-of-a-lifetime About a year ago my husband, knowing the two top items on my bucket list, asked me which place I wanted to go first: Ireland or Yosemite!  I picked Ireland!!!  So I started planning!  My husband, as it turned out, did not want to go to Ireland.  But he did not want me going alone.  So I set about finding a traveling companion.  First on my list was my best friend.  She would love to go, she said, but being as she takes care of her elderly father every day and has other family obligations, she would have to pass.  On to the next person!  So next I asked a fellow Art Guild member who also loves travel.  But Since I was planning on leaving only a few weeks after she got back from winter in Florida, she also passed.  Now, I have two sisters and one of them lives out west and I don’t get to see her that often.  So I asked her, even though she has already been to Ireland!  She responded with gusto that she would LOVE to go!  So now that I had my traveling companion I started planning what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.  After a while my sister asked if we should invite my other sister.  So we added a third person to our group!  As it turned out, she will be coming six days after me and my other sister as she has two granddaughters graduating that she wanted to stick around for.  As I planned each place we would be staying, I tentatively booked multiple places to stay and then ran each place by my sisters and also by my Irish cousins that we will be visiting while we are there.  Eventually I narrowed each place down and arrived at a pretty good itinerary: Dublin for 3 days with a cousin, Trim for 2 days, Doolin for 4 days, Bunratty for 1 day, Ardfert in County Kerry with cousins for 6 days, Blarney for a day, Waterford for 3 days and then back to Dublin to fly home.   3 glorious weeks!  Of course there were plenty of places I wanted to see but couldn’t fit them in.  I could easily spend all summer there!

Now I am in the process of gathering what I plan on taking, not only for clothes, but for camera equipment.  I just placed my last order (well for now, anyway) with Amazon.  This trip is finally giving me an excuse to get a bunch of little photo odds and ends that make organization easier.  And also to pick up extra batteries and SD cards for my two cameras.  Next on my list is to learn more about taking video with my cameras!  I’ll keep you posted on how that is coming!

29 days & counting!!!                                                               

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(Innitou Photo) Ireland bucket list photography travel trip planning vacation https://www.innitouphoto.com/blog/2017/5/trip-of-a-lifetime Tue, 02 May 2017 21:03:49 GMT