I've spent the past few days on a little holiday in Ireland, touring around with Bas, my Taiwanese publisher Emily, her sister Elaine and one of their friends, Fong-I. They came to stay with us for a couple of days, and we've been showing them some of the local sights. We started on Friday night, after picking them up at the airport, but going to a Folk Night in Bunratty. There's a greast castle and historical theme park in Bunratty, and they do medieval banquet nights, which I've been to several times before. This was my first time at the folk ngiht, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It doesn't have the same wow factor as the banquet, but it's fun, the dancing and singing are impressive, and the food is tasty. We all had a good night, and I think it served as a neat introduction to Ireland for the ladies.

On Saturday we went to Craggaunowen first, which provided much of the inspiration for Bec, and is where we had the launch party for the book when it was first released in Ireland and the UK. It's a great place, featuring recreations of old Irish dwellings, providing people with a real insight into the country's Celtic past. I can't recommend it highly enough!! From there we drove to the Burren, which I always love. We went to the Cliffs of Moher, which were also featured in Bec (when her and Drust jump of the cliff, that's where they leap!). It's been developed severely since I was last there, and a new tourist centre and restaurant have been carved out of one of the hills. For the most part I think the developments add to the place -- but I hate the way they've blocked off access to a large ledge where previously you were able to lie down and look directly down over the cliff. I know it was a safety hazard for people who didn't have sense enough to lie down, but I think the rewards more than justified the risks. Sometimes there's such a thing as making the public TOO safe ...

From there we went to Doolin, where we visited a cave which was only opened a couple of years ago. It's a very raw cave -- they've tried hard not to over-develop it, so as to keep its natural feel. They only take in a maximum of 20 people an hour, 8 hours a day. It's WAY better than the more famous Ailwee cave, and features the 2nd biggest stalactite in the world -- it's mind-blowing!!!! They're looking to expand into new areas of the cave over the coming years, and they probably need to -- things are a bit too cnetred around the massive stalactite at the moment. But even as it is, it's definitely worth seeing -- that giant baby hanging from the ceiling won't leave your memory banks in a hurry!!! You can check out their web site by clicking here: http://www.doolincave.ie/

We concluded the day with a tasy dinner at Dromoland Castle -- my Mum and my aunt Maureen also joined us there (I owed them a dinner from Mother's Day -- I take them out every year to celebrate it). Today we headed for Killarney. The weather was pretty bad while we were driving there -- that's the problem with Ireland -- since so much of its beauty is of the outdoor type, appreciation of it can often depend on the weather, but in this little country that's never dependable!! I thought today might be a washout, but fortunately it improved when we got there, and though the clouds stayed down, the rain held off. We visited Torc Waterfall and Muckross House -- both well worth a visit -- and finished up with a jaunting car trip into the Gap Of Dunloe, one of the most spectacular parts of the county.

I always like an excuse to tour around Ireland. Living here, I don't explore it as much as I probably should. That's one of the things I've found when I travel the world -- people living in amazing places often down't appreciate them as much as tourists do. When you have a natural wonder on your doorstep, I think most of us take the view that we can visit it any time -- so we end up visiting it rarely, or never at all!!!! Sometimes it's good to travel around your own area with a tourist -- it helps you realise what a special place it is that you live in.

Anyway, the ladies and I will be doing the Angela's Ashes walk in Limerick this Monday (Emily translated the book into Chinese when it was released in Taiwan, so she's very keen to see the city first-hand), then we'll be sending them on their way back home, and I'll be returning to work and getting ready for my tour, which starts on Friday!!!! Yipes -- where did the time go?!?!? I'd better start practising my Lord Loss voice, quickly!!!!!