In July we took a five night trip to Ireland--without kids!! Thank you, Mom, for taking care of our boys so Jim and I could get away for our first vacation on our own. It was so good for us.
As many of you know, my mom's parents were both born in Ireland and immigrated to the US when they were in their 20s.
Although they grew up just a stone's throw away from each other (my Papa Lou lived in the city of Westport and my Grandma Lydia lived in the country just outside of Westport) they didn't meet until they were both living in Chicago! I have had the opportunity to visit Ireland twice before, once on a family trip when I was 13 and once during college. I'll intersperse some of those photos throughout these posts!
 |
| My Grandma Lydia and Papa Lou in 1957 in Chicago |
Jim had never been to Ireland so we were excited to make the trip there together, to see the beautiful countryside and also to meet up with our Irish family! We flew into Shannon airport and drove to Galway to meet out cousins, John, Angela, and Sean for dinner. We had a lovely evening catching up!
The next morning, we walked around Galway and met our cousin, Laura, for a much needed cup of tea! It was so rainy and chilly!
Oh, and windy, too!
Here we are down by the Quay and the Spanish arch in Galway. Laura sent me a photo of this same spot a couple weeks after our trip--it had completely flooded from all the rain they got this summer!
Laura visited us in Alexandria back when Drew was just a baby.
 |
| Flashback to Laura and Drew at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. |
 |
| Tea with Laura in Galway |
By midday Jim and I were on our way again. We wanted to reach Westport by evening and stopped at many beautiful sights along the way!
Thanks for meeting up with us, Angela, John, Sean, and Laura! It was wonderful to see you all!! Here's a blast from the past...
 |
Galway, Ireland in 1994
Back row: Our cousin Laura, my brother Michael, me, our cousin Sean
Front row: My sister Jill and our cousin Ciaran
|
 |
| Laura, me, John, Sean, and Ciaran in 2002 |
No comments:
Post a Comment