Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" walking tour in Limerick

My husband went all the way to Ireland for a rock band. I went for a book walking tour. Which one of us is more nerdy?

Don't answer that.

Here is the Patty who gave us our walking tour. He was adorable. He told the stories so enthusiastically, which is exactly how I read the book. (For some reason, he felt the need to literally squish me down. I was at least six inches taller than him, but he put his arm around and over me and squished me down for the picture, which is why I am painfully contorted.)

Apparently, a lot of people read the book and thought it was depressing or miserable. I read it and thought it was one of the funniest, most honest books I have ever read. It is one of my all time favorite books, so of course I wanted to do the tour in Limerick while we were in Ireland. Sadly, Mr. Frank McCourt passed away only a week before our Ireland trip, so I got to pay tribute to him while I was there as well.

When Frank was growing up, it was during the depression time. So a lot of the city was slum. Today, the city is booming. So most of the buildings he talks about in the book are torn down and replaced. Here is the lane that he would have to walk up to get to the two story house that was Italy upstairs and sewage downstairs, with the angel on the seventh step, and the second story that they eventually tore down and used for firewood, which obviously got them kicked out by their landlord. There are so many stories in that house, I was so sad to see it gone, but the way he described it I would be offended if it still existed!

And the pub at the bottom of the lane where they accidently let the baby's stroller go and it rolled right into the pub. The men were so freaked out, but then gave Frank & Malachy free lemonades for the entertainment of the day. So then they started going around trying to recreate it in all the pubs of the city and of course got in trouble.

Row houses like the one that belonged to his nasty distant cousin (who had the "excitement" with his mom, and who tried to get him to empty his chamber pot, which made him move out and then go live with his cousin who was "dropped on his head" as a child).

Here is the confession box where he would make up sins of his friends to make his own sins not seem so bad.

And the church where he received his first communion, which he later threw up in his Grandma's backyard and made her freak out that "god was in her backyard." That was one of my favorite stories.

Here is the house that they moved into right after his first twin brother died, and the window in the back on the second story was the one that the other twin would stare out of looking for his twin. Eventually, that twin died too and Frank's mom couldn't stand to be in that house any longer because it made her so sad.

Here was Frank's school. Oh the stories I could share about what happened here. All I can say is, read the book if you haven't already.

They had a memory book for people to sign. Josh snapped a picture. I always felt that Frank and I would be friends if we ever met. I'm sad I never got the chance.

And here is the St. Vincent Society where Frank's mom would have to go and basically embarrass herself by begging in front of a whole crowd of people so that she could have shelter, furniture, and food for her family.

And on the way over a bridge, I snapped a picture of the River Shannon, which Frank hated and believed was the reason so many people were sick and dying in Limerick. I have to say, that was the coldest and wettest day we experienced.

Now I need to go track that book down and read it again.

Stalking U2

For anyone not obsessed with U2, this post might seem weird, maybe even creepy. But I am telling you, Josh was one of the least freakish fans I saw in Ireland. We are talking about people who travelled from all over the world to see the band perform in their hometown and see the U2 sights. Ohhhh, the stories to be told...... But as an example, here is a picture of a man's tattoos that make Josh seem perfectly normal and harmless. :o) (For those who are not up on these sorts of things, that is a picture of the Joshua Tree from one of U2's CDs, and the emblems representing the last four U2 tours......on his body......forever!)

Bono's childhood street and home. (Also featured on the "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" music video.)

The high school where it all started. Bono, Edge, Adam & Larry went to school here (and three of the four met their wives here) and answered a post on the posterboard to meet at Larry Mullen's house after school if they were interested in starting a band.

The hotel owned by U2 (and the beautiful view of the river we had from our room). The band used to come here after gigs when they were very young and talked about one day being rich enough to buy the hotel. Well, they did. And we stayed there, which made us feel super cool. They had a VIP party in the lobby the day AFTER we checked out. Bummer.

The studio where they recorded most of their early albums. The entire street is covered with colorful graffiti. (Both in color and in language.) Apparently, not all the Irish are fans of the band.

And the studio where they are currently recording their album.

And hiding in the bushes outside of Bono's house gate. We were a few of hundreds of people waiting there.

Sorry to report, after all of the stalking, we never did get a sighting of any of the band members. But the concert was freaking AWESOME!!! It was in one of the biggest stadiums in the world, packed to the ceiling, and as fantastic as ever. Wherever you live, look up their tour and buy tickets to the nearest show. I promise you won't regret it....

Irish Pride

My mother's mother's father's mother's father was an Irish Quigley who stowed away on a ship to America during a potato famine. So I really am Irish enough to claim Irish pride.

I know the oldest, most annoying thing in the world is a person coming home from a trip and making people see all the pictures from their trip. So I won't be offended if you skip the next three posts of our Ireland trip. I will post general Ireland pictures here, then U2 pictures, and then pictures from my Limerick "Angela's Ashes" Walking Tour for anyone else who is a nerd and would find that as interesting as I did. :o) And then someday I will post the video of each of these things, but they are taking too long and I am sleepy because I am still on Ireland time (add eight hours, it is almost 4:30 am.)

Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, it was beautiful.

This may have been one of our highlights. How cool is this?

We may have been the only people on the tour bus that didn't get off at this famous beer factory.

St. Patrick's Cathedral - wouldn't recommend it, although it might just be because they didn't have a mummified cat and rat, or that the whole building smells so moldy that I sneezed the entire time I was inside.

Ireland is BIG on their jail history. There are old jails all over the island. (A lot of times, people were so poor and starving that they would purposely get in jail just to be fed. And they were super strict and would put entire families, children included, in jail doing hard labor for debt or for stealing bread.)

Definitely a highlight: the Blarney Castle. It was so cool to walk through the grounds and the castle is one of my favorites I have ever been to.

And of course, we kissed the Blarney Stone! So far, no sign of infectious disease, and I still appear to have the Stucki girl curse of not being so eloquent with my words. Darn. Worth a try though!

This was at the bottom of a watch tower, but I thought it looked cool and creepy like "The Ring" movie.

These kinds of structures and cemeteries are everywhere. People just have these things in their backyard. It blew me away.

This picture was Josh's idea. We set the camera on the car and tried to hurry and pose but it didn't work out too well. We definitely wouldn't have won the championship!

Josh hiking through fields to see rock structures that were built around 2000 B.C.

Josh checking his work email in the middle of this prehistoric site.

Beautiful scenery shots. It is probably the most picturesque country I have ever seen. Green. Green. Green. (And lots of cows and sheep too!)

My poor little non-maternity rain jacket almost made it. The last day there, the bottom button popped.

Another highlight: The Cliffs of Moher (also, more famously known as "The Cliffs of Insanity" from "The Princess Bride.") Awesome view. Super windy.

3 more dirty outdoor thing pictures from my friend's camera.

The one of Maddie shooting a paintball gun is priceless....

Some more recent happenings

Maddie's first eye doctor appointment. Geesh, that girl is brave. She let them put all kinds of drops and gadgets into her eyes. She looks so tiny here. And, don't worry, she has great eyes.

And then she had to wear these the next 24 hours and stay out of the sun. She was of course a little nazi who went around and closed all of the blinds in the house and proudly wore these glasses.

She REALLY likes daddy daughter date night bowling and the shoes they give her too.

We also had a great time this last weekend at a friend's cabin in Utah doing dirty outdoor things.

And Josh taught Maddie how to make a wish......