Ireland
I briefly visited Ireland in September, 2002. I attended a high-performance technical computing workshop (HP-CAST) that the new HP hosted in Galway. If you have never been to Ireland, find an excuse. While somewhat expensive to visit, it is worth it. I flew into Dublin and then took the bus across the island to Galway. It was pretty and a nice ride, albeit long by New England standards (4.5 hours).
There were lots of colorful inns and taverns in the country. A few that I liked the looks of were the following:
The Duck Inn, somewhere near Galway along the way from Dublin. The Kings Head of Galway, established 1649. The complete facade of the Kings Head. The KC restaurant just before the waterfront in Galway. The street it is on is really nice to walk on. The food was excellent whether downstairs or upstairs (I was taken there twice and could not tell the difference in quality). The conference dinner was at Cloghan Castle about 15-20 km from Galway. The castle was originally built about 1247 and recently renovated and expanded (a banquet hall). Before dinner we took a walking tour of the grounds and castle. You can rent a bedroom for a week if you like.
The castle from the roadway (from inside the bus as partially seen through the eyes of Greg Astfalk). The castle from the driveway to it. The castle crier greets us after we are safely inside the walls. The castle crier chats with us down below the wall. The castle keep. A sitting room view. The master bedroom? A secondary bedroom. Oh my gosh... the LOO is indoors? Holy cow! A corner chair. A functional cannon in the waning sunlight. Greg Astfalk inspecting a room. Look... I can walk up a spiral staircase and even own a sports coat!!! After dinner we had musical entertainment. Included below are two movies besides the one photo.
A trio that played traditional Irish music. Movie Dancers for traditional music (Francoise Robin's Quicktime, 4.7 MB) Movie Dancers for traditional music (my MPEG, 8.7 MB) Galway is an interesting town in its own right. I walked all over the place in the central part of town. There are lots of areas that I simply do not know how to photograph. Here are some street scenes that I liked.
Along the waterfront. Two of the Spanish Arches, built in 1584. 
The right arch is filled with leftovers. The square between the train station and the old part of town. A street scene. Another street scene. Yet another street scene. Absolutely the last street scene. Beyond the absolute last street scene. I considered taking the train back to Dublin. It takes slightly longer than the first bus to the airport in the morning (which meets it at its train station!). I got up and took pictures of the train leaving. Then I went to breakfast and walked to the bus.
I got up just before the sun rises and decided to take the bus. However, I waited on the sun and the train. The yellow train leaves the station right on time a few minutes later. I was surprised to learn that the trains frequently run down single tracks and have to go really, really slowly for safety reasons. I am spoiled by a TGV-like train (US version) running down my local line at a sustained 265 km/hr. I really enjoyed the sunrise and train. The bus took a very long time to get to the Dublin airport. I will not even start on my opinion about the 7 kilogram limit on carry on bags in Europe for planes.
