This is a scheduled post. No, I do not feel I owe any OOB (out of blog) notices, but I just thought I’d mention it in case there are any comments and you wonder why I am not replying. I have taken a couple of days off and am taking the family up North. Belfast, to be exact. So while you are reading this, I will be traipsing around the Titanic Experience. (For those who didn’t know: The Titanic was built in Belfast’s Harland & Wolff shipyard and started her first and final voyage from this little island. She went empty from Belfast to Cobh (then Queenstown, a suburb of Cork, in the South-East of Ireland) where she took the first load of passengers aboard. Then she crossed the Irish Sea to Southampton where the bulk of passengers joined before she left for her doomed passage across the Atlantic.) The trip to Belfast has come about because I was lucky enough to bag free tickets to a pre-release viewing of The Imitation Game tomorrow morning. No, I am not jumping ship, over into the camp of the Cumberbitches. I just cannot resist the lure of free tickets *ggg*. Spouse and sprogs are accompanying me, taking the opportunity to explore the island’s second city. Quality time with the family! That’s why I am O-L (off-line).
My post is OT, too, for the second time within a week – and apologies for that. I promise it will not become a habit – this *is* an Armitage blog, and it shall remain so, especially as I have always felt that my personal background – although not a secret – is of little or no importance, and therefore any navel-gazing is to be avoided. Well, I have already broken that premise on several occasions. So much for principles… By way of explanation I can only offer this: I have been asked on several occasions by several people (all real!) whether I would show some of my own photographs. Now, I am notoriously secretive of my own work – partly for my own overly critical evaluation of my work, partly for reasons of anonymity. But to hell with that! I might as well take you on a journey through Ireland. Today I am showing you a little gallery of images of my adopted country. If you like, I might follow up on other occasions with some other thematically chosen images. It is a mixed bag of images, some typical picture-postcard kitsch, some a little more arty. They all have in common that I like them – which is rare enough when it comes to my “oeuvre”. (For a larger view of the individual images, click on a picture.)
I hope you have enjoyed the little trip to the Emerald Isle, seen through the eyes of Guylty. Back tomorrow evening. Be good 😉
Guylty Pleasure 
Thanks for showing us your stunning pics!
Have a nice trip and enjoy the family time!
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Thank you Herba :-). Had a great trip – with shite weather. Typically Irish, then.
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Stunning photos, Guylty, thanks for sharing! And of course we crave for more 😉 Have fun!
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Thank you, Micra. Upon seeing them again, I am as usual disenchanted. Must be me.
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Yup, I think so 😉
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Oooooh, *love* Ireland, love Belfast, and love seeing your photos. 😀
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Ireland really is beautiful. It’s a failsafe photo-op :-D. And Belfast was really nice, too – I had not expected to like it as much as I do… Totally different from Dublin, great shops 😀 More to come. Thanks, Alyssa!
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Was für schöne Bilder. Wie gut, dass du aus der Deckung kommst.
Muss das nachher mal auf einem ordentlichen Bildschirm ausbreiten. Dann der P-Family noch eine gute Quality-Zeit! Und bei Gelegenheit erklärst du mir mal, wann deine Kinder eigentlich in die Schule gehen 😉 Leichtes Überangebot an Feiertagen im kath. Irland? 😀
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So, Bilder erfolgreich ausgebreitet. Da muss ich jetzt doch nochmal eine Schippe Begeisterung draufpacken: Die sind ja richtig schön 😀 Mir gefällt das Motiv mit den Booten und der Marienkapelle en miniature. Und diese Strände! Davon träumt unsereins im küstenschwachen Deutschland 🙂
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Die Quality-Zeit war wirklich toll, v.a. weil der Gatte seine Teilnahme verkürzen musste und ich deswegen zwei Tage alleine mit den Kindern unterwegs war. Das war richtig schön. Pssst: Und Feiertag war nicht. Ich hab die Kinder einfach aus der Schule genommen…
Und Irland ist ebenfalls schön, ja. Man muss eigentlich nur die Kamera in die Gegend halten… Die Strände sind hier in der Tat manchmal geradezu karibisch: weißer Sandstrand, türkisblaues Wasser. Das Wetter muss halt mitspielen. Wenn wir im Mai Zeit haben sollten, mache ich mit euch meinen Mini-Irland-in-Dublin Spaziergang, damit ihr eine Ahnung von der Schönheit Irlands bekommt.
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Moin, schön dass du wieder an Bord bist.! Es war 3 Tage so still 😀
Ha, ich dachte mir schon sowas mit den Kindern 😉
Keine Sorge, diese Info bleibt unter uns! Soso, nur Teilgattenbegleitung. Nun denn, manchmal reichen auch 2 Kinder 🙂 Böse Merry! Und ja bitte: lass uns deine Rundfahrt buchen.
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Die Internetlage in Nordirland war bescheiden, sonst hätte ich mal reingeschaut, aber irgendwie war immer schlechter Empfang oder kostenpflichtig.
Rundfahrt ist gebongt – allerdings ohne -fahrt sondern mit -gang. Ihr müsst selbst was tun 😉
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Mist, immer diese erholsamen internetfreien Gebiete 😉 Wie jetzt, keine RundFahrt? Und wieso gehen? Ich dachte tragen!!!!! Werde meine Wanderschuhe einpacken, dass du das bloß weist. Und dann ab über Stock und Stein, von Klippe zu Klippe 🙂
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Klippe zu Klippe passt. Wanderschuhe müssen nicht unbedingt sein, aber eben festes Schuhwerk 🙂 Und dann mach ich einen Klippenrundweg mit euch – den Howth Cliffwalk. Zur Belohnung gibt’s danach dann Fish and Chips. 🙂
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Seit der gute alte Schnürschuh nicht mehr so en vogue ist, hat unsereiner eigentlich bloß noch Turnschuhe oder eben so Trekking/Wandertreter. Keine Sorge, bin nicht hochalpin ausgerüstet 🙂
Ahhhh, Fish &Chips. Klingt wie der perfekte Ausklang einer sauerstoffintensiven Rundwanderung 🙂
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Turnschuhe sind auch adäquat! Und so sauerstoffintensiv wird das Ganze nicht – der Klippenweg dauert ungefähr anderthalb Stunden und ist im wesentlichen ohne größere Steigungen.
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Au ja, wieso ist es noch solange hin! Arbeite gerade die letzten Wochen auf….
Die Fotos sind traumhaft, man möchte sich direkt auf den Küstenwanderspaziergang begeben und das eklige Novemberwetter ausblenden 😉
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Oh my goodness these are gorgeous! This is a VERY good breaking of your principles 😉 THANK YOU for sharing them Guylty! It feels like Christmas in November 🙂
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Jolly, you are too enthusiastic 😉 But it’s been fun sharing them. Thank you for the warm reception!!!
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So delighted that you shared these! Not only am I dying of envy for your trip to Belfast (point of origin of Himself), but your photos fill me with desire to see more of the Isle. Especially the Donegal picture that you highlighted. So idyllic. Dare we hope for the Black Mountain or Cavehill???
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Ireland really is well worth seeing. It has changed a lot in the thiry years that I have known it, but many parts of the country are still unspoilt and beautiful. Belfast was really nice, btw, the city very imposing in its grandeur, but the people extremely friendly. I definitely want to return there.
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Lovely! I want to go there, and then to the coastline in the north.
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The Antrim coast is absolutely stunning, especially what is known as “The Giant’s Causeway”, an area that has Basalt rock formations that are hexagonal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_Causeway
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Yes, that would be my first stop, one of the world’s geological wonders! The Antrim coast seems to be well-known among birders too. Good for the Long-Suffering Husband. He can add to his life list 🙂
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Ahhh, I get wanderlust looking at your pics. Have fun with the family and feel free to break your principles whenever you feel like it! 😉
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It’s a lovely country, Richardiana, so come and visit me 😀 (And I might break the principle again, soon 😉 – have to check how the Belfast photos have turned out first…)
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A) It’s YOUR blog!!!!! Do as you will!!!!
B) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! Gorgeous. Makes me wanna visit!!!
Enjoy your time and trip! You so very much deserve some down time!
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You are totally right, Zee. I can do whatever I want on this blog… Being a people-pleaser is just so annoying 😀 And yes, it’s gorgeous. I imagine it is the opposite of anything Georgia, and definitely too cold for your taste right now, I think. (It was lashing rain and turned quite chilly while we were up in Belfast *brrrrrrrrrrr*) But in the sunshine in the summer it is stunningly beautiful.
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I normally wouldn’t mind cold weather – if I had someone to cuddle with! Rain doesn’t bother me. Great reading weather!
Georgia has its beauty – from the mountains, to the coast. One of the neighbors every 4 or 5 years, plants his entire farm in sunflowers. It’s beautiful. I should take pictures. I have pictures of the trout stream above my brother’s place in NW Georgia. I should find them and post them.
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Please do!
I have been to Georgia, btw, years ago. Mainly Atlanta, though.
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Beautiful photos. Thank you for trashing your principles temporarily. We are all the better for it. Have a great time with the fam.
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Hehe, it was a test. Maybe I’ll change the blog into a photoblog?
Nah. No worries. It’ll stay as it is… But thanks for the encouragement 🙂
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Ireland is one my dream destinations and so I love it seeing through your lenses. I love visiting lonely, ends-of-the-earth places and northern Ireland fits that bill.
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Oh yes, some of Ireland’s scenery is very rough, dramatic, end of the earth stuff, and occasionally reminds me of some of the imagery I have seen of New Zealand. I think NZ is more dramatic, bigger in scale, more remote. But Ireland is a mini-NZ in Europe. Plus, it has similarly nice people living in it…
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I already know Ireland was beautiful but now I am sure. Enjoy your family Guylty. It’s your blog and you can do what you want and as I think the followers of this blog are your friends and what friends are doing when they meet ?? They are talking about their week-ends or their jobs or their family or sharing their happy or sad feelings and it’s exactly what you are doing with us and be sure that we really appreciate it. Your pictures are really wonderful. A piece of art. Really. But I am surprised : no selfie ??? LOL.
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That’s really sweet of you to say, Katia. And sure, you are right. It’s just one glimpse into the place where I happen to live, and it’s actually fun sharing that with my friends!
Selfie? Oh no… rarely. 😀
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My first reaction to your pics was ‘stunning’ and I see from reading the first couple of comments I was not alone. They are absolutely beautiful. My daughter has moved to Belfast and I have not had a chance to visit yet…I really enjoyed your beautiful work.
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Oh, your daughter is in Belfast?? Is she a student at Queens? We did some sightseeing and went into Queens Quarter – absolutely beautiful. I liked Belfast very much, almost to my surprise, given the history and the time of year. But people were extremely friendly, and the sights were fantastic. I want to return and see more of it. If you have the chance, go and visit it!! (I might post some pics of Belfast later, too…)
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Yes, she just finished her masters at Queens this fall and was up in Coleraine/Portstewart for her third year uni previously (Ulster U??)…now she is working in Belfast and has been with a lovely Irish dude for 3 or 4 years now, she is an official immigrant from Canada. I would love to see your pics of Belfast!
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THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME MY GRANDMOTHERS BIRTH PLACE.They were beautiful.Someday I will come to Ireland.Enjoy your trip..
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If you have a family connection to Ireland, Dede, you should definitely come and visit. It’s a gorgeous place, and its people are very friendly. The weather is the only drawback… May and September are the best months with least amount of rainfall!
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The Titanic is close to my heart, my great uncle who was a crew member went down with that ship. All my life I’ve always had an insatiable interest in Titanic and wondered why that was until my father told me that we lost a member of the family on her, sounds daft I know but from that moment I understood why the connection I felt was so strong, it’s like someone was tapping me on the shoulder for a long time waiting to be noticed.
Have a great time with the family in Belfast Guylty and thanks for sharing your beautiful photos, they are quite stunning.
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What an interesting story, Austoz!!! We went to see the Titanic Museum, a stunning, custom-built landmark building in the docklands of Belfast, and it was one of the best museum experiences I have ever had. Unfortunately they did not really focus on the people’s stories enough – in my opinion. But it was well-worth seeing. Pity that you are on the other side of the world and you can’t just make a quick trip to see this place…
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Thank you for showing some of your stunning photos of Ireland. I would love to visit one day as part of my family came from Ireland, Co. Cork as far as I know.
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Co. Cork in the Southeast of Ireland is another stunningly beautiful part of the island. If you ever have the chance, do come and look for your roots. There is so much to see there, and bonus: Weather-wise it’s the best part of the country, thanks to the gulf stream that flows by it 🙂
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Wie jetzt?! Du glaubst, dass du uns keine Info schuldest, wenn du weg bist??? Pfffffffff! Von wegen, sowas fangen wir gar nicht erst an. Am Ende glaubst du gar noch, du hättest ein Wörtchen dabei mitzureden, worüber du bloggst! 😀 😀
Ernsthaft: Du schuldest uns ganz sicher keine Rechtfertigung, aber es ist schön, wenn du uns informierst. Wir sind nämlich so unverschämt und *freuen* uns für dich, wenn du einen interessanten Kurztrip mit der Familie einlegst. 🙂
PS: Wirklich schöne Landschaft. Und ich mag das Schaf. Määäääh! 😛
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Gut gebrüllt Igelchen! Dass sie sich das mal bloß hinter die Ohren schreibt!!!! Ich finde es auch schön zu wissen, was die “Schuldige” so treibt und muss mir dann wenigstens keine Sorgen machen, wenn Funkstille herrscht . Wer weiß denn, ob nicht mal wieder kurzfristig ein Stecker gezogen wurde ;-). Transparenz (in Maßen) ist was Schönes. Sehr verantwortungsvoller Umgang mit deiner Jüngerschar Guylty
😀
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Richtich, es erspart uns auch Sorgen darüber, ob alles in Ordnung ist, das ist auch immer gut. 😉
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Irgendwie fühlt es sich erstaunlich gut an, zu wissen, dass sich jemand um mich Sorgen macht *ggg*. Ist man ja gar nicht mehr so gewöhnt…
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*kicher* – damit hab ich euch damals richtig traumatisiert, oder? Ok, ich versprech, ich mach das so nicht wieder, sondern melde mich ordnungsgemäß ab. 😀
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Sowas von traumatisiert! Das sach ich dir ma blos!!! Wie schön, dass du dann jetzt auf Kurs bist. (Ich hab sie, ich hab sie *dudel*)
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😀
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LOL. Dann weiß ich Bescheid :-D.
Und das mit den Schafen: Das sind ja auch immer meine Lieblingsfotos. Meine irischen Freunde verarschen mich immer, weil ich so gerne Landschaftsfotos mit Schafen mache. Von wegen “Vorurteilsbild von Irland”. Ich finde die einfach süß und fluffig. Unwiderstehlich.
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Welcome back, Guylty, und schön, dass es schön war. 🙂
Und wir verraten dem Herrn Gatten auch nicht, dass sein verkürzter Ausflug gar nicht soooo schlecht war. *ggg*
Lieblingsfotos = Bilder mit Schafen? Hmmm … Ob Richards Stelzen wohl so lang sind, weil ihm früher öfter mal die Hammelbeine langgezogen wurden?
Stimmt, Schafe sind süß und fluffig, aber der Hauptgrund, weshalb ich nur das Schaf kommentiert habe, war, dass ansonsten zu deinen Fotos schon alles gesagt worden war. Dachte ich jedenfalls. Bei nochmaligem Überfliegen gerade habe ich allerdings gemerkt, dass anscheinend niemand was zum Licht gesagt hat, unverständlicherweise. *den großen Bauchpinsel-Pinsel rauskram und Guylty ordentlich bauchpinsel* Toll! Nebel/Dunst, Schatten, Sonnenschein – bei einigen Bildern musst du auf den richtigen Moment gewartet haben, oder?
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LOL – wunderbar, diese mitdenkenden Leser. Na klar, das Licht ist immer wichtiger als das Motiv. (Denn das beste Motiv nutzt nix, wenn das Licht scheiße ist.) Ich gebe zu, dass ich übrigens eine ganz fiese Schwäche für Sonnenauf- und -untergänge habe. Davon tummeln sich Hunderte Bilder auf meiner Kamera und auf dem iPhone. Dank meiner Frühschicht und eines nach Osten herausgehenden Arbeitszimmers komme ich fast jeden Morgen in den Genuss eines überwältigenden Farbschauspiels. Schade, dass das in “gebildeten Kreisen” als Kitsch verpönt ist. Ich finde es immer wieder schön und kann nie widerstehen… Irgendwann stelle ich das mal in einer Galerie zur Schau (also Galerie hier auf WP).
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sorry lagging behind on everything. Thanks so much for sharing these! love them all, it’s such a beautiful place and i kind of miss it, regret i never got to really explore much during work trips. I love the slightly foggy remote ones 🙂 But the others too. it reminds me so much of Scotland and makes me miss it too, i’ve always felt these places are in a way related 🙂
Please share some more when you get a chance 🙂 Glad you had a lovely trip! i think some of the best times i’ve ever had was went we went travelling and exploring with my parents, i’m sure your kids loved it too 🙂
Looking forward to hear about the Imitation Game too 🙂
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Oh there is most definitely a lot of similarities between Ireland and Scotland. The latter is probably a bit more dramatic in places, but I guess they also share their Celtic past, and they always seem to look to one another. I’ll be very happy to put some more pictures in a post at another point – or maybe even soon, if the Belfast pictures have turned out well (haven’t even looked yet – typical. All the fun is in the taking of the images – the post-production? Meh!)
Like you I also have very very fond memories of the trips I took with my parents right up into my early twenties. I am really grateful to them for educating me through travelling. They showed me Germany on short breaks, gave me a trip to Rome for my graduation from school, and always organised holidays that were the perfect balance between relaxation and culture. They gave me my interest in exploring new places and widening my horizon. I wish I could give my kids a similar gift, alas money is sometimes a problem. But well…
Imitiation Game – fabulous film. Hopefully will get around to writing about that today.
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So beautiful,Guylty .. boats and little chappel and the lighthouse *sigh* . My daughter loves your Wicklow Mountains 🙂
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I hope your daughter is fine and happy – that’s a really dark and ominous photo to like 😉
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