My husband and I spent just over a week in Ireland earlier this month. It was our first visit and it was beautiful and charming. We were blessed with sunny days and blue skies and the local people kept telling us how lucky we were. Travel teaches you as much about yourself as the place you visit. Here are a few lessons we learned:

1. Music is always a good idea. Whether it’s the two little boys busking in the street with their accordions or the old fellas singing their hearts out in the pub, there is always time for music.
2. The Irish are truly fearless as evidenced by lorry drivers expertly navigating narrow roads, winding up the sides of cliffs and dropping down into rock strewn valleys. We have six words for tourists: just get out of the way.
3. They really know how to cook. Bring your appetite. Fresh caught fish, chowder, huge bowls of stew. And they do something amazing with chips. Chips not fries. Remember that and order lots.
4. Do not attempt to drive in Dublin City. There is something called the Dublin Hop On and Hop Off Bus. Take that instead. Trust me.
5. There are castles and churches and ruins and rocks literally everywhere. Beautifully built cathedrals with stone courtyards and archways to the street. Old people running to mass at all hours and if you stop them, they’ll tell you which one it is with a look that says you really should know that and aren’t you coming? Ruins on the sides of the roads, in farmer’s fields, in folk’s backyards. And castles. Some you can walk around and some that are open to walk inside. And speaking of farmer’s fields, those things are called rock walls not fences. Ask me how I know.
6. Stand to be corrected. The Irish we met were brilliant at this. The way they correct a visitor’s pronunciation or word choice is so matter of fact, not judgy or condescending but said in such a way that you don’t forget. Speaking to a bank manager who wanted to know our plans we said we were going to “Tralee” with a long ‘a’ and he answered and nodded as if we’d asked a question: “Tralee” with a definitive short ‘a’. Point taken.
7. Memories are long and tempers are short. Don’t go bringing up the troubles with an Irishman and expect a politically correct conversation. Similarly, leave your presumption at home. One shuttle driver asked us if we’d heard of Conor McGregor and launched into a short lesson on the reality of Irish politics as he saw it. Wisely (it might have been jet lag), we just sat back and listened.
8. Pay the toll fees. Unless you have a deep affection for roundabouts, just pay the fees.
9. The cities are crowded but the people are active. We walked down lanes where doorways were almost on the sidewalk and lawns were the size of an armchair but everywhere we went we saw boys headed to play football, people running, moms and dads with strollers and old people on their way home from the shop with a few groceries.
10. It is a place of beauty and generosity. Daffodils bloomed on the sides of the roads, trees grew in the boulevard dividing the highways and pots of flowers decorated both the gated entrances to estates as well as the doorways of rowhouses. The warmth of the people made us feel like friends, not strangers. We met a young lady in the pub one night out to celebrate birthdays- her own and her late grandad’s telling us she was born on his 40^th. She proudly showed us his framed photograph hanging on the wall “because this was his local.” These were his people and this was his place. Lucky man.