A Snapshot of Ireland

I grew up in Ireland, so took the landscape very much for granted.  Whilst I go back to visit regularly, this time I tried to see it though the eyes of a stranger and capture some images of the essence of Ireland.

Karlova Vary

Whist in Prague we took ourselves on an adventure.  We got a bus to the old spa town of Karlova Vary which is  about 200 kilometres west of Prague, near the German border.  The trip took us through the countryside, which is intensively farmed, and through several small villages.

Karlova Vary itself was once a very magnificent spa town and has been wonderfully preserved, including the beautifully landscaped parks and gardens.  Only occasionally you got a glimpse of a slightly faded splendour, but I think it just added to the character.  

A Garden in Albany

We have had so little rain in Perth since last winter that gardens are starting to suffer.

Almost everyone I know has had at least one casualty in the garden.  We had a 2 metre high well established viburnum that just upped and died without any warning

It is wonderful to come to Albany and see so much lush greenery, as well as the deciduous trees losing their leaves.  I took these pictures in Dolly's garden.