Well we all love our vacations right? It is as much about winding down and relaxing away the stresses of every day modern life as it is about visiting new and possibly exotic places we have never seen or experienced. It is all to easy in our high paced lives to miss out on vacations and concentrate too much on our jobs and incomes. Well this year I decided I was going to have that break I needed and decided on an Ireland vacation as having lived there for a couple of years in my younger days I knew that life there outside of Dublin was very easy paced and was exactly what I wanted.

Well things have definitely changed in Ireland. They have had a lot of investment pumped in via the European market and things there are not a lot different than here in the states. People rushing about no time for the traditional Irish welcome and I was beginning to think I had made a mistake. However I am not easily discouraged so I decided to change my itinerary somewhat and take a river cruise down the glorious river Shannon. When I arrived at the departure point I was initially a bit disappointed in the quality and age of my river cruiser. However once I discovered the speed limit is only 5mph I decide it really did not matter.

My wife and especially the kids really loved it so we all piled in and after a short instruction, short because I used to be a yacht skipper in a former life, so I guess the instructor figured I would be fine. to be honest there really is not a lot to it, as the slow speed really reduces the amount of damage you can do and there is only a couple of weirs to avoid so really a beginner will have no problems.

We had a truly idyllic 10 days on the cruise. Saw some of the amazing Irish countryside, including some fabulous traditional Irish pubs which were great for lunch and dinner and of course the mandatory Guinness. It turned out to be the most relaxing vacation I have ever had, which dads among you will know is not always easy. All in all I would highly recommend it to anyone.


For more great vacation articles check out this great Travel Advice site www.traveladviceworld.net