There are Umbrellas and then there are Irish Umbrellas! The quest to get WET in Ireland!

A trip to Ireland without rain would be like going to Disney World and never seeing Mickey Mouse. Some people dread rainy days but I have to be honest by saying "I love them"... I enjoy gray rainy days as much as I do bright sunny ones. Give me a day with ominous gray clouds where the sunlight streams through illuminating the landscape making the 40 shades of green POP and I'm in Heaven! Our trip surpassed our expectations and Tami and I got wet on several occasions. The rain didn't slow us up at all and we took to the streets of Dublin, Kilarney, and Galway City like ducks to a pond.

As an artist... I saw all the painting opportunities from the great scenes of the masses with umbrellas in hand and reflections galore... I must have taken 200 rain scene photos as references for future paintings. Below is a painting I did for my "Enchanting Ireland" series from one such photo. Above is a scene set in the Temple Bar District of Dublin.
"A Stroll in the Rain"... Dublin, Ireland by Bernie Rosage Jr.
8"H x 10"W x 1 3/4"D... Oil on gallery wrapped canvas. 12-2008. Click on painting to enlarge.

Tami and I soon came to the realization that there are two types of umbrellas... "Regular Umbrellas" and "Irish Umbrellas"! This young man obviously sports an "Irish Umbrella" as he strolls the streets of Dublin. The next sequence of photos show those of the "regular" type...

Here we are at the Dingle Peninsula on our tour of the "Ring of Kerry". We hope to visit the "Ring of Kerry" again on a clear day... you can see from this photo that the visibility was limited and we missed some spectacular views.

Tami in Temple Bar with her "Regular Umbrella" while it was still in fairly good shape.

Bernie at the Parade Ground of the Collins Barracks at the National Museum of History in Dublin with his...

At one point "Regular Umbrella #2" flew up in the air, circled through the street stopping traffic, and landed at my feet... all the while the handle was still in my hand and the locals were rolling with laughter.

Tami and I learned an important lesson on our trip to Ireland... stay away from those "Euro Store" umbrellas they stack by the register and ask where they keep the "Irish Umbrellas"...