IRELAND is a great country with nothing but great ranches with magnificent views of grazing cows in vacation homes as far as the eye can see. Everything’s so surreal; this country definitely makes for a very wonderful honeymoon after one’s wedding. As long as technological amenities are at home such as satellite Internet and television (which makes renting a vacation villa relatively expensive because they’re far away from any DSL central office and a satellite connection, high speed at that, is expensive) and DVD player with an impressive LCD monitor and subwoofer surround sound, you can settle back in bed for the rest of the day for the whole darn week with no one but you and your spouse and wait until you conceive a baby. Whew, that was long! I mean, my sentence is long. But I just can’t help describing my experience in Ireland with my lovely wife. When we went back to our home province in Salamanca, it’s like we arrived back from paradise and went back to our monotonous life. Not that Salamanca is boring but Ireland is simply one vacation spot on earth that is definitely not to be missed.

For starters, Ireland is home to Bono, The Edge and the rest of the U2 gang. Latest news has it that the U2 will be releasing an anthology of their greatest hits on video in IMAX format. Once again, they will be making history because this will be the very first time a musical video feature will be made for IMAX. Of course, U2 can surely not be missed. Who can forget the great Joshua Tree and the hit Sunday Bloody Sunday. It is a hit with a patriotic overture. Speaking of patriotic, Ireland definitely has its share of rich history. Who can forget Michael Collins, the Irish revolutionary who fought valiantly against the British oppressors? Of course, Michael Collins was immortalized in a film of the same name as portrayed by Liam Neeson, himself an accomplished Irishman in Hollywood.

Are you familiar with the last name Ryan? If you are, chances are the person holding that name comes from Ireland. There are thousands possibly millions of Irish Americans right now in the United States. The most famous Ryan of them all is Jack Ryan, star of the various novels of the same series of Tom Clancy, himself an Irish American. Jack Ryan rose to fictional fame from being a CIA intelligence analyst to president of the United States. In between, he was deputy director for operations, national security adviser and vice president. His role has been filled in by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck in various movies. Right now, the fictional Jack Ryan is retired and is targeting the position of UN secretary general. His son, Jack Ryan – another fictional character, is now a Unites States soldier. Jack Ryan, Sr. is being immortalized in such movies as Clear and Present Danger (now used in Defense Department lectures for West Point cadets).