I got a lot of feedback from people who read the column on Irish food. All of them had spent time in Ireland and all of them had the same experiences with Irish cuisine that I had.

My phone rang a few hours after the newspaper came out; it was someone whom I have worked with. He apologized for calling me at home, but he just finished the column and he thought it was funny and right on the money. We had many discussions prior to my going to Ireland as he had visited Ireland many times over the years. He gave me some great tips on what not to miss.

A mall walker pushing his grandson in a stroller stopped me to tell me that he spent 25 days in Ireland, England and Scotland, and he said if it weren't for the fish and chips, he would have starved. We discussed the beauty of the scenery and he told me I have to see Scotland. He wasn't the only person to say that.

A young lady who works in a store at the mall stopped me to tell me that she spent six weeks studying in Ireland and she survived on fish and chips and fast food. She stayed in the city of Waterford, the home of Waterford crystal. She loved it so much she's going back for the summer.

While I was sorting books for the Book Bonanza book sale in July, a man dropping off some books told me that he visited Ireland and he felt the same way about the food. He enjoyed Ireland and he used the same tour company we did, CIE Tours, and we talked about how professional they are and how everything was timed perfectly. He also visited Italy with another tour company and while the food was better, the service was not.

I told all of them that I would write my next column on the beauty of Ireland. We live in a beautiful area of the United States, but Ireland has an entirely different sort of beauty. The first thing you notice is the green. The color green is so vibrant over there.

The countryside, which is considerable, is rolling hills of green. We spent much of our time traveling through the countryside to get from one place to another. We saw more sheep than people. I found it odd that we saw no people outside their homes. Even on Saturday and Sunday, we didn't see children playing outside or anyone working in the yard.

The homes were lovely. It is obvious that the Irish take great pride in their homes. All of the houses looked like they had just had a fresh coat of paint applied to them. You rarely saw a house that was in disrepair. Many of the houses had sunrooms built onto them. Our tour guide, Tony O'Callaghan, explained that Ireland belonged to the European Union, which has a program where they pay homeowners to add conservatories to the houses.

I never thought of Ireland as mountainous, but it is. One of the most beautiful views is the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs rise dramatically to nearly 700 feet of sheer rock above the Atlantic Ocean. It was very cold there, but the view was gorgeous. It looked like something out of a Bronte sister novel. At the top of the hill overlooking the cliffs was a small round stone lookout. Tucked inside the entrance was a small gift shop, with novelties, postcards and such. Commerce is everywhere, I guess.

The next day, we made our way to the Ring of Kerry, Ireland's most popular drive. It is a 100-mile circular drive through the mountains. The road is very twisty and windy and narrow. At frequent intervals, only one car (or bus) can pass through. If you were on one side of the bus, it would feel like you were falling down the side of the mountain. If you were on the other side of the bus, it looked like you would run directly into the car in the other lane; there was no safe place to sit.

At the top of the mountain, there is the most beautiful view in all of Europe, according to our guide. We got out at Scarriff Hill and I saw the most beautiful scene I had ever seen anywhere. Looking across Scarriff Bay, you could see mountains rising across the way above the bay.

We were lucky that it was a sunny day; you could see forever it seemed. The view literally took your breath away.

No one wanted to get back on the bus and leave; we would have stayed there all day if we could.

Although Ireland is bucolic, it does have cities. While we were in Waterford, we took a tour of the Waterford Crystal Factory.

It was very interesting to see the artists crafting their pieces. Glass blowers have to apprentice for five years before they can work on their own.

They work in teams and get paid by the piece, so it is very important that everyone does his or her job. If a piece doesn't pass the quality assurance tests, they don't get paid for that piece. That's a good incentive to do quality work.

We ended our tour in Dublin; our visit to Trinity College was last on the list.

The Book of Kells is housed in Trinity College. The Book of Kells is a copy of the four gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - written and illustrated by monks more than 1,000 years ago.

To see something written so long ago, with such devotion and beauty, was very moving.

After viewing the Book of Kells, you walk up a set of stairs to the Long Room, the main chamber of the Old Library.

At the top is an amazing view; rows and rows of bookshelves filled with 200,000 of their oldest books. As someone who loves books, this room left me speechless.

We took lots of pictures with our digital camera; now I just need to get copies of the prints made. Then I'll label and put them in an album so I can bore my friends and family with them.

My mailbox is very lonely; now that warmer weather is here, send me recipes for barbecue and salads. E-mail to laruediane2000@yahoo.com or mail to Diane La Rue, c/o the Citizen, 25 Dill St., Auburn, NY 13021.