Ireland, the greenest island

After so much planning to manage a proper holiday given the limited time, the moment to leave finally arrived. Aer Lingus flight from Bologna; once we landed we went to pick up the car we had already booked online, then came the encounter with driving on the right-hand side. At first it was a problem, but then with my wife and two of our friends keeping an eye on me I managed to concentrate, because that's what you have to do: one moment and you veer into the opposite lane. Galway was the first stop, a lovely city full of life in the evening in the pubs and outside with people holding the inevitable Guinness; B&Bs, our hotels, private homes with a mega breakfast but with double beds a metre and a half wide, too narrow. The Cliffs of Moher, cliffs two hundred metres high over the ocean, a breathtaking view.

Connemara, a place with almost no houses, all barren but with beautiful landscapes. Dingle, a pretty town on the ocean with brightly coloured houses, each different from the other. In this part of Ireland the roads are small and lined with tall hedges so it feels like travelling through a tunnel; when you meet other vehicles, especially trucks, you get the shivers. We visited churches, castles, former monasteries, but the beautiful thing is the gardens, parks and flowerbeds kept perfectly, exceptional cleanliness, even on the street not a cigarette butt, not a piece of paper in all the places we visited. Extremely friendly people, always ready to help if they see you in difficulty, and we found ourselves in difficulty several times knowing little English, but we always came through.

We dedicated two days to Dublin, to be explored on foot – it's a fairly small capital and easy to get around even by public transport. In practice it's a very beautiful country, with the only snag that you always have to be equipped with an umbrella. Bye and happy travels to whoever is leaving.