Ireland: First Impressions of Belfast, Part 2: Crime & Punishment at the Crumlin Road Gaol
July 27, 2016 You’ve been walking for 30 minutes on this beautiful July afternoon, and already you feel a world away from the heart of Belfast. You’ve definitely entered suburbia. The traffic hurries from place to place, and hair salons, computer repair stores, and betting parlors line the streets alongside gas stations and apartment buildings. When you see the Crumlin …
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Ireland: First Impressions of Belfast, Part 1: Opulence
July 27, 2016 It is a typical overcast Irish morning as you cross the border from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland. The express bus is moderately full but quiet as it speeds along the motorway, the scenery mostly trees and traffic. You’ve been up since early this morning, and with nothing to hold your attention you slide into …
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Ireland: The Wicklow Mountains and Medieval Kilkenny
July 24, 2016 It’s not quite noon as the tour bus pulls away from Glendalough, and already I feel full to the brim. Running on little sleep and an early morning adventure getting to the tour bus, I’d like nothing more than to take a nap as we climb higher into the Wicklow Mountains. But the beauty of the Wicklow …
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Ireland: The Monastery & Twin Lakes of Glendalough
July 24, 2016 The sanctuary stone is cool and rough under my fingers, the ancient paving stones uneven beneath my feet. My fingers follow an ancient ritual: for 1400 years, the stone’s carved cross has provided protection to those who seek it. This is my first visit to Glendalough, one of Ireland’s most important monastic sites, and already the valley’s …
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Ireland: Puissance and Pony Club Games at the Dublin Horse Show
July 23, 2016 I am relaxed and carefree as I leave my townhouse in north Dublin and catch the DART down to the Royal Dublin Society grounds. The morning is halfway gone, and it feels marvelous to not be up at the crack of dawn. In fact, everything about today feels different than my usual days out. Since I arrived …
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Ireland: A Pilgrimage to Ballykissangel
July 16, 2016 I have always thought that people who visit TV and film locations are a bit odd. I understand visiting historical sites, castles and battlefields and such. There’s an imprint of the lives lived in those places, and the feeling that those lives changed the way our world works today. It’s hard to believe a TV or movie …
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Ireland: A Morning at Killruddery House, a 400-year Old Working Estate
July 4, 2016 On my last day on the Dublin Coast, I awake to a grey, windy, damp morning. It doesn’t look very promising as Simon, Jeanne, and I climb into the car for the short drive to Killruddery House. Unlike Powerscourt, which has the sterile feeling of a showpiece that is no longer lived in, Killruddery House is a …
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Ireland: Goat Castle, the Irish Maritime Museum, and an evening sail around Dalkey Island
July 3rd, 2016 It’s 11:15 am on a lazy Sunday morning as my DART train rattles up the Dublin Coast to Dalkey. Yesterday’s sunshine has disappeared, but the grey skies aren’t raining, and that’s good enough for me. My only plan for today is to visit the Dalkey Castle & Heritage Center, and the farmer’s market in Dun Laoghaire. Dalkey …
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Ireland: A Cliff Walk Along the Irish Sea
July 2, 2016 It’s just after 2:00 pm and I am walking along the seaside esplanade in Bray. To my right are hotels and restaurants, like this one: To my left is a thigh-high wall separating the esplanade from the ocean. The beach here is covered in small stones, but that doesn’t stop families, children, and couples from running or …
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Ireland: A Morning at Powerscourt Estate
July 2, 2016 It’s 10:00 am at Powerscourt Estate, and the excitement that has been humming through my body since yesterday afternoon is a low vibration in my fingers. It’s a combination of optimism and sense of “anything can happen,” and even after two years of traveling, I love feeling this way when I start a new adventure. And so …
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