Ireland: A Summer in Review
September 8, 2016 As far as last days go, today is one of the best. Usually I’m up at o’dark thirty to catch a taxi or a bus to the airport for a too-damn-early flight. Today I catch the airport express at the civilized hour of half past one, and arrive at the airport with plenty of time to walk …
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Ireland: Road trip! Exploring Sligo, Yeats’ Grave, and Glencar Waterfall
August 21 – 27, 2016 We arrive in Sligo around dinner time on a grey Sunday evening. Jill, Zephy, and I are headed for a small cottage we’ve rented just 15 minutes’ drive outside Sligo. It’s a quick walk from the train station to the grocery store, where I insist we stock up on groceries before catching a taxi out …
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Ireland: To Every Thing There is a Season
August 24 & 25, 2016 It is a glorious summer afternoon in the West Country. Puffy white clouds scud across a brilliant blue sky. Raspberry bushes laden with ripe berries line one side of the road, and cows graze on the other. Every now and then a pungent country smell wafts over us: fresh-cut hay, a barn airing in the …
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Ireland: Dublin Revisited: Celtic Gold, Bog Bodies, and the Chester Beatty Library
August 18 – 21, 2016 The National Museum of Archaeology is one of my favorite places in Dublin. It’s free (always a plus) and its collections include prehistory, Celts, Vikings, church history, and much more. There’s even an exhibit on ancient Egypt and Cyprus! Like the Book of Kells, I’ve been here before. I know Zephy’s interest in museums and …
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Ireland: Kissing the Blarney Stone!
August 13, 2016 It’s just past 3 pm when I get off the local bus in Blarney Village. There’s about a dozen of us milling about the sidewalk, and we’re all here for one reason: to visit Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone. It’s a 5 minute walk from the bus stop to the main entrance, a small building …
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Ireland: A House-Sit in Cork, Ireland’s Hippy City
August 9 – 17, 2016 I’m curled up on a couch in the sitting room, laptop nestled on my knees. Zan is curled up at the other end of the sofa And Ussi is out enjoying the back garden. I’ve been working: catching up on emails, professional and personal, and writing a blog post about my trip to Ballykissangel. Just …
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Scotland: A Night to Remember at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
August 6, 2016 “And who here is from . . . . the United States?” “Woop woop woop!” I yell, a huge grin on my face. It’s just before showtime at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and I can hardly sit still. Attending the Tattoo been on my bucket list for years, ever since I saw it on TV a …
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Scotland: A Vacation in Edinburgh (and a weird visit to the National Museum!)
August 4 – 7, 2016 There are some places that, once visited, forever after feel familiar and welcoming. Edinburgh is one of those places. I have no set schedule and no definite plans for this weekend other than to A) meet up with Stuart and Amanda, and B) overload on bagpipes and men in kilts at the Royal Edinburgh Military …
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Ireland: Falling into Titanic
August 1, 2016 I’ve written three perfectly good starting paragraphs for this post in the last fifteen minutes, and none of them feel right. I try to write about what I knew of Titanic before today, and what I know now. It all sounds so cerebral, when what I really want to do is show you, not tell you. Maybe, …
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Ireland: Winterfell, Direwolves, and the Iron Throne
July 31, 2016 It’s just before 10:00 am when our van pulls into Inch Abbey. We’re not quite sure why we’re here, except that this is where we’ll be meeting our tour guide. There are seven of us on today’s tour: a couple in their 20s, two Swedish gals, a local father and son who are up to Belfast for …
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