Month: April 2010
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Off We Go — Farewell to Erin
Out of money and out of time, so I suppose that’s it for our Ireland trip. We’re on the way to catch the bus to the airport. As the days go on, we’ll get some more photos up, and I’ll consolidate some of the adventures into feature articles, embellished with gory details and such. Next…
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Back in Dublin
Lounging in the Library Bar back at the Central Hotel after a quick bus and train from Doolin. Pretty cool, though…the hotel staff recognized us as we came staggering through the door. We felt a bit forlorn at leaving the Twin Peaks B & B, as Sinéad and Pascal were great hosts for five nights.…
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Days of Doolin — Day Five: The Burren
The Burren…it’s a Tolkein-esque name for an amazing area of western Ireland south of Galway and our area of interest for today, kids. Geologically, it’s a large area of limestone exposed during glacial activity of the Ice Age that had scraped away the top layers of sedimentary rock. As the eons passed, the weak acids…
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Days of Doolin — Day Four
The day started off cloudy, which is a change after almost three weeks of glorious weather. After hanging out at the record store/coffee house for a while, we went over to the hostel to purchase bus tickets for the next two days. Tomorrow, we’re going to catch the bus to Ballyvaughan to do a day…
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Benelux -> Nelux…Belgium on the Way Out?
Woke up to the news that the Flemish and the Wolloons are at each other’s throats (in a very polite, Belgian way) and that the coalition government has collapsed for the fourth time in as many years, and now the Netherlands and France are discussing dividing the the country in two. Oops…
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Days of Doolin, Day Three
We finally had a low-energy day, which was pretty nice for a change. We stopped into the local cafe for a cup of coffee and engaged in some mandatory shopping. While in one shop, a very kindly gentleman entered the store, wondering if the shopkeeper had any interest in stocking the book he had written.…
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Our 88 cups away from home
One of the benefits of spending several days in one area is finding favorite spots. Usually these take the form of familar sites from home and include pubs or cafes that just feel good. Places you look forward to stopping by daily. Missing our favorite cafe in Gardnerville, 88 Cups, it was only natural to…
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Appropriate Warning?
I read this while plugging in the phone at the Central Hotel in Dublin.
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Days of Doolin, Day Two
Or, How What Was Supposed to Be a Relaxing Layaround Day Wasn’t First off, be aware that any decision to visit the Aran Islands is a commitment to a major, all-day undertaking. Second, if Miss Fish repeats a desire often enough throughout a trip, it tends to materialize at some point. Yesterday, we had taken…
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Days of Doolin, Day One
After seeing the doc in Limerick, we finally caught the bus to Doolin. All the other riders got off in Ennis, Ennistymon, Lahinch, and Lisdoonvarna, leaving us alone on the bus. At our stop, our B & B host was waiting for us at the stop to drive us the one remaining block to the…