The Burren It was chilly with sneaky sun the morning we packed up for our trip to Galway. But even sneaky sun works when it’s been a couple of days since you’ve seen it! Galway is only 68km from Doolin if you take a direct route. We opted to detour through the Burren, and man,…
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Westward toward The Wild Atlantic Way
The Rock of Cashel We decided to bypass Blarney Castle and visit the Rock of Cashel instead. It was on the way out of Kilkenny and on our way to Killarney. I can’t say this was off the beaten path – it was pretty crowded even at 3 in the afternoon, but there was ample…
Exploring South, then West
Buses and trains We were up and away early Saturday morning as we had a train to catch. After schlepping our luggage in and out of a taxi, then finding the hidden elevator since the escalator at the train station was broken, we finally made it to our platform. But wait! Turns out there is…
Northern Ireland
A Brief Visit to the North Since this trip was our first to the Emerald Isle, we were determined to see as much as possible, including some significant sites in Northern Ireland. Since we hadn’t picked up our car yet, and it was a long drive, we opted to go on a bus tour to…
Ireland, Here We Come!
Tired, but happy My friend Alexa and I arrived in Dublin about 11:30 in the morning. We caught a cab to our hotel, but since it was too early to check in, we dropped our luggage and headed out to do some sightseeing, check out the shops on Grafton Street and visit our first Irish…
15(ish) Miles of the Erie Canal
Getting Ready to Cruise My husband and I have followed a YouTube channel called “Cruising the Cut” for many years. We’ve always thought cruising in a narrow boat would fun, like having a floating camper. Guess what? There is an outfit in Central New York that rents old-fashioned, wooden, packet-style canal boats. So, we rented…
Start Spreading the news…Mama in the City
Out on the Water My Mom came to visit the first of September. Since she has some trouble with her feet, I tried to find fun things to do that did not require much walking – which is really hard in our little village. When she was here last year, we planned to do a…
Exploring with Family
Mom and Pop’s first trip to New York My in-laws recently came to visit. Before anyone starts commiserating, I confess I adore my in-laws! They are fun, easy-going, and never visit for long enough. They are typically in and out in 3-4 days, and just roll with the flow. This was their first trip to…
Getting Motivated
Hello, it’s been a while It’s been a long time since my last blog post. I was really motivated at the start, but now I seem to just jot down an idea in a notebook “for later” and later never materializes. One of my dearest friends recently mentioned it had been one hundred days since…
Spring is in the Air
What is it about seeing the first flowers in spring that makes the world seem brighter? In the past few days everything has begun to wake up after the winter. The bulbs I planted in the fall are coming up, the hyacinths and wild violets are blooming, the birds and squirrels are happily foraging for…