-
IRELAND: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away……
In Fall 2019 we were working the ten-year travel plan hard, traipsing around the globe. On our October self-drive around the Emerald Isle, we steered our tiny rental car over bumpy cart paths and up roads to the top of black rock sheer cliffs, just as we had 30 years prior. We hunted down most of the same stops from our 1989 drive, and wow – one of our best trips ever. The only one that tops it was that original honeymoon trip, when we were still young and in love; the young part’s gone now but the love has stayed. I’m glad we both kept journals of that 1989…
-
Ireland: The Dingle Peninsula, Covid-19, and Me
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! A strange one, this St. Patty’s, due to the coronavirus outbreak. In Dingle, Ireland, near where the photo above was taken, all the pubs are closed. Imagine that. And the Dingle Town band cancelled their pre-dawn St. Patrick’s Day march, a tradition dating back to the 1870s, for the first time ever. Locals refer to today as “The day the music died…” Geez. Now that’s depressing. And here we are, locked in our coronavirus bunker (i.e. home) for who knows how long. A month or two? Maybe more? Since we’ve been told to “STAY HOME!” (those are scare quotes) due to our age – almost young ha…
-
London: Royalty and Rebellions, London Walks, Beheadings, and all that Cultural Loot
King George III stole the show. British royals also stole a few countries, an entire Greek temple, Padre’s Irish ancestral homelands, and India’s massive Koh-i-Noor diamond, inset on one of the crowns displayed with the Crown Jewels. So plenty of thievery here on the Sceptered Isle, but King George’s heist was a masterpiece of musical theater. I’ll never forget how the mad King pouted his way onstage, commanding us to sing along as he snapped, “NO don’t change the subject…’cuz you’re my favorite subject….forever, and ever and ever….” Well maybe not forever. In addition to our cheap third row (oh wow!) seats to Hamilton, we ran from a clown brandishing a…
-
London: Tube Travel Adventures, Must-See Attractions, and The Play’s the Thing
Departure Day finally arrived, and it all started in the hot tub, where I met a tall, handsome man who knew a lot about airplanes. We talked about destinations (London, Amsterdam), and reasons for our trips (fun, work). I tapped his travel knowledge, as I am wont to do when chatting with globe-trotting people, which he most definitely was. Lots of useful advice, especially this: Watch out for well-dressed thieves when you put down your bag. They might place a different bag right next to yours, then casually stroll off with the goods. Excellent advice I’d heard before, but now it was fresh in my mind and led to a…
-
Ireland Road Journeys and a Marriage, the Second Time Around
We were at a crossroads. A literal crossroads, halted on a bramble-hedged rural lane, Gaelic signposts pointed in five bewildering directions. We’d learned the hard way that sometimes a wrong choice might send us veering off down red-dirt cowpaths, into private farmyards, or to the edge of towering cliffs. Which way do I go? he asked, and I raised my finger from the map to point: “Go that way!” My new groom had been white-knuckling the Irish driving for the last two weeks. We first met at the facility where my grandparents lived and where, as chaplain, he befriended my cantankerous granddad, Charlie, famous for his daring nursing home escapes.…
