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Since I don’t write travelogs as such, I don’t feel bound by chronology or geography in recounting our Irish trip. Suffice it to say, the “chopped up” method of travel has worked out just fine. And then, quite on its own dynamic, it has now morphed into a more formal itinerary as the rhythm […]
Carol remarked on our second day in Ireland that this trip so far seemed “chopped.” I conceded her point, keeping my own thoughts on the subject to myself. Namely, “chopped” is exactly the way I wanted this trip to unfold. The Guiness Brewery bar. Perfect combo of sightseeing while having a pint Ireland […]
We stumbled on a pub in Dublin’s Temple Bar section that was alive with Irish guitar and fiddle music even in the late afternoon. We shuffled in among the SRO crowd who were clapping and singing along to a lively Irish standard, and soon lucked into a table in a far corner with a site line […]
Whatever Carol feels might be demonstrated as my wizardry when it comes to flying standby (and maybe that switch from Rome to Venice via our Eurail Pass to nab a couple of first class seats home might qualify), most assuredly went out the window when I stepped into the shower in our Dublin hotel […]
Carol and I leave for Ireland this week. She continues to nudge Rick Steves’s guidebook Ireland my way, and I keep nudging it back. I’m not being an idiot, at least not in this case. I’m also not being a snob just because I’ve been to Ireland once. That was more than 50 years ago, and about […]
If you’ve read these travel blogs of the past few weeks, and have gained nothing in terms of useful information, tips, perspective or growth at any level, then I’ve accomplished precisely what I set out to do. I like the going. Once there, I like the staying. A good accommodation – comfy couch, sizable fridge filled […]
We had just settled into perfect seats in a nearly empty carriage when they came aboard and slid into seats just behind us. Until then, it had seemed like our last train ride in Europe would be a good one: seats in the direction of train and a quiet ride all the way into Sintra. […]
Photo credit: Carol Madigan The bad news about Cascais is that it’s a beach resort. The good news about it was that if this was to be our last day in Lisbon, it meant we wouldn’t be daytripping to Sintra, which by all accounts was steep and overrun by selfie-crazed tourists (present company included) […]
Photo Credit: Carol Madigan If you travel like me (relax, almost no one does) then arriving somewhere simply means you’re ready to go somewhere else. No city seems to capture the essence of “somewhere else” quite like Lisbon, where somewhere else is only a 30 or 40-minute ferry or local train ride away. Barcelona (Figueres), […]
The cab ride from our hotel to the apartment seemed to leave the thriving Lisbon behind for a chock a block residential sterility. But a fully stocked grocery store was just around the corner, as was a metro station. We were not to be isolated after all, and my first trip to the grocery yielded […]