Category: Travel
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Day 687 – Krakow, Poland
I had no idea what to expect in Krakow. My polish food knowledge comes mostly from Chicago and I haven’t had many reports from fellow travelers. I came with an open mind, and what I found was a vibrant, very cool city full life and magic. Secret sparkling hidden cellar bars, laid-back hip coffee…
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Day 684 – Northern Ireland – Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway
Understanding Northern Ireland is in many ways understanding Ireland. In fact, the existence of Northern Ireland is a story that dates back before 1601 and you need at least a passing understanding of that history to understand what happened in Belfast in the 1960’s which grew into what they call The Troubles, a sectarian,…
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Day 682 – Cork, Ireland – Kissing the Blarney Stone
We only stayed in Cork for one full day and most of that time we spent in Blarney visiting the castle but we had a couple of nights walking around and enjoying the town. Cork was quite a bit larger than the towns we had been visiting along the west. Second only to Dublin…
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Day 680 – Portmagee, Ireland – So close to Skellig Michael yet so far away
When we first arrived in Ireland we were both excited to visit Skellig Michael, the island in the extreme southwest of Ireland used in the new Star Wars trilogy where Luke Skywalker was hiding. But movie location aside, it’s a spectacular place to behold with an ancient monastery built 600 feet up sheer rock…
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Day 675 – Killarney, Ireland – Gateway to the Ring of Kerry
Killarney ended up being one of our favorite towns of the trip. A small town of under 15,000 people, but large enough to have loads of things to see and do without being overwhelmed by tourists or college kids. Easily walkable, with access to a national park, a castle, an abandoned abbey, and great…
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Day 670 – Galway, Ireland – A fun college party town.
Galway is in many ways a traditional small Irish town but it’s also a college party town. The national University sits at the bottom of town and you can feel its influence throughout the general vibe of the city. It feels young and energetic. But also just flocks of drunken teenagers in skimpy clothes drinking…
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Day 667 – Donegal, Ireland – Home of my ancestors
I grew up wandering the foothills of the Appalachian mountains in western West Virginia, the most ancient mountain range in the United States, formed 480 million years ago, once as tall as the Alps, worn naturally over the millennia slowly down into a vast system of hills with low peaks. The land is so ancient…
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Day 659 – Dublin, Ireland – Pubs and pints and potatoes.
Admittedly, we chose a strange time to visit Dublin. First in after covid restrictions lifted, so the crowds were less, but the city had not adjusted back to the usual party pub Dublin. The first half of our stay, there was no indoor dining or drinking. The city had adapted to outdoor seating and…
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Day 657 – Sintra, Portugal – Palatial wonderland of the Lisbon aristocracy.
In the forests amongst the steep craggy mountains that are enshrined in a near constant mist and fog, lives a town as old as Lisbon. A cool retreat from the hot weather of the larger coastal city about 40 minutes away. A superb vantage point and secure location, this region has been populated from Neolithic…
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Day 637 – Lisbon, Portugal – An ancient magical place.
Lisbon is an old soul looking back on her past with sadness. It permeates the ancient streets, a palpable melancholy. There’s a sadness and longing to the local music, called fado. Embodied in the untranslatable word saudade, a nostalgic longing for the past. Once a world power, the richest city in the world, fallen,…