travel blog of European countries
We said goodbye to our hosts, Tim and Ethy at the Abbeydene House B & B. Tim is a collector of single records of songs that made the top one hundred list; music memorabilia is scattered throughout the manor. I will miss the wonderful breakfast conversations with Tim and his deliciously creamy porridge. After visiting…
We decided to take the Allen’s Tours excursion to Giant’s Causeway, in County Antrim. The bus driver, Ian, was a wealth of information, Irish “craic” (jokes and enjoyable conversation), and “useless bits of information.” Our first stop along the coastal drive, was at Carrickfergus Castle (left), a 12th century Norman structure and the place that…
We walked into Belfast from our B & B along the coast for 5 miles, and then through the industrial area into the city center. Because of the paved roads, shade, and not wearing backpacks, we managed to hoof it in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Dennis wanted to see the place his mother was…
Guest blog from Dennis R. Blanchard: (Photo left caption: “today’s plan is already yesterday’s – the streets that were there are gone.”) Snipers were shooting at my father. This wasn’t World War II, it was Belfast, Ireland, 1969. I was doing my military duty in Germany and took leave to ride my BSA motorcycle over…
If only we had known that we could not get to Belfast from Clifden, we could have saved over €70 by buying the cheaper round trip bus tickets from Clifden to Galway, and then Galway to Dublin where we took the train to Belfast. We arrived in Belfast around 7 PM. There were no city…
Today we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary with a kiss atop Diamond Hill in the Connemara National Park. We asked a French woman to take our picture and everyone tsked-tsked us to stop kissing. After climbing up 400 meters (over 1300 ft) in blustery 60 to 80 mph winds, we were happy to embrace and…
Weather predictions for today were for 100% rain; for this reason, we did not leave Clifden. We donned our rain gear and took our umbrellas to hike a 6K loop around the city. The mountains were fogged in and we did not see the Twelve Bens, a mountain range that provides a wonderful backdrop to…
Breakfast at the Bayberry House B & B was the best we have had in the past three months. The sideboard was filled with fruit, compote, yogurts, nuts, cheeses, cereals, homemade granola, and juice. The owner made a creamy porridge served with warm fruit compote of apples and mixed berries—the combination of flavors tantalized the…
Helen, a recent graphic artist graduate and our “free” city tour guide, said that she was not paid for her work but was compensated by “tips” based on what we perceived was the value of the tour. She obviously did her homework, and we learned in a humorous way a lot about the city’s history…
We arrived in Galway yesterday on the 5 P.M train from Dublin and tried to find our way to the B & B in Salt Hill, an area “just a 5-minutes drive from downtown center.” With lack of street signs and our need to constantly asked for directions, it took us nearly one-and-a-half hours to…
Copyright © 2011-2024 · Jane V. Blanchard.com · All Rights Reserved