Vikings are popular. Everybody wants to know more about them. Though you may think of Vikings only as seafaring warriors, they were mainly farmers. They conquered many a-town but were first-rate explorers and traders as well (i.e., discoveries in the West; glassware and rope.) Although the Viking Age only lasted from the 8th through the […]
Flying to America from Europe, I spent a few days and nights in Iceland. Only 390,000 people inhabit the country, and a third live in the main city of Reykjavik, the world’s northernmost capital of a sovereign state. Landing on a cloudy day, it felt like I arrived on a world covered in fog and […]
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! Since today everybody is from Ireland, I would like to wish all of us a safe and happy celebration. Today’s post concludes a series about my 2024 visit to Ireland. I hope you enjoyed these videos of the past few months, and had as much fun viewing them as […]
Over 2,000 years ago, a fortress was built on the tiny island of Inishmore (Inis Mor) located off of Ireland in the tiny Aran Islands chain in the Atlantic Ocean. Who, why, how, and what for? That is the mystery of Dun Aengus, as great a legend as the lost city of Atlantis itself. Archeologists […]
Though I would never attempt to dissuade fairy tale imaginations, my real-life travel encounters to castles around the world have solidified thoughts about the times and places in which they were built. Those days were rough! How else could a place that was an equivalent to Fort Knox/seat of government/standing armed fortress survive without a […]
When I travel to a new place, I like to hunt for the old. Not literally, but of a sort, I “dig” for human development and achievement in a country’s museums of archaeology, painting, photography, and history. “Main Street” museums in small towns also give us glimpses of past lives in these places. Of course, […]
Happy Inauguration Day America! Enjoy this video of the biggest Irish cities, Belfast and Dublin, and get a streetside perspective of the business, architecture, and daily lives of the people there. You will want to tour the capitol buildings and the Titanic Museum in Belfast, take your picture with the statue of Molly Malone and […]
Ireland is an island, of course. There is close proximity to food, commerce, and transportation via the sea. Unfortunately, the waters around Ireland are not expansive enough to forego invaders such as Vikings, played out time and again in the ancient past. Fortunately, and with luck, those days of besiegement forever are in the past. […]
Outside of the biggest cities, Ireland is a place of neighboring town and country regions. Each has its own charms, breathtaking scenery, architecture, decoration, and soul. Farms and fields provide food. Lovely town streets are lined with boutique shops, small hotels, and historic pubs and cafes. Irish Gaelic is spoken often in everyday life. These […]
Ireland has the nickname “Emerald Isle,” which is fitting for its landscapes of green. Frequent, but not long, rains water plants as they grow happily and heavenward in a chlorophyll-filled blaze across the island. Some say there are 50 shades of green in an acre of Irish soil. I say there must be at least […]