Hands down, New Orleans has to be the best city ever. The last (and first) time I came to visit, it was for two weeks, with Bridget, and we couldn’t have had a better time. A week of Mardi Gras followed by a week of Lent, and we were drawn by her charms, taking the bait hook, line and sinker. We knew we were coming back the first chance we got. Continue reading
I made it! Sitting by the dock of the bay in San Francisco. There have been times in the past two and a half months that I wondered if I would.
Since leaving Ecuador on March 10, it’s like my feet have never left the ground. It’s been a real whirlwind, so let me fill you in, in the sketchiest of details, on what I’ve been up to. Continue reading
I wake up to the sound of Spanish music, getting louder as it makes its way down the street beneath my window. It’s sometime in the afternoon, and I’ve just woken from my afternoon siesta. This must be one of my lazy days in Manglaralto. I do have my busy days, but not really so much as you’d notice. I do like the lazy days. Continue reading
Baños
Unos, dos, tres, quatros. Si. Non. Por favor. Graçias. ¿Cómo estás? Buenos días. Cafe con leche. ¿Dónde está el baño? That’s pretty much it; after that, my Spanish drops right off. So I get a lot of practice saying, “Lo siento. No entiendo. No hablo español. ¿Habla inglés?” (“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I don’t speak Spanish. Do you speak English?”) Continue reading
I had one job on this my second trip to Ecuador: to find the perfect beach town for Shannon.
What a great job, right? Continue reading
There is no shortage of beautiful images in Ireland. Far too often they’re spotted while driving in the car, with no time to capture the moment, and so it must remain a memory within, not to be shared. Continue reading
Six weeks would never be enough time to see all of the Ireland I want to see; nonetheless, six weeks is plenty of time to get my fill of country roads and little towns that are really villages and villages that are better described as a petrol station at a three-way crossing. Then there are the cities – we spent four days in Dublin, three days in Cork and a day in Galway – but for the most part, we were on those country roads, hopping around from one small town to another, hugging the coastline as much as we could. Continue reading
“Coney Island” by Van Morrison
Experienced to the hilt by Van’s fans on November 23, 2014, in our caravan through County Down Continue reading
This trip to Ireland in 2014 is different in so many ways than our visit almost two years ago. Yes, we’ve been to a few new places this time, and yes, the weather has been kinder to us, and there’s no question that driving a stick is completely different. Continue reading
A whirlwind trip through Cape Breton Island, off the tip of mainland Nova Scotia, is not the way to experience one of Canada’s most scenic treasures. But whirlwind is what we chose to do – a glorious four days of breath-taking scenery at the height of the fall season, with nature doing its very best to entertain us from sunrise to sunset. As a bonus, we’d timed our visit to coincide with “Celtic Colours,” Cape Breton’s annual music festival – 10 days of Celtic music featuring musicians from near and far. Continue reading