CHINA | Tuesday, 19 Aug 2014 | Views [854]
CHENGDU IS A MODERN CITY. JANE TOLD US it has grown enormously her 24 years into one of the five largest in China. She is the best guide we have had so far, the kind of kid you’d like to adopt, and she is full of insights into Chengdu.... Read more >
CHINA | Monday, 18 Aug 2014 | Views [1176]
OF THE 18 MILLION RESIDENTS OF CHENGDU ABOUT 100 are pandas. In fact, giant pandas are the main reason tourists visit Chengdu. Not only is it the home of the Chengdu Panda Reserve, it is only two hours from the Bifengxia Panda breeding center, ... Read more >
CHINA | Saturday, 16 Aug 2014 | Photo Gallery
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CHINA | Wednesday, 13 Aug 2014 | Views [477]
WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN THINKING? That Tibet was another Nepal or Bhutan? Wasn’t Lhasa the heart of Tibetan Buddhism, paradise on the top of the world? True, the Dali Lama hasn’t seen Lhasa since 1959 — but, ... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 13 Aug 2014 | Photo Gallery
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CHINA | Tuesday, 12 Aug 2014 | Views [600]
WE PLAYED WITH TOY SOLDIERS WHEN WE WERE KIDS. At the age of thirteen, Emperor Qin Shi Huang created an army of life-sized terracotta soldiers more than two-thousand years ago. An assembly line of seven hundred thousand men created 6000 ... Read more >
CHINA | Monday, 11 Aug 2014 | Views [1147]
LAST NIGHT’S THUNDER STORM RINSED SOME OF THE DIRT from the air and we could actually see blue sky this morning. Our itinerary called for a visit to the “hutong districts,” the original residential areas of Beijing. While ... Read more >
CHINA | Saturday, 9 Aug 2014 | Views [1084]
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA, LIKE THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA, is a national icon that ranks high on many a bucket list. As well it should be. And your first glimpse of the Wall is breath-taking, living up to every expectation. But after exploring ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 8 Aug 2014 | Views [912]
WE ARRIVED IN BEIJING 36 HOURS AFTER LEAVING Dublin, a day and a half of delayed flights, airplane food and wondering if we would ever again see our luggage. When the flight to Abu Dhabi was late and we missed the Beijing connection they rerouted ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 7 Aug 2014 | Photo Gallery
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CHINA | Tuesday, 5 Aug 2014 | Views [1358]
WE'RE OFF TO CHINA IN THE MORNING, Dublin to Beijing via Abu Dhabi - three weeks with a personal guide. We have heard of many government restrictions on the Chinese Internet where Facebook, Twitter and the like are prohibited, and we don't know ... Read more >
IRELAND | Sunday, 3 Aug 2014 | Views [669]
DUBLIN TODAY WAS MUCH AS I IMAGINED IT would be, probably not much different from the time of James Joyce. Our goals on this rainy Saturday were modest; a look at Dublin Castle and a visit to the Trinity College library to see the Book of Kells, ... Read more >
IRELAND | Friday, 1 Aug 2014 | Views [1477]
BRU NA BOINNE (BEND IN THE RIVER BOYNE) is world famous for its Neolithic passage tombs. It covers 1500 acres and includes the tombs at Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange plus 40 or so satellite tombs and the passage tomb of Newgrange is the “... Read more >
IRELAND | Tuesday, 29 Jul 2014 | Views [654]
“AH, THEN, YOU'D BE WANTIN' MARY PHELAN," the woman replied when I asked directions to Moate Lodge in Athy. Ireland does not yet have postal codes and the 18th Century farm cum B&B doesn’t even have a street address but everyone ... Read more >
IRELAND | Tuesday, 22 Jul 2014 | Views [699]
WHEN I ASKED WHERE IN IRELAND WE HAILED FROM, I seem to remember my grandfather mentioning County Cork. Or maybe not. From our on the ground research here in Ireland we learned that the Maginnesses were a powerful family in County ... Read more >
IRELAND | Sunday, 20 Jul 2014 | Views [882]
NONE OF THE IRELAND GUIDEBOOKS BOTHERED to mention Adare, not even Rick Steves. As far as they are concerned this charming village in County Limerick hardly exists. Which is a shame.
Just too charming
We ... Read more >
IRELAND | Friday, 18 Jul 2014 | Views [2297]
THE SCENERY OF COUNTY KERRY TENDS TO OVERWHELM the senses; after all, there just aren't enough ways to say “cute.” The rhododendron blossoms of June have fallen petal by petal only to be replaced by hydrangeas in every hue; Kerry must ... Read more >
IRELAND | Friday, 11 Jul 2014 | Views [538]
IT WAS FORTUNATE THAT WE DIDN’T CRASH the car in Northern Ireland. We just learned that our Visa coverage isn’t valid for Ireland, either Northern or the Republic. Oops! Now with full coverage (tripling the rental cost) ... Read more >
UNITED KINGDOM | Sunday, 6 Jul 2014 | Views [476]
ARMAGH IS ST. PATRICK COUNTRY, SECURELY ANCHORING Armagh on the Saint Patrick Trail. We stopped at the St. Patrick Center in (where else?) Downpatrick only to learn that while much is said, not much is known about the patron saint of Ireland who ... Read more >
IRELAND | Thursday, 3 Jul 2014 | Photo Gallery
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