Italy
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Day 7 – Great Saltee Island (Puffin Tour)
Read More: Day 7 – Great Saltee Island (Puffin Tour)Happy Anniversary!! The Saltees are a pair of small islands lying 5km off the southern coast of County Wexford. The islands are privately owned and largely unoccupied and are now a protected habitat home to more than 220 bird species. Visitors are allowed on the larger of the two islands for a few hours each…
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Day 6 – Glendalough Monastic Site & Tea in Arklow
Read More: Day 6 – Glendalough Monastic Site & Tea in ArklowWe visited the Glendalough Monastic site this morning before heading out of town. Glendalough (the Glen of Two Lakes) is one of the most important sites of monastic ruins in Ireland. Before the arrival of Saint Kevin, the glen would have been remote and lonely, ideal for a secluded retreat. St Kevin was likely born…
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Powerscourt/Wicklow/Glendalough Day 5
Read More: Powerscourt/Wicklow/Glendalough Day 5We took a taxi back to the airport this morning to rent our car for the remainder of our trip. “Fergus” is a Skoda Octavia. From there, Dave had a quick reminder lesson how to drive and shift on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, then it was onto the M highway to the south. …
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Day 4 – Dublin – Trinity College / Book of Kells
Read More: Day 4 – Dublin – Trinity College / Book of KellsConveniently, Trinity College is right beside our hotel. The Trinity College library was founded by Queen Elizabeth I and has received a copy of every book published in Britain and Ireland since 1801! Due to a major rehabilitation and conservation project, many/most of the books in the Long Room have been temporarily removed. Some cool…
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Dublin Day 3 – Tourist Traps But Fun!
Read More: Dublin Day 3 – Tourist Traps But Fun!The Luas is Dublin’s tram system. Luas is Irish for ‘speed’, which is funny, because the tram is pretty slow! Our first stop of the day was at the Guinness Storehouse to take the iconic photo in front of St James Gate. Guinness is the national drink, called the “Dublin gargle” and might be the…
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Arrival – Day 2
Read More: Arrival – Day 2We have arrived in Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland. Our taxi driver from the airport was quite chatty and gave us a few pub recommendations. We arrived just before lunch, so we have the day to wander around and get our bearings. Our first stop was the docklands area where the River Liffey…
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Ireland Day 1
Read More: Ireland Day 1We are on our way to Ireland, making up a trip that was cancelled at the beginning of the CoVid pandemic. The Motto of Ireland is IB4UD – Ireland Before You Die. Our Uber was early but our flight is now 3 hours delayed. At least we can spend our time in the Air Canada…
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Moreton-on-Marsh
Read More: Moreton-on-MarshThe largest open-air street market in the Cotswolds takes place in Moreton-on-Marsh on Tuesdays. It can get crazy busy and really crowded so we chose to avoid it! However, unbeknownst to us, the first Saturday of September is the Moreton agricultural show and horse competitions. Lots of folks and difficult to find parking, so we…
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Bibury, Castle Combe & Malmsbury
Read More: Bibury, Castle Combe & MalmsburyThe whole of the Cotswolds has been designated an AONB, an area of outstanding natural beauty. But we giggle at the competition. Castle Combe is often called ‘the prettiest village in England’. William Morris called Bibury ‘the most beautiful village in England’ and Lower Slaughter is famous for being ‘one of the most beautiful towns…
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Bourton on the Water
Read More: Bourton on the WaterBourton on the Water is called the Venice of the Cotswolds due to the multitude of pretty and romantic bridges over the Windrush River. We checked out the motoring museum, where we explored the history of 20th century motoring. The rain had returned in earnest, so we had an early lunch at the Greene…
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Orleans
On our way back to Paris, we stopped in Orleans, one of the oldest cities in France, to learn some of the history of Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc (nicknamed the Maid of Orleans) turned the tide of the Hundred Years War – she and the French troops forced the English to withdraw from…
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Marais de Taligny
Having had enough of wineries for this trip, we took a nature walk at the Marais de Taligny just up the road in La Roche Clermault. This is one of the largest wetlands in the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Park. The 4.5 km walk took us beside a pretty stream, through marshland and past the local crop fields.…
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Loire Valley Wineries
The last several days have been a blur of winery visits, cafe lunches and picnics in beautiful locations! We stopped by Chateau du Petit Thouars for a tour, tasting and lunch. The family has owned the chateau and its winery since 1634. We met Sebastian, the multi-grandson, and the chateau cat, Biscuit (although he wasn’t…
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