The goal was simple: get to Bled. Yes, Bled. It’s a small town in Slovenia, and if you’ve never heard of it… Well, that’s your problem. We were supposed to be on the 10:00 a.m. train. But an invitation to breakfast with one’s Airbnb hosts in the shadow of Salzburg Castle and within a stone’s…
The Weird Museums of Belgium
Let’s play a game. I say a word, and you say whatever comes to mind. Ready? Irish … English … French … Belgian … What were your answers? For me, it was Irish Pub, English Channel, French Fries, and Belgian Waffles. Did you get the same? From France, we traveled to Belgium, and if this…
Long Live French Cuisine!
It’s 7 am, and I’ve just tasted the best croissant of my life. The ferry from Cork, Ireland, to Roscoff, France arrived two hours ago; with a long, deep draw of a bow across a cello, its intercom system woke me from the deep sleep that only the swaying dark of a single bunk on…
Look, Mom, No Hands
In the heart of Killarney Town, which sits like an old farmer in his crisp tweed cap to take in his favorite view of the neighboring mountains, there is a gate. Now, to compare this bustling and trendy tourist town with an arthritic, crinkle-eyed soul is, on the one hand, disingenuous. But, truth be told,…
Traffic Safety and the Preeminence of Sport in Ireland
I heard the crash before I saw it. I looked up from the road and inexplicably saw the roof of a car where I should have seen the tail end. I called to the boys to wait there, dropped my bike, and ran up the hill as fast as my tired and waterlogged legs would…