Brussels is a bustling and diverse capitol city, juxtaposed by the new and the old. We got to experience it during the coldest frost of winter this year (-8C at midday) during and after an atypical snowfall that covered the old city in a romantic blanket of white. Between seeking refuge to salvage our extremities from frostbite in various watering holes, we walked the city connecting the dots my friend and Brussels resident, Caroline (aka Mango), marked out on our map for us. It's always great knowing a local in a strange city! We stayed in the Ibis, Ste Catherine, which [View Full Entry]

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Gent was a lovely little town with canals and bridges running through the city centre. It has a fast and frequent tramline that connects directly to the train station, much like the one in Amsterdam. The people are friendly and speak great English, like in Bruges. We stayed in the Ibis near the Opera and ate lunch at a great little cafe called Soup'r. St. Bavo Cathedral was the highlight - one of, if not the most intricate and awe-inspiring churches I've ever been in. [View Full Entry]

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Words cannot do Bruges justice. It is truly like a fairytale and I can't imagine a place so charming in all aspects: architecture, shops, city layout, people, and the CHOCOLATE! Prices too were refreshingly reasonable, especially after coming from exorbitant Switzerland (couldn't help but notice the people are better looking too!). Independent chocolatiers number every other storefront and there were at least two extensive Christmas fairs still on, selling everything from bouncy toys that suspend from the ceiling to 4euro bratwurst the size of your head. Everyone speaks great English too, much [View Full Entry]

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The whole Larkin gang continued on for New Years' week in La Jorette, just outside of Torgon, a ski resort off of Lake Geneva. We stayed in a tiny chalet on the side of the mountain with views of the Alps and the Torgon Valley from our balcony. It took a long day of travel from France that started at 5AM and didn't conclude until after 7PM, 6 trains and 1 looong winding bus ride up the mountain (19 hairpins!) but we made it with minimal sanity, and zero toes, lost. We spent a quiet week skiing and exploring the nearby [View Full Entry]

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Lausanne is a pretty Lake-side city with the old town at the top of a hill. It has all the International city staples, H&M, Starbucks, etc. And of course the Manor department store food market with the $80 chickens... [View Full Entry]

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The morning after our arrival in Burgundy, the four of us headed out for Dijon to pick up Ally, who was flying in from Ireland. We set out late in the morning and stopped in Beaune for some sights and lunch on the way. In most places, everything except cafes and bars closes down for a couple hours at lunch, which can leave a ghost-town feeling when arriving between those hours. Beaune was such, so we walked around the winding streets around the cathedral before making our way to the commercial area, which was much more lively. Mom and Juju shopped [View Full Entry]

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Since two of the Larkin girls were already on this side of the pond, we convinced the rest of the fam to join us for a European Christmas! Mom, Dad, and Julianne flew into Geneva, where I met them, and the four of us took the train(s) from there to Burgundy, France, where we rented a farm house for the week. That was one looong day of travel, involving 3 trains, a taxi ride, a rental car transaction conducted entirely in our non-existant French, and an hour drive in the dark and fog to our farm house, which of course, we [View Full Entry]

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Ally and I just spent the past two days in Westport, Co. Mayo, one of Ireland’s few planned towns in Ireland. We took the bus from Galway yesterday afternoon, and arrived to a rainy/misty night. After checking into The Old Mill Holiday Hostel, where we shared a 7-bed female dorm with a solo New Zealander (guess it’s low season for Westport?), we hit the streets of the town centre, which the hostel is conveniently located in. We were mostly checking out the bars to scope out where we’d land for the night, but got in some decent window shopping and plan [View Full Entry]

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Courtesy of a “brainwave” of my roomie, Catriona, she, Helena, Ally, and I set out for a mini-road trip on Saturday evening to Ennis for some craic and sightseeing. After an early start and a full day of work, the 4 of us hopped in Triona’s VW hatchback(my first adventure with her behind the wheel) with our sights set on Ennis. Upon leaving Allyson’s estate, Helena pleaded, “Catriona, the lights are red,” as she cruised through them, turning onto Tuam, the main road. Ally and I were in stitches. A true indicator of what we had in store for us. The [View Full Entry]

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The two things I cannot leave Galway, after living here for 6 months, without doing are visiting the Aran Islands, and seeing the Cliffs of Moher. Since it’s not getting any closer to summer weather, Ally and I decided to just do it. We caught the last ferry to Inishmore, the biggest of the 3 Aran Islands at population of 700, on Thursday evening and checked into the Kilronan Hostel, a stone’s throw from the pier. Dave, our kooky host from Cork, checked us in and because he booked us into a room with a male whose name led Dave to [View Full Entry]

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