NJMar

When I told my friends that I would be traveling to Ireland, I got similar comments, "Ireland is green, greener and greenest. The people are friendly, friendlier, and friendliest people they have ever met." I must agree that their observations are extremely accurate. The scenery is stunning, and the people are kind, helpful and, yes, very friendly. I believe there is another trait. The places we have visited so far are tidy, tidier, and tidiest. There are not any wrappers, empty bottles, cigarette butts, or bits of trash on the streets or roads. When we made this observation to our driver he informed us that each town enters the 'tidiest town' contest. People take such pride in their towns and their reward is to be named 'The Tidiest Town.' Last year Abbeyleix in County Lapis won ... read more

I'm sitting in the hotel bar in Killarney listening to John O'Roardan sing Irish folk songs and thinking over the past 2 days. Yesterday we started the day meeting Ruti Lachs, a Jewish resident of Cork, who has done research on the Jewish community of the past. I had connected with her online and 30 emails later, 6 of us met her to hear stories, songs and see what was once Jewtown (called that in an affectionate way according to our guide) I'm not so sure about that. Jews from Lithuania settled here in the 1880s. We saw the building that was a shul, that closed in 2016 and is now a 7th day Adventist church and walked over the Passover bridge inaugurated by the Jewish mayor Jerrold Goldberg. Ruti sang a poem Tashlich on the ... read more

Taking a break from talking about what I've seen and done to what I've eaten. With great cheeses and bread, how can you go wrong? Best meal so far...Pain Vin Fromage...a fondue restaurant in the Marias neighborhood : a beautiful cellar like setting with 2 different fondues, bread and potatoes...it was delicious and Kir Royal to wash it down. It was an adventure getting there with clogged roads that caused our Uber driver to tell us to get out and walk, while the others were traveling without wifi to get there. Fortunately the restaurant seated us even though we were an hour late and the meal was totally worth it. Tea in Cafe Lavierve was pretty yummy too. It was in an article in the New York Times '36 Hours in Paris' so Roberta wanted to ... read more

On a pretty last minute spontaneous decision I'm traveling to Paris and Nice with Terry, Roberta, Cheryl, and Naomi. Terry was feeling the need to take a trip this summer and as long as we found a good deal, I was in. After some time looking at Nova Scotia, we heard about the wild fires and couldn't find a good deal, somehow traveling to Paris became an option. Thanks to Travel zoo, which we'll never use again, and Terry's persistent negotiating skills we got the deal we were looking for. 8 days, really 6, air fare hotels and train all for $2000. Terry and I were never in France and the others had but liked the idea of taking the trip together. France was never high on my travel list but seeing the Eiffel Tower and ... read more

I'm back on the grid after 5+ days in the Enchanted Islands without internet. I've been taking notes each day but so that this blog actually gets done I'll put them all together into one or two posts. It may be long but I promise lots of beautiful pictures! How to describe this experience...magical, fun, amazing views of volcanos and blue waters, delicious, mostly healthy food, friendly, helpful crew and very knowledgeable and passionate guide, and most of all the giant tortoises, sea lions, sea turtles, dolphins, iguanas, lizards, colorful fish, boobies and so many other birds. By charter bus, plane, local shuttle, and dinghy ride we traveled from Quito to the Galapagos and boarded the Carina, that was our home for the 7 days at sea. Juana was our leader and naturalist. I had a ... read more