tbaroundtheworld

Things change very rapidly around here. A road that might take five years to complete in a more regulated place like The States is done here in a matter of months. Just today I had a bike ride on a 4-lane boulevard that was weeds when I came back in July. And like projects that get done fast, the places I like have changed too. Take my Starbucks for example. A couple of years ago it was the lowest performing store in their entire international network, buoyed only by the coffees that my friends and I would buy when we were in town. There was always a seat and it was never loud. Today I’m sitting outside on the patio bombarded by loud disco promoting the mall and watching the people go by. On the permanent stage are skinny little Chinese 20-somethings wearing hot pants and crop tops flouncing along and lip-synching to some hard-edged Chinese girl band music. Inside there are no tables and no chairs – it’s full of foreigners I’ve never seen and Chinese who have discovered it’s a place fo...

Some flights are better than others and some are far worse. I don’t think I’ve had a genuinely memorably terrible one since the olden days, before I had enough status to get out of the crammed sections of the plane. For the last couple of years the worst I have come to expect was the section with increased legroom and the best was of course Business. Lately I’ve been upgraded so often that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to sit among the real people. And having spent 11 hours and 20 minutes doing so today, I’m going to go ahead and offer the fact that I really, really resent my company’s cheapness in not taking care of frequent travelers like me. I spent the bulk of my time this morning sitting in the lounge writing and looking out the window. An hour before my scheduled departure I went down to the gate and was happy to see that we were leaving on time. I boarded early and took my seat, the first row in the regular cabin, which of course meant a bulkhead that in turn meant no moron was ...

We spent our last night at a glitzy Marriott in the town of Ashbourne, just north of Dublin. After staying in little inns and second-rate hotels it was pretty nice to have the big bed with the 16 pillows, shampoo and towel warmers. Italian was on the menu once more, this time at a place with waiters sporting gold chains and dressed all in black. Something you might more to expect to see in Trenton than you would in suburban Dublin, but the food was good and we enjoyed it. A 6:40 flight with a rental car to return demands an early departure especially when you’re not completely sure of where you are going. I had picked this place because I thought it was on the same motorway as the airport but it turned out to be one over to the west. Nonetheless it was a quick spin down the M2 to the M50 and across to the M1 and back to the Hertz lot where we were checked in and checked out and sent on our way. I took a last look at the big sign warning about damage to tires and wheels and wondered i...

Our night at the Clewe Bay Hotel turned out to be our best; a great night’s sleep in a comfortable room. Cool air coming in the window over the sound of the rushing river sealed the deal – it was a nice way to end the journey portion of our trip. Of all the hotels recommended by our guidebook, this one actually lived up to its reputation and I would use it again. After a quick cold breakfast we went out in search of a tire to replace the one I had destroyed the day before. The desk gal at the hotel had recommended two places and one of them was the same as that mentioned by the Hertz roadside service agent I had spoken with. So down the road to Castlebar we went, passing the first one in about the place we’d been told it would be and finding the second about the time we were about to give up. Twenty minutes and 200 Euros later we were on our way again. How nice for me, spending a bit of time doing “guy stuff” on what is supposed to be my time away from such mundane things. Today’s weat...

We walked back to our hotel into a stiff sea breeze that did not bode well for our next day of traveling. It had been raining off and on since sundown and the evening weather forecast confirmed that it was going to be another stormy day. We went to bed with the rain lashing the window and the wind howling through the streets. And the morning broke with the same weather – heavier rain and a stronger wind. But by the time we went out to find breakfast, the rain had stopped. Tucking into another small restaurant along Quay Street we ordered Eggs Benedict and coffee and sat back listening to alternative rock while admiring the western motif – snaffle bits, halters and paintings of Clint Eastwood. The name of the place was Rodeo, and they’d done their best to convey that idea. The food was excellent and the raspberry jam with my croissant was probably the best I have ever had. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and after completing the 109 tiny maneuvers required to get the car out...

Galway was a nice day of rest, out of the car and away from the challenges of driving on these roads. It’s a tidy little medieval city with the same sort of twisty lanes as Barcelona although not so many. Much smaller, we covered most of the interesting sights in a couple of hours of easy walking. The layout of the city retains its original ancient charm but there isn’t much of the original architecture aside from the occasional piece of the city walls (Spanish Arch being the best), St. Nicholas’ Church and a 16th century fortified manor house that is now used as a bank. The weather was cool and sunny and only at the end of the day did it get bad again with driving rain and strong winds. The rain did let up in time to allow us to go out for an excellent Italian dinner of Saltimbocca and Pasta de la Casa along with a second night of pannacotta (strawberry of all things) and a chocolate-pear strudel that was unique and very tasty. Quay Street was abandoned last night due to the condition...

It’s never fun to head out for a light day of sightseeing into a rain driven by gale force winds but when you’re on vacation and a fixed schedule you do what you have to do. At breakfast a young man sitting across from us had said he was heading to the cinema instead of the Ring of Kerry, but we’re made of tougher stuff and I had objectives in mind – the Neolithic treasures of Dingle. This area has seen human inhabitation for at least the last 7000 years and is considered by many an enormous open air archeology museum. Unlike many places much of the ancient past remains in decent shape, ignored by subsequent generations through fear (believing the sites to be in some way cursed or haunted) or through the simple fact that the natural resources of the region did not force people to recycle. I remember the story of Fort Union in New Mexico, plundered for its tin ceilings and wooden beams after its abandonment at the closure of the Santa Fe Trail by those carving a life out of the wilderne...