Trips posted in
Ireland
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A glorious pastoral hideaway: An Doras Bui shepherds’ hut in the Sperrin Mountains
Walking the lane near An Doras Bui can be beautiful — and with the tight curves and no dies, a bit…challenging.
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Burger as art form to the palate. Welcome to Flipside, Sligo.
Winner of the Best Burger in Ireland, 2021 is a high honor, especially when Flipside Burger Bar is competing with every pub in the land, plus many finer restaurants, and has only been open since 2018! While food awards are great for business and righteous recognition of hard work and passion, Flipside is almost like…
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The Village of the Dead is all about the living. Slievemore, Achill Island.
Achill Island, Ireland. Such a stunningly beautiful place to experience such profound sadness.Of all the fraught tales of Ireland, none gets near the collective pain of the Potato Famine, the Great Hunger, several names for one massive tragedy: one million people died, one million left for the US. Done by 1851 for the most part,…
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Achill Island, Ireland: Croghaun mountain and the (very) Wild Atlantic Way.
For a wanderer, everything begins and ends with the humans you meet. This tale begins with Jon Brannen, of the same named pub and BnB in Newport, county Mayo, Ireland. He was a hiker, a gruff and burly man who wore his kindness in his words. I was staying at his place and with a…
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Stories of being lost can often be about being found.
Stories of being lost can often be about being found. I got lost in the Sperrin Mountains of N Ireland and yet found a tale of kindness and mirth with one Thomas McClary. Plan was to go to the O’Neill family farm for lunch with Annie and Niall (ny-ale); I had last been in 2010.…
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New Zealand: A 13-day journey across a nation that embodies the balance of nature and humanity.
Kia Ora…the Maori greeting that means welcome, good health, expresses gratitude. This greeting embodies New Zealand and its people. We had always discussed going to New Zealand for years, but still working and distracted by closer trips, we put it off. A flight that could total over fifteen hours compared to a European trip of…
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In 2018, where did OutspokenTraveler visit?
The Belvedere by the river Tejo Tague in Lisbon; a magnificent monument to the glorious history of Portuguese sailors and navigators who commanded the seas.
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New Year’s day in Vienna: bring in the new year with a horse-drawn carriage ride!
New Year’s day and another incredible day on the Golden Eagle Danube Express. After the high-energy, royal Rathaus city hall Silvesterer Ball, New Year’s morning found us in the same place but a far different experience. They arranged a tour in 19th century, horse-drawn carriage through the quiet, Empire-strewn buildings and cobblestone streets of Vienna…transported…
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Holy Cross Monastery outside Vienna: The lure of the afterlife frames the actions of the living.
New Year’s Day on the Danube Express: After brunch, which we were taken to after a horse drawn carriage ride through Vienna, we boarded the usual large tour bus. Andrea, the excellent tour guide for the trip, set our expectations and handed the microphone over to our guide through the Cistercian Abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz, translated…
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An 7-day train tour of Budapest, Prague with magnificent Vienna for New Years: part 1
Let the journey begin! An seven day train trip called the Golden Eagle Danube Express touring the mighty and many UNESCO sites, cities, small and large, with great food, company and a amazing guide…but the train. That was something right from the 19th century. The journey begins in Budapest— never visited before but such classic…
