Trips posted in
Ireland
-
Tavern on the Hill “A gem of an ole pub with great food.”
This gem is like an ole fashioned British pub with fair-size table seating in the rear. The host is this older gentleman who always has a smile, a warm laugh, a gentle manner and an open seat if he can find one; and not much of a wait if he can’t. Food? Very good pub…
-
Kasha-Katuwe, Tent Rocks: THE magical park of New Mexico
You get to the top, you turn, and turn and turn and you are part of the entire overwhelming immensity of the raw Southwest and the nearer almost silly and fantastical looking towers: you are in awe. Touring in New Mexico, and the Tent Rock park comes up near or at the top of things…
-
BERMUDA: Elbow Beach stunning beaches and so close to the US people forget this incredible gem.
A Labor Day weekend in Bermuda. Another of those amazing places that one must visit in a lifetime. Yet, while it was once the place for honeymooners from the U.S to go, and was incredibly popular for decades, it has somehow lost its place in the consciousness of travelers. Yet that is an awful mistake…
-
Bermuda’s new get-around, the amazing Twizy!
On Bermuda, tourists cannot rent cars; either motor bikes or cabs. The cabs are ungodly expensive, though the drivers are always fun and incredibly informative. The motor bikes are fun, but not for the faint f heart (and I fell off mine twice). But as of this summer, the island resorts have introduced the electric,…
-
Wandering Lancaster, PA: America’s oldest hard pretzel-maker, Sturgis a true, delicious gem
A sunny fall Saturday and nothing as quaint or rolling-hill-beautiful as Lancaster, PA. We went for the Strasburg Railroad Museum, which is one of the truly great collections of those massive engines and their designer cars. But it was also Thomas the Engine day, and fun as that seems, too many people, strollers and lines.…
-
Angkor Wat: Overwhelming feat and it changes you, but it is up to you how…
While this post focuses on Angkor Wat, I have to start in the middle of the full day guided tour we took. This specific temple was the most haunting and impressive; each tower and column with a different carved face. Each face stood perhaps 40 feet tall. The feel of the mystical and painfully human…
-
SF Hilton: A huge but good hotel…gateway to North Beach
First, Hilton’s mobile check-in/pick-a-room was very cool. In the in-between worlds of North Beach and Chinatown…and some rooms have a great view of the Transamerica tower. For this hotel to claim they are in the Financial district is foolish. It is deep in Chinatown and a short walk from North Beach. We found the location…
-
Osaka sushi, the best in Chestnut Hill Philadelphia (with a caveat!)
The best quality sushi in miles. Good service. Fresh fish. Nice people. Great take-out. Only draw back is the Specialty rolls are waaaaaay to pricey. The caveat of course is that they take too long for pick-up and do not have the option of brown rice instead of white. http://www.osakapa.com/
-
Hyatt Place, Princeton, NJ: Go Nassau or anywhere else!
Hilton Garden Inn is better all around I always judge any hotel first and foremost by the people who work there. It was late in the evening when I checked in, and the lobby had that mix of small bar, tables and pastry display — all of which seem to me the faux pretense of…
-
Hilton, SF Business District: Good value, great location.
San Francisco, being the consummate tourist city, is awash with hotels of all sizes, flavors and styles; I think the first real boutique hotel I ever stayed in was there in the early 1990’s. But it is also a very tricky place to chose a hotel that is right for your type of vacation or…
-
Miracle staircase of Loretto chapel, Sante Fe
The Loretto chapel, now privately owned was a story completely unknown to before I arrived. Dutifully, looking for a guide book as I paid to get in, my immediate feeling was: now this is a small Gothic church. Diminutive would be a good word. In fact, by odd comparison, the church we visited in the…
-
The Legion of Honor: A long drive, but SF best museum
While San Francisco has a multitude of things to do, I would not call it a museum-city. In fact, I have been unimpressed by their MoMA in SOMA and the DeYoung in Golden Gate Park. Average, to say the least. But not so the Legion of Honor museum. My uncle, who has lived in the…
Outspoken Traveler 