Category: Travels
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The four green fields blog4: An old cemetery & my Irish family
[A very creaky gate leading into an old cemetery. Photo is mine.] Suaimhneas Siorai Air ~~Old Irish Epitaph “Eternal Rest be Upon Him/Her” The green and rusted rotating gate made a noise that seemed more like a stifled scream of metal against metal. It pierced my ears. The harshness of the sound, under other circumstances,…
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the four green fields blog3:the burren
[Where we were. Photo is mine.] Burren (‘b^ren0 n. A limestone area on the North Clare coast in the Irish Republic, famous for its wildflowers, caves, and dolmens. The Burren is a lot of things. It’s a place in Ireland, a route to tour, and a UNESCO Heritage Site. To me, it’s something else altogether.…
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The four green fields blog: Touchdown at shannon to Kenmare
[The shortest distance between two points is a curved line (when The Great Circle is in play). Photo is mine.] To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart. ~~Old Irish Saying Five hours and fifty some minutes separated us from New York City and Shannon Airport. Round…
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the walking stick: father’s day 2025
I never wanted a Guinness more than the moment when I reached the bottom. ~~ Paul Egan. Upon finishing his climb of Croagh Patrick. [Paraphrased] Once upon a time, when I was a young boy, my father gave me a ‘beaver stick’. For my readers who have never had or seen a beaver stick, it…
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Peter, Lenny & pat’s big adventure
[The route. The dark blue line. Disregard the time notation. Source: Google Maps.] “I remember it was up hill all the way.” ~~ Lenny Schmidt “There is a cow outside of our tent.” ~~ Patrick Egan Oh, the exuberance of youth! The innocence of the young! The pure and wild wind in our hair and…
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below the equator IX: looking for carlos gardel and getting lost in the other cemetery.
[The Entrance Gate. Video is mine] Only in Buenos Aires can the wealthy and powerful elite keep their status after death. Argentines are a strange bunch who tend to celebrate their most honored national figures not on the date of their birth, but on the date of their death (after all, they’re nobody when they’re…
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Below the equator VIII: Across the Rio de la plata and onto Montevideo
[The Salvo Palace on Independence Square. Now an office building and apartment complex it was for a time the tallest building in Uruguay. I never saw anyone on the upper terraces; maybe not for tourists? Photo is mine] Montevideo n. (Portuguese) I Saw A Mountain. ~~Result of my Chrome search. The Journey and The Arrival~…