Recently in Travel Category
Today Barbara and I visited Kew Gardens. From Sloane Square it was a short tube ride on the District line toward Richmond to the Kew Gardens tube stop. We walked through a small, but lovely town center bustling with people on thier Easter Monday outing to the Royal Botanical Gardens. I had not realized that Kew Gardens was a World Heritage site, but this garden was certainly worth the distiction with plants from every corner of the earth.
I am trying something new. I usually take the night flight from Boston to Heathrow, but I decided to try the day flight to see if it helps the jet lag. I got up at 5:00 am this morning in Boston (10:00 in London), left the airport at 8:15 am and arrived in London at 19:30 this evening. It is now 20:30, I have had some dinner and some wine and I am beginning to feel tired. Hopefully I will sleep and get up at around 7:00 tomorrow. If I toss and turn all night, I will let you know.
BTW, I am staying at the Draycott Hotel, which I have written about a number of times. It is lovely. I am sitting in front of a fire, blogging and reading, drinking a wonderful Chablis, and just about ready to have some tea.
This summer we vacationed in Ballina, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland. We took many wonderul trips to remote and stunningly beautiful places. To the north and west of Ballina stretches the unspoilt north coast of Co. Mayo, wonderfully wild and remote. Not to be missed here is the spectacular view from Downpatrick Head where the Atlantic has gouged a huge bay from the mighty cliffs, their summits scoured of all vegetation except grass by the ceaseless ocean winds. The air is full of wheeling birds: terns, gulls, skuas, razorbills and the rather less active puffins. Look out for the puffing holes that spew out tall columns of sea spray when the weather is rough. The most spectacular of these is called Poulnachantinny. It was created, apparently, when St Patrick was fighting with the Devil. The saint landed such a fearsome blow with his crozier that Old Nick was driven clear through the rock and into the sea beneath. In the course of this mighty scrap they also detached part of the headland. Now known as Doonbristy, this lone stack of rock is crowned by an old ruined fort. On the Head itself, a plaque commemorates those who lost their lives in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion.
This bridge is near my house in Charlestown. The two tall pillars resemble the Bunker Hill Monument.
I have not been writing in my blog for a bit because my family and I are traveling in Ireland. The house where I am staying in Ballina, County Mayo, has a phone connection to the internet. I can get a reasonably good line out. While here in County Mayo we have been doing lots of hiking and visiting megolithic tombs. I found Megolithomania tonight which will really help our exploration of the area. It is a great blog!
Also, I have been posting photos from our trip to this lovely island. Take a look.
