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My grandparents travelled extensively during my childhood. They were away for eight in thirteen years after my grandfather's retirement in the early 1970s. I do believe my love of travel stems from their postcards and letters from places as exotic as Lapland, Gibraltar and Banff. We received the most fabulous gifts on their return - the Swiss music boxes, the Spanish dancing dolls, the Limoges china plates, Wedgewood Blue boxes, the American dresses... I recall the awe with which each was received and how distant and exotic were the places from which they came. Today, I saw the awe of the 10-y-o me in the face of my French god-daughter when I gave her the Swiss music box. Here I am in one of those places on the postcards, passing down a treasure and watching the absolute delight with which it was received. It was a very precious moment. Grandma and Grandpa, thanks for all the magical presents you brought home from your travels to amaze my young mind but most particularly, thank...

Guinness is an acquired taste ... which we have acquired. It only took one day for the jet lag to pass.  The day was alternately spent staring glassy-eyed at the sights from the top floor of the Hop-On, Hop-Off double decker tour bus, and getting whiplash as our heavy heads sleepily pitched forward and back on the double-decker. Top o' the bus.  The fresh air is keeping us awake. The bus ride and four-kilometre march from the bed and breakfast to the closest stop on the Hop-On, Hop-Off loop gave us a good geographical orientation of Dublin.  The city is centred around the River Liffey and we were staying at a bed and breakfast near Phoenix Park, 4 km inland. The city is quite old by western European standards, being recognized as a CITY in 888 A.D. and growing in rank until around the early 1500's, when it was then deemed to be second in the British Isles in importance and size to London. In the two days we spent in Dublin, we had time to: visit and have din...

La Bistrot avec WiFi.  :-) Shortly after I have started my 54th year, another adventure begins.  First, nine days touring southern Ireland (via a layover in Montreal airport) by car.  Following that, over two months in the village of Obernai, which is located in the province of Alsace in France.  Kate and I will be using Obernai as a home base for trips to Bischoffsheim (to visit our friend, Florence and her family), to Norway (where Kate, her sisters and mum will be celebrating Nancy's 80th birthday), the northeastern French countryside and the paved slopes of the Vosges Mountains. Our Irish odyssey will include exploring Dublin, visiting some of the sights and locations made famous in James Joyce's Ulysses; a drive to Oranmore in County Galway to track down birth and baptism records for my paternal grandmother; a meander along the western coast to see the sea; a trip to Cork to visit friends and see how the locals live.  There will be no Blarney Stone ki...