Guided tours are not my normal way to travel. I am someone who prefers to do things on my own, with long periods in a single location leading to a relaxed pace. However, the opportunity came up to travel with Overseas Adventure Tours (OAT) to Ireland with my aunt, so I took it. OAT is…
Today was a difficult day for me, and not because of the ever-present Northern Irish rain that has insisted on following most of my trip here. I am in Derry (also called Londonderry, but more on that in a few moments), the second largest city in Northern Ireland. It is a beautiful town, the best-preserved…
From the tip of the stone columns jutting up into the Inner Seas which connect the Irish Sea to the North Atlantic between Ireland and Scotland, it is easy to understand why locals might have thought this to be created by a giant. The hexagonal basalt columns can in places look very much like paving…
It’s time to head back to Europe! Of all the places in the world, I probably like Europe best, so I am very excited to have about three and a half months there this summer and fall. As I mentioned in my introduction to the trip, I’m dividing it into three for the purposes of…