When we disembarked from the ship on Saturday morning, we had an hour or so to look around Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. Then headed to the airport for our “on time” flight to Toronto. Not sure why we had
The Long Road Home
Caribbean Island Stops on the Royal Clipper
On our Windward Islands cruise on the Royal Clipper we visited four of the Windward Islands and three of the Leeward Islands: the countries of Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis, and islands within
O’er the Bounding Main on Royal Clipper
We boarded the tall ship Royal Clipper after 24 hours in Barbados, and set sail for a week in the Caribbean “Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main”. But what exactly is the “main” and why is it bounding? What better
24 Hours on Barbados (Plus 1 More)
We were in the taxi at daybreak for the short ride to the Saint Vincent airport, where we expected the 45-minute flight to be shorter than the wait for the flight to Bridgetown, Barbados. However we caught a triple break;
Visiting Saint Vincent
We arrived back to Saint Vincent on the Bequia ferry at dusk, and by the time that we grabbed some breakfast supplies, had dinner at Basil’s downtown, and jumped in a taxi to Arnos Vale (just outside Kingstown) it was
Limin’ on Bequia
On the first leg of our trip to the Caribbean, we managed to get from Vancouver to Toronto in the early evening in a snowstorm, but only about an hour delayed. Bonus was that we got a last minute upgrade
A Short Stop in Singapore
Upon our return from Perth, Australia to Vancouver, we had booked a couple of days in Singapore to break up what would otherwise be a 35-hour, 3-flight ordeal. We had planned to revisit a few Singapore favourites, including the viewing
Margaret River, WA
While in Fremantle, we took a short, 3-night “holiday within a holiday” to Margaret River, Western Australia’s wine capital. Despite five previous visits to Fremantle, we had somehow never managed to reach Margaret River before, despite it being only a
Ireland Added to Our List
Yes, we do keep track of the number of countries that we have visited! After returning from our “England and Ireland” trip we added the Republic of Ireland to our list of UN countries that we have seen and we
Dublin, Our Final Stop in Ireland
We arrived at our hotel in the heart of Dublin late in the evening after our afternoon at Newgrange. No time for sightseeing, just a dinner at a nearby pub, enjoying a Guinness and a football game (soccer to we
Brú na Bóinne: Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth
We left Galway by bus, but stopped to pick up a rental car at Dublin Airport so that we could go to visit the Neolithic sites of Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth, collectively known as Brú na Bóinne. One of just
Galway and the Cliffs of Moher
Another morning’s travel brought us to the city of Galway in the northwest of Ireland (but not Northern Ireland). Galway was immediately appealing as we walked down to our hotel through the Saturday market, via pedestrianized streets filled with buskers.
County Cork, Ireland
From Killarney to Cork is less than 100 kilometres, but that takes you across the island from the west coast to the east. So, after jumping on a bus in the morning, less than two hours later we were in
Sheep Dog Demo at Kissane Sheep Farm
While in County Kerry, we paid a visit to the Kissane Sheep Farm to watch a demonstration of the sheep herding skills of Irish border collies. These amazing dogs can be trained to obey commands by voice or whistle to
Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland
We began our visit to the Republic of Ireland by flying directly to the west coast to the tiny tourist town of Killarney. Killarney has been famous as an Irish visitors’ Mecca since Victorian times; the town of just 15,000
Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Winchester
We arrived in England to be welcomed by typical English weather for the spring; kind of chilly, 13 degrees and drizzling, but only off and on. In fact, by the weekend it was beautiful – sunny and 15. Salisbury is
Starting our England and Ireland Trip
On April 30th, we jumped on a plane and headed off to London Heathrow to spend 2-1/2 weeks in England and the Republic of Ireland. Upon arriving in mid-afternoon the following day, we did not immediately head for London as
Returning Home; the Good and the Bad
After our 3-flight, 40-hour odyssey to return home on South African Airlines and Lufthansa through Jo’burg and Frankfurt, we settled into our post-trip routine. There’s always both pros and cons to arriving home. Let’s get the bad points over with
Bring us back a parrot!
The Guinness barges were part of everyday Dublin life, transporting wooden barrels full of GUINNESS from the Brewery to the waiting cross channel steamers at Dublin Port and bringing the empty barrels back to the Brewery to be refilled. Dublin
Cape Town and Stellenbosch Wine Route
Our trip to southern Africa wound up with six days in the country of South Africa, where we visited Cape Town and then topped off the trip with a couple of relaxing days in nearby Stellenbosch wine country. This was