On the northern tip of the British Isle is the proud and beautiful land of the Scots
A land where bagpipes and golf go hand in hand. A land with castles and lochs where ghosts and monsters live. And even if the sky is gray with rain clouds most of the year, the ground is covered [...]
Posted on December 17th, 2009 by dianagene
Filed under: Europe Trip | 9 Comments »
A land of legend and fairy tales; where the princess is rescued and lives happily ever-after with her knight in shining armor after she kisses the frog who pulls the sword from the stone and slays the dragon. The country the U.S. fought to gain its independence but with whom strong bonds of blood and [...]
Posted on December 16th, 2009 by dianagene
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I don’t know about you but in the past, whenever I have thought about Ireland, I pictured a small country with small things. Things like villages with diminutive cottages, leprechauns and wee fairies. However, after visiting Connemara in the west, my vision of a “small country” is changed. For as you gaze out on the [...]
Posted on October 26th, 2009 by dianagene
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I press my camera right up against the glass of the window so I won’t get glare in the photo. The little twin engine, eight passenger aircraft lifts
smoothly in spite of the buffeting the wind gives it. We can see the rocky coast line shrink and the appearance of the tiny fishing boats gives
perspective to [...]
Posted on October 25th, 2009 by dianagene
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The Irish seem to be as clever as their country is beautiful. We had determined that independent travel, showing ourselves around as opposed to having a guide, was not an option in the U.K. as we would want to rent a car to conveniently get around. However, since neither of us had ever attempted to [...]
Posted on October 21st, 2009 by dianagene
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A traveler’s dream come true; the United Kingdom in August. These were the plans and we started with Ireland. We could only be there for a week, so we didn’t even try to get to Northern Ireland, but we were able to see some absolutely beautiful things in the southern regions as well as some [...]
Posted on October 1st, 2009 by dianagene
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Back in Germany, we decide to end our central European adventures with a little time on the beautiful Rhine River. The Rhine serves as a border for Germany, Belgium and parts of France and Switzerland.
Our journey began near the northern German end of the river in a national Park named Eifel (just can’t seem [...]
Posted on September 30th, 2009 by dianagene
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As we visit the umpteenth major European city, the traditional market square with the breathtaking cathedral surrounded by quaint to totally decorated out ancient buildings starts to blend together in a swirl of gothirenainouveau archisculpture. You can rub your eyes and try to shake the equilibrium back into your head, but unless something strikes you [...]
Posted on September 11th, 2009 by dianagene
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The waltz, coffee, boys choir, sausages; a few things that come to mind when I hear the word “Vienna“. But when you actually visit Vienna, you are faced with a beauty and grace which more than makes up for this somewhat unsophisticated list of associations.
This very important European city has spawned and mentored many, many [...]
Posted on August 29th, 2009 by dianagene
Filed under: Europe Trip | 98 Comments »
Central Europe is a land of extremes. As we move on with the horror of Auschwitz still in our heads, we look out the window to see field after field of blooming sunflowers; incredibly beautiful to the point of being almost unreal.
We are headed to Budapest Hungary. We are eager to see for ourselves if [...]
Posted on August 26th, 2009 by dianagene
Filed under: Europe Trip | 6 Comments »