I’m a bad traveler; I don’t like getting out of my comfort zone. Since I’m a plus-sized, curmudgeonly woman who doesn’t fit easily into boxes, I have to do out-of-the-box thinking to ensure my comfort and prevent meltdowns when I travel. I’m not built physically or emotionally such that I can hop into the corner store and purchase what I forget to pack. Fortunately, my traveling experiences started in the UK, where people speak English and everything is the same as here – almost. Then I moved on to less similar locales: Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Mexico (San Miguel, not the spring break destinations). My firstRead More →

The first time I bought a DK travel guide was our trip to Amsterdam a few years ago. I looked at several books, and bought only two: DK’s Amsterdam and Holland books. I felt quite fortunate for my selection. Unlike many of the guides, the DK travel guides are very pictorial. They have breakout images of key sights so that you know exactly where to look. This works for visually oriented travelers. The Amsterdam and Holland books included a delightful canal walk. A long, glossy page unfolds from the book, and it depicts detailed images of the buildings along the canal. The page provides tidbitsRead More →

Some of the key sites we saw in Dublin include the Guinness Storehouse, which was a fairly fantastic place. As expected, it walks the tourist through the stages of making Guinness. There is a taste-test room where you can get a shot of Guinness (I skipped the shot), and then there is a rooftop bar filled with tourists drinking the brew. From the 360 degree room of the bar, you can see just about every little bit of Dublin and then some beyond. We also saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Christ Church. Christ Church has a huge collectionRead More →

Well, Ireland was a blast. Newgrange and Tara was the highlight of the trip. The drive through the countryside along the Boyne River was just beautiful. Johnny Cash wrote that Ireland had 40 shades of green, a song that we learned about from one of the hop on hop off bus drivers. It was great to get out of the city (which wasn’t so green) and into the countryside to -see- what the Emerald Isle was all about. Newgrange was exciting. I’m always excited by visiting ancient sites like that. They are so full of mystery. Some great pics of Newgrange can be seen hereRead More →

I’m going to Ireland tomorrow. I’m very excited about the trip. Anyway, here are some 3’s. Three Ireland Tours I plan to take 1. Mary Gibbons’ Tour of Newgrange 2. Viking Splash Tour of Dublin 3. Hop on Hop Off bus of Dublin Three things I bought for the trip: 1. Rain ponchos 2. Batteries for my mp3 player 3. Wetwipes to wash up with in the airport. Three things I hope to see while in Ireland: 1. The Book of Kells 2. Dublinia 3. The Dublin Castle Three things I’m grateful for: 1. Loritabs for a slightly pinched nerve 2. Chiropractors 3. Tiger’s balm

Well, we are going to Dublin, Ireland for spring break. The Labor Process conference is there this year. And all three of our spring breaks coincide with the conference, so it is our destiny to go. And, St. Patrick’s day is right smack in the middle of break. I’m so psyched. We have already purchased the plane tickets and made reservations at a B&B for us. Here is the link to the B&B: http://www.flyoveronline.com/