Monthly Archives: August 2011

Yes, there is an ice cream named after me.  And  yes, it was delicious.  I got the triple chocolate.  Twice.  That’s right.

I took a detour along a scenic route between the Mullet peninsula and Ballycastle in County Mayo.  There was quite a bit of rain, and suddenly I came upon what I thought were road workers.  A truck was backing into … Continue reading →

This is peat.  Essentially it is plant matter than has been compressed and preserved in a bog over thousands of years.  It doesn’t rot because of the high water content of the soil. Farmers cut the peat from a bog … Continue reading →

I’ve been listening to the radio a lot while driving, and watching the news on occasion in the evenings.  It is clear that the Irish economy is in big trouble.  A man I met in a pub told me that … Continue reading →

Only one factor determines if a bed and breakfast is exceptional: the quality of its brown bread. One should not be able to lift a slice of brown bread in its entirety; it should crumble.  One should have to break … Continue reading →

Driving on the wrong side of the road while sitting on the wrong side of the car has been an adventure. Apparently automatic transmissions are rare in Europe.  Budget did not have one available in the category that I chose, … Continue reading →

I have a serious book problem.  They seem to breed in the isolated corners of my house.  My kindle has helped the accumulation considerably, until Ireland.  I have visited at least 4 bookshops since arriving, and have purchased 6 titles: … Continue reading →

Part I The plane landed in Dublin before six o’clock and, though I paid extra for an early check-in at nine am, we still had time to kill before we could nap.  Jared wanted coffee, so we set off on … Continue reading →

GLASNEVIN ben brun’s pub was grand good food and company, too i stepped in dog crap KILKENNY awful, rip off lunch mitigated by castle backed by pink roses KELLS unexpected find at my namesake, mullin’s mill summer festival surrounded by … Continue reading →