Back home and fighting jet lag, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new here, each week, I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, stumble the post using Stumbleupon, tweet the article on Twitter and I post a link to the piece on my Facebook page. The following week, I select my five favorites submitted last week and the stumbling begins again. Just a few things to keep in mind, please only submit one link per person each week. You have until the end of the day on Friday to submit. A link to Continue Reading
Belfast, Northern Ireland Wishes You Were Here
Belfast and I got off on the wrong foot, perhaps long before someone decided to help themselves to my wallet. I remember my Dad driving my brothers and sisters and I through West Belfast. I was scared. Men holding machines guns through the streets, barbed wire and a great line dividing two neighborhoods and faiths had me spooked. I remember those screeches of “Dad! No!”. My knowledge of “The Troubles” was not that extensive at 13 but I knew the area wasn’t where the tourists went to hang out. Today that has changed. West Belfast is now somewhat of a tourist attraction. You can take taxi Continue Reading
Just One Please
“Are you looking for inspiration?” he said. I nodded as he gave my passport a beating with a green stamp. “Well, good luck.” I wasn’t exactly sure what border control had in mind. Was it a good “good luck” or one more of sarcasm? It quickly didn’t matter as my days in Ireland came and went. After spending a month in the country traveling solo, I am now a firm believer in taking a trip alone, however big or small. While the customs agent was referring to my occupation as a writer, for me, the inspiration I was looking for was not just for my job but also for myself. Solo travel can only make Continue Reading
Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of March 28, 2011
With just two days left here in Ireland, I am off to soak up all of the castles, countryside and pints I can before leaving. In the meantime, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new here, each week I ask writers and readers to share their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment, post the article on Twitter, stumble the piece using Stumbleupon and place a link to the post on my Facebook page. The follow week, I select my five favorites to be featured here and the stumbling begins again. Just a few things to keep in mind, you must Continue Reading
The Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland Wishes You Were Here
Like a game of Tetris gone horribly wrong, in the distance, I can see the rubble. A beast has torn through the landscape. A bomb has gone off and now children are using the remains as their playground of skipping stones. On top of the mismatched pieces of land, tourists stand, propping up their cameras to get the perfect shot of this stretch of land gone wrong. The Giant’s Causeway is Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated on the Causeway Coast. When you first descend on this giant, you too will be mistaken as the ancients were. However this landscape is not man-made Continue Reading
Olfactory Gold in Ireland
I have never been someone with “the nose”. I can’t break down scents to know exactly what types of flowers fill them. I couldn’t tell you one flower from the next. However, I do know when a scent is for me. Our noses are incredibly choosey when it comes to scents. It is perhaps one area of life where you will find those people who never have opinions forming absolute thoughts on certain scents. It either works with the chemistry of your body or it causes a ruffling of the nose. Scents are about as strange and absolute as some landscapes can be. Driving through County Clare, I found myself Continue Reading
Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of March 21, 2011
Struggling to find a WiFi signal from Donegal in Ireland, I bring you this week’s Suzy Stumbles Over Travel. In case you are new here, each week I ask writers and readers to submit their favorite travel posts of the week. I read each submission, comment on the article, post a link to the piece on my Twitter, stumble the article using Stumbleupon and place a link to the submission on my Facebook page. The following week, I select my five favorites submitted last week and the stumbling begins again into the next week. Just a few things to keep in mind, you can only submit one link each week. Continue Reading