Folksy Travel by Bill Smale • Click on "Menu" below to search Country or City or to see Country Guide. Tip your phone sideways and you will see all aspects of the site.

June 3, 2026June 3, 2026

Close to Bangor

Bangor

this is a good place in the west of Wales to stay and visit very touristy places not far from Bangor. Don’t below you will see the hotel, pub, restaurant I stayed in. The great thing as the owner is Thai, she is a very accomplished artist and a good cook. If you ask her to make the food as she would for Thai people she will do it. Otherwise she tends to adapt the food to local flavors which means almost no red Peppers.

Good soup Close to Bangor — This was a very delicious Thai food

Nice hotel Close to Bangor — This hotel is not expensive and it’s right near the station so I recommend it for comfort and convenience

Turkish restaurant Bill Smale — Why not mix Turkish food with fish and chips ! After all, in Italy Turkish restaurants also make pizza

World War I memorial Bill Smale — I think this was a memorial to World War I veterans

Good beer Bill Smale — This is a very tasty local beer

Purple moose beer — The purple moose beer. In the background you can see some ofSu’s Artwork

TOM KA GAI SOUP Bill Smale — Good TOM KA GAI SOUP

Buffet leftovers Bill Smale — These were some leftovers from the Thai buffet which is arranged every Thursday

Guinness Bill Smale — Not the perfect pourbut Guinness is always delicious

Longest town name — The longest city name in the world is close to Bangor. I was told it means the white church on the hill

Hollyhead

Long sub name — The longest Shop sub name

Of course you have to have a Doleck Protect protecting your store

Rhyl

Llanberis

you must visit this place since it is an entrance to Snowden, the national park that has such extensive beauty, places to hike and scenery that is world famous.

Looking for food — They are not trying to hide. They are just looking for food

Black swans — The black swans were very aggressive and as I was feeding them some nuts they started chasing away everything and even came up to me begging

Rhuddlan

The purpose for visiting this place was to see the castle which has a very interesting history and I recommend if you are interested in ancient Welsh history

Denbigh

Denbigh castle — The castle is one of the main attractions in the city. It’s a nice place to walk around for the day

Common names — Jones and Griffith are 2 very common names in Wales

June 2, 2026June 3, 2026

Caernarfon to Aberystwyth

The areas of Wales which are close To these two towns are extremely beautiful, interesting and definitely worth visiting. Caernarfon to Aberystwyth Provides two cities which are fun to walk around and give you quite a bit to do.

Caernarfon

this castle is where the Investiture of the Prince of Wales happens. In 1969 Charles was invested in Carnarvon. It would be good to spend a couple days here. The city is a little bit expensive so you might want to stay outside in another little town and commute by bus which I did.

Bird perch Caernarfon to Aberystwyth — Birds seem to find the darndest places to hang out

Prime Minister Caernarfon to Aberystwyth — This Prime Minister was Welsh and you can tell by the name Lloyd

Fun costume Bill Smale — All sorts of fun things are going on

Castle moat Bill Smale — The moat around the castle

Castle Center Bill Smale — The center of the castle. You can buy the Welsh Heritage card And use it if you’re going to spend a couple weeks in Wales. I think the cost is around 50 pounds

Castle view Bill Smale — View from the castle

It’s fun to see the Welsh flags with the red dragon down the streets

Interesting church — It’s interesting to see how churches are reinvented to attract people and keep them in good shape

Soccer player — I’m guessing this is a famous soccer player

Slate mine — Northeast of Carnarvon you will find the slate mining areas. Slate was a big export at one time

Jones family name — This is a list of the World War I war dead. When you look closely you will see that Jones is a very common Welsh family name

Jones family — The Joneses were a large percentage of the people in this area

Plantation castle — The castle was a Plantagenet creation

Betws-y-Coed

you really need to visit this Village and spend the day going up and coming back. The trip up is really very beautiful as well.

Funny toilet — I guess this is a very funny company

Slate miners dedication — In this church you will see a lot of dedication to the people who mined And split slate for usage and export

Betws-Y-Coed

Llanberis

this town provides a beautiful entrance to the Snowden areas, a great lake and interesting views of the slate mines

Sheep mowing the lawn — Lawn mowers for free

Resort house — I think this is now a resort

Summit train — The train which goes up to a summit

Interesting building — Just an interesting building

Aberystwyth

Slate roofing — Slate was used for roofing

Interesting company name — Interesting name for a company

Great Lao and Thai food — This restaurant has excellent Lao and Thai food

It was good to have these Iisan Sausages again. They brought back good memories.

This LAAB Was made with Lao Or Thai customers in mind so it was delicious, Some of the best Iisan Food I have had in Europe.

I forgot which restaurant this was but they were labeled as “Mexican“. Normally I do eat Mexican food in Europe since, unless it’s in Spain, it definitely does not have any Mexican flavor. These nachos were not anything like I’ve had before but the food was very good and the taco chips were crispy.

Lip licking good — OK, interesting play on KFC

June 1, 2026June 1, 2026

Touring Toulon

It’s easy Touring Toulon. Unlike Marseille which is very spread out, Toulon is fairly compact and a nice little Port town to be walking around in. What you will see is not only a port for private yachts and boats but also for some smaller cruise ships, fairies which will take you to Corsica and some military ships as well. The seafood here was very good. In fact all of the food was very good so just spend time walking around and enjoying the southern France ambience. This town is not far from Marseille.

Mussels with fries Touring Toulon — As you can see it’s a fairly large serving. And remember that what is called french fries in the US were actually invented in Belgium. They are just called fries in France.

Dog leading a dog Touring Toulon — My timing was awful a little bit. I tried to get the photo of the first dog which she is leading holding the leash of the second dog in his mouth. So they were a chain of a dog leading another dog which I thought was kind of fun.

Nice building Bill Smale — I just liked this building

That’s Amore Bill Smale — They serve good Italian food and also a lot of love, that’s Amore

City center fountain Bill Smale — City center fountain

Nicaraguan cigar Bill Smale — It was not an expensive cigar from Nicaragua and I don’t particularly recommended. It was a little bit bitter

Delicious gelato — Café on the bottom and raspberry on top

Multipurpose port — A port with yachts, fairies and naval ships

Pointing to the ocean — This guy is pointing out to the ocean, probably to the pirates who stole his clothes

Wall painting — A glimpse into the past of this town, painted on the wall walls

Ice cream after the meal — A meal would not be complete without ice cream, this time not gelato

Sparsetourism — Almost all the tourists were French and so the tourist population seemed to be way down from what I saw last year

Beautiful wall — Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so it is said. I don’t know why I found this interesting and a source of beauty but I just had to take a photo of it.

A very delicious Middle Eastern style (almost like a curry) sauce with chicken (Tajine de Poulet) cooked very well. It was very delicious at Le Petit Prince de Toulon

Old building — Just an interesting old line of buildings

Old door — This is a very old door still in use

Police station — Look closely down the street here because where that little sign is you will find the municipal police station. It’s very well hidden

Grill restaurant — Nice little grill restaurant

Serving pot — This is exactly the same kind of pot that my chicken was served in today. I find this design very interesting and also that it is somewhat popular in this part of France

Easy to read French — My information indicates that the English language is about 25% of French origin. As you will know it is due to the Norman invasion of England in 1066 by the Viking descendants who occupied Normandy. They brought French in as the official language of England. And what I like is that I was able to understand 100% of what is written on this commemoration to the statue. I also find it interesting that English is classified as “low German“. But in Germany I understand almost nothing except for food menus. But once I cross into France all of a sudden I feel very able to get around just by reading. Speaking French is an entirely different issue. I only know a few words.

Multiple product kiosk — This kiosk sells many different things

Product lines — You can’t see their line of products

Manga shop — It was interesting seeing this manga shop. But I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised since French people are very un tuned to Art and especially to Japanese art and culture.

Narrow street parking — This is how they park on the narrow streets

Retro design brasserie — This is the brasserie in front of the train station and I find a design very interesting and retro

May 30, 2026May 30, 2026

Isle of Man day 2

The Isle of Man is a financial Haven, a tourist destination for the British or over 100 years and it shows. The infrastructure is very good, the promenade in the main town of Douglas is several kilometers long with giant buildings ( England resort style) and some interesting landmarks including the old theater which they still use. In a way it’s kept a lot of of its 1920s charms with the old Steam and electric trains supplemented on the promenade with a horse drawn tram. You can buy a ticket for a few days unlimited rides on those old forms of transport which I really recommend. It’s so much fun going on a steam train or an old electric on the old tracks.

Douglas to Snaefell

from Douglas you can start your trip to the summit with a horse drawn tram, Clydesdales included. You can continue on the Douglas electric train to Ramsey or you can get off halfway at Laxey and go up to the summit, snaefell.

Horse drawn tram Isle of Man — The horse-drawn tram now only goes halfway along the promenade in Douglas to connect to the electric train. The other half of the Promenade which leads to the Steam train on the other end of the promenade is for walking and cars.

Electric train Isle of Man — Get off the horse drawn tram at the north of Douglas and get on the electric train to Ramsey

The Isle of Man logo

Original trains Isle of Man — Everything is very well maintained on these trains, Clean and seem to be original

Douglas view Bill Smale — A view going out of Douglas

Waiting for the summit train Bill Smale — Halfway to Ramsey you can get off at Laxey and take the electric train to the Summit which I highly recommend recommended

Water wheel Bill Smale — This is the old water wheel which I think is the largest one in the world

Beautiful farm land Bill Smale — Beautiful farm land

Mining areas — Going up to the summit you see some old mining areas

The TT rally is held here every year and is purported to be the oldest rally race in the world for motorcycles

Near the top — Almost at the top of the summit

Valley River — You can see a river which at one time was large enough to create the valley contour

Man-made lake — A man-made lake on the way to the Summit

Gelato shop — I had an interesting conversation with the Filipino fellow at the very delicious gelato shop in Laxey

Douglas building — An interesting building at the edge of Douglas

Self commentary — A car with a self commentary

Laxey to Ramsey

Small station — One small station on the way

Safety baton — On the way to Ramsey trains going each way will stop and hand this baton to the other train engineer as a safety measure to confirm each train so they don’t meet head on somewhere

Many train stations — There are at least 28 stations between Douglas and Ramsey but they only stop when somebody is waiting at the station or if somebody indicates they want to get off. This is very handy for those who want to walk around since there are so many walking trails on the island

Changing the ties — The trains have to share a track at some points and this is just one reason. They are taking out the old wooden ties and changing them with concrete ties for stability and longevity

Coin drop at the ferry — The coins from the island are exactly the same dimensions as those in England but they have a different logo and are not legal tender in England. You can just dump your coins in here at the ferry terminal or you can take them to England, change them at a bank or you can use them in England and hope that people don’t notice they are from the Isle of Man.

May 28, 2026May 28, 2026

Isle of Man day one

the first thing you will see below is the money which is created for the Isle of Man. This money has the three legs of man on the front and the denomination. These pounds are equivalent to the pounds of England. You can use the England money in the Isle of Man but you cannot use the Isle of Man money in England so make sure you change it somewhere before you leave or use it all up. I have been told that you can take these notes to a bank in England and exchange them for England pounds. Scotland has their own notes as well and that is why I say “England“ pounds. This Scotland pound also is not usable in England. You will also notice some coins which have the emblem of the Isle of Man and people on the island have explained legally these are not usable in England but they are the exact same dimensions as the England coins so there’s a very good chance people in England will not notice if you use them.

again, traveling around it’s a good day deal if you get the pass that gives you unlimited travel on transport on the island if you’re going to be there for three or four days or if you plan to make three or more train trips.

something else to note is the north of Douglas is the departure of the electric train which goes to the junction for the Summit train and then ends up in Ramsey. That train is on the north of Douglas quite a distance from the Steam train which starts on the south end of Douglas going to the port of Erin. There used to be a horse drawn tram going from the north to the south of Douglas so along the promenade, connecting the two train systems. However, they redid the road to make it easier for pedestrians so the horse-drawn tram only goes halfway from the north, the electric train terminal to the south along the promenade. That promenade is a few kilometers long so get out your walking shoes.

Douglas to Peel

to get to peel from Douglas you take a bus

Pound note face Isle of Man — Noticed the Isle of Man three legs symbol on the face of the pound notes

Peel castle Isle of Man — on the back of the 5 pound notes you see the castle at Peel

Old house Isle of Man — Beautiful old house

Peel church Bill Smale — One of the churches in Peel

Shed Bill Smale — I could make up a story about this shed but I don’t know what it’s used for so I’ll leave it to your imagination

Peel castle Bill Smale — Peel castle from the beach

Millions of clam shells — This is just a small cove where the shells of dead clams collect. They are not only here in the millions but also all over the beach so you have to be careful if you’re walking barefoot

Nice beach — This is the beach area right by the clamshell collection

Peel castle history — The basic history of this island and its people goes back as far as the original inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland. Some of the names on the island are still the old Viking names

Rugged shore — It’s a rugged shore on which the castle was built

Old Cannon — Though the castle is very much a skeleton the preservation authority has done a lot of work in fixing up the castle and creating explanations of the different parts

Beautiful Grass interior — You have to watch for rabbit holes in the grassy areas. It’s nice that it was a beautiful day when I visited. In fact, the whole visit was filled with beautiful weather

Shell Beach — From the castle you can see the show beach in the foreground and the long beach in the background

Beautiful water — The water is really beautiful

Manx cat — The world renowned mascot that brought fame and notoriety to the Isle of Man is this cat, the one with no tail

These are small scallops called “Queenies” on the Isle of Man and maybe also in England. There is a little stand near the entrance to the castle and you have to try these because they are absolutely delicious and extremely well cooked. The nice thing for the lady who owns the stand, the dishes are shells which as I mentioned before are available in the millions. She could just rinse them off and use them again or she could throw them into the ocean and let them come back up nice and clean in a year or two.

Voting for dummies — I think this is a fantastic idea. If you offer free beer to come and learn about the voting system and maybe even about your own government I think you will have a lot of takers

Viking images — Relics of the Vikings who built the first castle which was built on top of some other building erected several thousand years before

Peel to Ramsey

take another bus from Peel to Ramsey, relax and take the sites

Newborn lambs — The newborns were everywhere

Ramsey

Old ship — This is very interesting history of the old ship in San Diego California

CORNELL COLLEGE colors with the Isle of Man emblem

Ship information — Information aboard the ferry from the north of Ireland to the Isle of Man

Lots of rabbits — There are a lot of rabbits running around

Beautiful blossoms — The blossoms at this time of year were really beautiful

May 27, 2026May 27, 2026

Around the Isle of Man

Douglas to Erin buy steam locomotive

there are many ways to get around the Isle of man. You have a steam train, some electric trains and bus. I recommend a three day stay so that you can use all of them to see all the sites. You can buy a single ticket which will take you on all of the transports so find that pass and use it. It will be much cheaper if you take three or four train rides

Steam trains Around the Isle of Man — This is the Steam train which leaves from one end of Douglas, the south End. The electric trains leave from the other end of Douglas. The Steam train goes to the port of Erin

Nice Steam engine Around the Isle of Man — This steam train goes to a slightly different location but it’s a nice traditional looking Steam engine

Steam train Around the Isle of Man — This is the train which goes to the port of erin

Window control Bill Smale — The opening and closing of the windows is controlled by this leather strap, a very old method of opening the window

Seating area Bill Smale — Each of the doors opens up to a small four or six person seating area

Map of the train lines Bill Smale — This map shows the three different trains. In the south the red train is powered by Steam and in the north the main line is electric. Halfway up the electric line you can get off and take another train to the Summit,Snowfell, the tallest place on the island

Sheep and cows — There are a lot of sheep and cows on this island. It’s a very beautiful train ride

Pheasant — If you look closely you will see a lot of pheasant in the fields

Cute Steam engine — This is a cute looking Steam engine

Port Erin train station. This is a very walkable city or town and you can also catch a bus to go to other places on the island

Bay Hotel — One of the old hotels at the port

Nice park — A beautiful place to walk around

A pedestal — I didn’t research this but it certainly looks like something fell off the top

Bus road — From the port you can get on a bus to go all the way to Ramsey

License plate emblem — You can see the emblem of the Isle of Man on the license plate plates, the three legs of man

May 23, 2026May 25, 2026

Close to Criccieth

Blaenau Ffestiniog

Wales is a very beautiful place and it takes some time to visit the Small villages and countryside areas so plan on a minimum of one week but better too budget two or more weeks to really get to enjoy the people in the sites and the history. I stayed in Criccieth since it seemed to be a hub to wander off by public bus to places Close to Criccieth

Hungry seagull Close to Criccieth — This seagull was really interested in the small sunflower seeds I bought to feed the birds. Most seagulls were looking for bigger things like fish and were turning their beaks up to what I was serving.

Bus stop Close to Criccieth — This is where I got off the train to catch a bus

Train station Close to Criccieth — This is the small train station

Slate town Bill Smale — When you get up to this little town you see that it was used for slate mining and that’s about it. But it’s a cute place to spend a couple hours and walk around and see the abandoned quarries

Hiking path Bill Smale — A hiking path through the old Quarry

Layered slate Bill Smale — This shows how layered the slate is and how easy it would be to separate the layers depending upon the usage need

Many purposes Bill Smale — This rock is used for so many different purposes

Quarryview Bill Smale — The view from the quarry

I like dogs Bill Smale — While I have sympathies in this direction it reminded me of a certain friend who does dog rescue in Thailand

Beddgelert

for me this cute little town is in the top three in Wales. Of course everybody has their own things they want to see but the hills, the nature and the little village here is just so picturesque and quiet even though there are quite a few tourists

Moss growing — Just on the side of the path

River crossing — There is a river running through the village which you can cross using one of the Bridges

Fresh — I’m not sure if people go swimming here but the water looks very nice and fresh

Beautiful scenery — Beautiful mountain scenery and clouds and open fields

gelert’s grave — The tone was named after this dog but there’s a story about this.

gelert’s grave. A loyal dog misunderstood

OK, so this is the story of the dog that gave his name to this town. About 15 years ago I heard a story from my brother who rescued greyhounds after they had retired from racing. His story was about a Lord in England who had a greyhound and blah blah blah. It’s exactly the same story. It turns out, sorry to ruin the story, that, according to the information desk in town after I explained my brother’s exact same story, there is another story. Hundreds of years ago a shop owner in a small little village without a name started to lose business due to the reduction of customers and decided to create an interesting story to bring people back. He had a dog named Gelert who had died (I think I remember it correctly) and he made up the story about Llewelen, the famous unifier of the land owners of Wales in the 1200s, and his dog. So this is a real story but it’s a story. It brought back customers to the store and now it is a very famous place partly because of the story. But it is one of the top three beautiful little towns I visited in Wales so it really is a must visit place.

Crying Street — The best translation I could get without talking with a Welsh person is “the crying Street”. But please don’t trust my translation.

Criccieth

this is a cute little town where you might want to spend the day. They have a couple very nice coffee shops and the castle is pretty significant historically so it’s worth a visit.

This repurposed old building is now an Indian restaurant

May 13, 2026May 13, 2026

Madrid Segovia Cuenca

late last year I went to Madrid to see my friends who you can see below. I spent some time there in Spain before going to Germany to see the Rod Stewart concert. I wish I was able to spend more time in Spain since I was just getting back up to speed with Spanish.

Madrid

visiting friends who are professional musicians and also play for the national Orchestra of Spain.

Venezuela musicians Madrid Segovia Cuenca — Venezuelans playing tunes they remember and created

Sergio and Omar playing Madrid Segovia Cuenca — Sergio and Omar playing

Cured ham Madrid Segovia Cuenca — So many places sell cured ham by the leg

Beautiful lake Bill Smale — Proof I was there at the beautiful lake in the center of the city

Nice time of year Bill Smale — It was a nice time of year

Street musician Bill Smale — And of course there was a very good Street musician

Gremlin fountain — The interesting fountain with figurines that look like gremlins

JardineS park — This is the large park in the center of Madrid

Green birds — The beautiful green birds gathered together

Beautiful day — It was a very beautiful day and seeing the birds was a real treat

I just took a few pictures of the colors because they were so striking. This was in October

Park explanation — The explanation of the park

Took took — They have duk duk also in Spain

the above was a menu for some things which I ordered

Tapas — These were just little things to fill up on

Pamplona

Reference to Hemmingway — In the city Hemmingway is very famous

Segovia

Small chapel altar — The altar in the small chapel

Ornate object objects — Very ordinate objects

Palace entrance — The palace at the entrance

Protection for a knight — Very good protection for a knight and his horse

Ornate ceiling — Incredibly ornate ceiling

Beautiful views of the surrounding area. What do you see in the distance is the Mirador de la Vera Cruz

Palace courtyard — Looking down under the courtyard

Old garden walkway — Walking down to an old garden

Beautiful photo — I just thought this was a beautiful photo

To a cemetery — The Jewish cemetery is way on the other side of the road and the graves are inside caverns

Cuenca

Fortress town — This is an old fortress town which is a lot of fun to walk up and down

A tourist restaurant — This was a menu in one of the restaurants. I don’t recommend eating up there since it’s fairly expensive and it’s tourist food

Museum — This is the monastery and now a museum

The Lord of La Mancha — Maybe this will remind you of the Lord of La Mancha, Don Quijote

May 5, 2026May 5, 2026

Try out Tallinn

back in Estonia there is this major and kind of nice little city, definitely the one city you should visit if you go to Estonia. So if you go to the Baltic states try out Tallinn.

Shopping area try out Tallinn — A major shopping area

Baby sled try out Tallinn — Bring your kids. You can buy a cheap sled in town which is a lot easier to use on the snow then I have baby carriage

Significant station Bill Smale — The railway station is pretty significant. But note that if you’re trying to catch a taxi you have to walk a little bit to the taxi area.

Map of Tallinn Bill Smale — The map of Tallinn

City wall Bill Smale — A huge castle wall and city wall are still in pretty good shape

Borscht stew — This is a local borscht stew which was delicious

Tortellini Bill Smale — These are kind of like tortellini

Russian comics — An old Russian comic show , maybe their version of Tom and Jerry

Flower shops near the main shopping area

Chinese pomelo. Actually, I would rather have a Thai pomelo

Boozer bar — At least they tell you a lot about their clientele

City Tower Bill Smale — The towers were good for spotting enemies and strange stuff

Pay tower — If I remember correctly you have to pay to go up into the tower. I didn’t go up.

Backstreet — Along the back city streets

Band books — You can see here which books were banned by the Soviet Union

Standing up in a Russian church — Inside the Russian church. No place to sit down. I guess that the strain of standing up is part of their religion

City gate — The old entrance to the city

Russian prison — You should go inside to see what the KGB prisoners were like in Estonia

Eggs Benedict — I always thought there was some catch to this food. I never could understand the mixture of flavors. I wonder where this food was invented.

Coworker — A fellow who was working on a Sunday and a cold and windy time it was

Hell hunt — Interesting name for a restaurant. You could see the prices of the food

Garage museu — Garage is during the Soviet Union time were not just for cars since not everybody could buy a car of course. They were used for a whole variety of things and that became part of the social fabric of the Balkin states. This museum is dedicated to the garage society.

Russian embassy protest — This and other anti-war and anti-Russian posters were on the wall of the Russian embassy

You can see all the demonstration posters outside the Russian embassy

Irish pub — And here we have the Irish embassy, also known as a pub

Karaoke bar — You can guess what this is

May 3, 2026May 3, 2026

again in Dublin

Dublin is a exciting city but it is definitely filled with tourist and a lot of focus on the temple bar area for drinking and music and other entertainment. So if you’re going to be again in Dublin see if you can find some comedy shows, theater maybe at the Abbey Theatre and some other varied kinds of entertainment.

Bring your humor again in Dublin — Irish people like to just have fun and joke around so make sure to bring your sense of humor and leave your serious self behind

Music in the pub again in Dublin — Of course you will find formal and informal places in pubs where music is being played. This is a very important part of Irish culture, not just for the tourist

Gum on the street Bill Smale — I’d come from a different culture so I don’t really understand why people are spitting their gum down on the pavement especially since there are so many garbage cans around asking people to make a contribution

Irish stew Bill Smale — And Irish stew was about the tastiest Irish food I had

Gelato Bill Smale — Gelato is a daily requirement. On the bottom is chocolate and on the top is, if I remember correctly, a nut flavored vanilla

Comedy show — Passing out flyers for the comedy show

Made where? — I bought some piece of clothing. Please tell me where it is made. It says Thai but it also says a popular name in Vietnam

Guinness has quite a few gates on St. James Street

Pearse House And education center

i’m sure you know by now that Patrick Pearse was one of the insiders and major leaders of the Easter rising and writers of the declaration of the founding of the Irish state in 1916. He was a very educated fellow who taught literature and the Irish language in trying to reestablish the Irish identity as opposed to the identity forced on the Irish people by England. This house is not only where he lived in Dublin but also his educational center.

Neolithic burial site — I didn’t check to see if this was a real antique but I suspect it’s something they put in the garden to represent the Neolithic history of the islands.

A brave man — He was not only a very intelligent fellow but he was also extremely brave, putting his life on the line for his people

Irish newspaper — He published a newspaper in Irish

Patrick’s bungalow — Patrick had a small bungalow in that area which is also a museum now

Ireland forever. Erin means “the land” and is the name of these islands. The English of course could not speak the language so they called it Ireland. The motto is Ireland forever

The harp — Of course you have to display an ancient harp since it is the symbol of the country

Whiskey tasting — I saw this place where I could taste whiskey’s and stopped in

Method madness — I tried this one and it was very tasty

Good pizza — This pizza was pretty delicious

Glycine jeweler — I bought a glycine in 2014 and still have it. It was not a major brand but it was popular among pilots so I suspect that this jeweler was selling a popular watch among the crowd of pilots and military people during World War I and World War II

Mother’s tank station — Is this where the mothers go to get tanked?

Gary Og is a very famous singer of rebel songs. He told a story that back in the 70s when he sang in Armagh, in the north, of course she was singing rebel songs popular especially in IRA in influenced areas. After he finished his gig he was outside the pub and asked to get paid and the owner said “you’ll not be paid since you’re not IRA“. But the fellow who arranged the gig for Gary no the top IRA members in the area and he told the owner of the pub that he really needs to pay Gary. The owner paid him. It was a tough time.

Howth

this is a small port area near Dublin, a very short ride on the bus. There is a Lookout point on a hill and I was not particularly impressed. But the port seems to have some good places for fish and nice fish smelling restaurants which should please people who especially like fried food. It’s a shame the concept of fish cooking is mostly fried.

back to Dublin

A play near the Abbey theater — I came to see a play at the theater adjacent to the Abbey Theatre. Of course it was full of Irish humor which was very satisfying

Another Guinness — Of course this is something necessary to have before or after a play

Declaration of the Irish state — Many places you go in Ireland you will see the declaration of the Irish state which was passed around in 1916 during the Easter rising and after.

Poke — The Hawaiians are taking over the world with poke

Auto stickers required — The L on the car is required for learners. The N is required for new drivers. So I can imagine there are two kids in the family who are about one year apart in age.

Collins barracks

this was British barracks but of course was taken over by the state of Ireland in 1921. It was named after Michael Collins who led the country after the signing of the treaty with England in 1921.

Thomas Clark was a major leader of the revolution

Giant Irish deer — In such a museum of course you need to show the giant Irish deer which is extinct

Patrick Pearse death mask — If I remember correctly this is a death mask of Patrick Pearse

Declaration of the state — The declaration of the founding of the state in 1916

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