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.

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

Is this where the US “G men“ term came from?

May 3, 2026May 3, 2026

quaint Killarney

if you’re looking for a nice relaxing place to go where the historical attractions are very close than I recommend quaint Killarney. This is very much a tourist town but it is very interesting one and you should have fun going to the pubs and listening to the music. Just on the edge of town there is the first national Park which was formed by the estate of one family and then another estate joining it to create the national park. There are two old homes on those two states which are really worth visiting and it’s such a beautiful area with lake and animals here and there.

Horse buggy quaint Killarney — When you visit Ross Castle you come up to these fellows who will offer you a horse drawn buggy ride.

Ross Castle quaint Killarney — Ross Castle is not named after a family. Ross and Irish means peninsula

Castle River quaint Killarney — Beautiful river by the castle

First National Park Bill Smale — After Ross Castle you need to go to Muckross house. The last owners gave this state to the county and they created the first Killarney Park. When the Ross estate was left for the last time the owners decided to add this to the Killarney Park and it became the first national park in Ireland.

Closing keyhole Bill Smale — If you look at the next photo you’ll see what caught my interest. This keyhole has a latch. I don’t know why but it seems it would definitely keep it clean inside.

Great entrance — This is the great entrance to the house

Dining area — The dining area is very lavish

Silver mirror — This mirror is very old but doesn’t look like an old mirror , tarnish and so forth. The reason is simple. It’s made a pure silver. The story is the children used to bounce balls off of it.

1/2 larger than any billiard table I have ever seen

Saint Mary’s

Nice to know ducks have their own stores

Have you ever seen a “non authentic ” barber shop?

A little history of the fight against England’s oppression

April 28, 2026April 28, 2026

Douglas – the Isle of Man

coming back from Ireland I wanted to spend more time in Wales and then I saw the Isle of Man which I knew from my childhood study of stamps and coins and so I decided to go there. This is an independently governed tax Haven among the British Isles and it’s a very beautiful island with interesting small cities and fascinating modes of transport which will keep you entertained for at least three days.

Getting off the ferry the Isle of Man — Arriving on the ferry from Larne just north of Belfast

GayetyTheatre the Isle of Man — This theater is still in use several times out of the month

Empress Hotel the Isle of Man — The Empress Hotel

Local beer the Isle of Man — The local brew was pretty good

Manx cat Bill Smale — The famous Manx cat with no tail

Normal cat Bill Smale — But this is the cat you see walking around

HQ restaurant Bill Smale — At the HQ restaurant I had very delicious salmon tacos and a crab croquette

Promenade Bill Smale — The promenade is about 3 km long reaching from the ferry terminal to the electric train terminal which takes you to the northern part of the island

The Bee Gees — I did not check why the Bee Gees are statued here

Rescue to — Two photos below this you will read why this safety tower was built. This might be a complicated harbor to sail into

Purple tower — The tower is beautifully lit up at night

History of the tower — The history of the construction of the rescue tower

War memorial — Of course you need to have a memorial for World War I and World War II

Map of the island — Douglas is on the southeast coast. You can take a electric train to the north, a steam train from Douglas to the southern port on the other side and there is another train which goes from the middle of the electric train line up to the highest point on the island. In addition there is bus service. You don’t need to rent a car here

The ancient Irish deer some of which were alive with humans. They call it the Irish giant deer because there were so many fossils found in Ireland

Old writing stone — One of the famous stones left from the neolithic period with the old writing system of scratches on the corner

Sound translation of the scratches — This is the writing system transferred to sounds which then can be translated

A translation — Another carving on the stone as a translation

The symbol of the Isle of Man — Nobody knows the origin of the three legs of man

The three leg symbol is used for everything related to this island

Old price list — An old drink price list

The TT race — I learned what TT means. It’s the famous race set up at the turn-of-the-century to compete with races on the continent

Yearly race — This race is held on this island every year

First racing motorcycle — One of the first motorcycles used

The local parliament building — The island Council building

A birds view — This war memorial gives birds a good view of what’s going on at the promenade

April 28, 2026April 28, 2026

around Roscommon

Roscommon is a beautiful countryside area about 1 1/2 hours drive Northeast from Galloway. The main attraction I found interesting was the national famine museum which is very extensive, built by the former Lord of the estate which is still standing with its complete contents left for the public to enjoy. The famine museum is important for the story of the people who died and survived and also left Ireland for someplace they could get some food and just survive. Anyone interested in recent Irish history would enjoy visiting this place and coming to understand why the famine happened and how it could’ve been avoided.

View outside around Roscommon — The view outside my bed-and-breakfast

Letter of appeal around Roscommon — This letter was an appeal by the people living on this Lord’s estate for work other than farming since there was nothing to farm, the potatoes all died.

He could’ve been one of my ancestors, a fellow who signed the appeal for work.

A genocide Bill Smale — The famine was turned purposely into an attempt to reduce the catholic population by the British occupiers. There was plenty of wheat and other crops but those were taken by the Lords of the estates, almost all protestants and loyal to England, and sent to England and other countries for profit. The local catholic population was left with only potatoes which were dying from a fungus.

Reason for the famine Bill Smale — The land was let out to renters who subdivided to other renters who then subdivided to other renters and resulted in plots so small most of them had problems producing enough to feed themselves and to pay the rent which was incredibly expensive.

The remaining house Bill Smale — This is the estate Manor. The last inheritor of the estate, an old lady, sold it and it was left as she loved it. All of the contents of the house are still there. This is a very rare situation for the large estates in Ireland after independence. Many of the old houses were destroyed by the angry people who were subjugated by these lords. One interesting thing to note is that the side portions of the building are all just façades and were designed to indicate a large house with large portions on the left and the right. They were just walls with decoration to impress visitors.

Family member portraits — Portraits of family members

School exercise — On this dictation exercise the young student was not evidently very clever

The estate — This is the estate and all of the lines indicate boundaries of rented properties so subdivided most of them were very tiny

The playroom for the children kept with all the original artifacts and toys

Every Lord needs to have his gallant portrait

Telephone — A telephone was installed at some point

Guinness barrel — The kitchen. Behind me was an open walkway almost one floor above for the lady to come and give commands to the cooks

Silvermines

this is actually the name of a small town where I stayed. It was a very nice bed-and-breakfast

Tralee

even many small towns in Ireland attract the tourist but this town seems to be very inactive and people there are lamenting the lack of business. But it’s a cute little town and people are very friendly so you might want to visit for an evening at the pub.

Rainbows — Of course it rains three out of four days so there were lots of rainbow rainbows

St. John’s parish Bill Smale — St. John’s parish

Mary Doli funeral — A big funeral for MaryDoli

April 27, 2026April 27, 2026

enjoying Paris

this trip was done last year but it looks like I might be back again in a month or so so I wanted to put these photos up.

Elegant dinner enjoying Paris — The following photos were from an elegant dinner I had with my college buddy from Japan.

Beef with sauce enjoying Paris — A nice piece of beef with the sauce

French onion soup enjoying Paris — At the hotel the onion soup was very delicious and it was ““French “

An old shop Bill Smale — This old style shopfront was just fascinating. Instead of automobile it says motor car. The shop is, or was, specializing in getting people and things sent to many places possibly in the world

Buffet breakfast Bill Smale — The buffet breakfast had some of my favorites especially lots of bacon

The French motto which is in English, “liberty, egalitarianism and brotherhood“

The old Bourse, stock exchange — At the old Bourse which is now a museum and has an excellent restaurant

Inside the old building with a cement structure designed by a famous Japanese architect/artist

Famous restaurant artwork — Artwork on the table at this famous restaurant

After the meal final are you finding a place we can have a cigar

The hotel knew it was my birthday since they had a copy of my passport and so they brought me this and sang a song sad go back go back

Babysitting a dog, a Jack Russell named Dolly

Neighborhood crowded bar — This is obviously the place to go in the evening. It was a very young crowd.

Nice meat — A really beautiful piece of meat with a nice wine

Old bridge at the park — The old bridge on the right it’s not in good shape so people are not allowed to use it

The two dogs — Dolly on the left and King on the right

Small parking spaces — Parking skillfully on narrow streets and small parking spaces

Putting in a new window — These guys were trying to fix this new glass window and it was looking like a little complicated

Little Italy — A very popular name for Italian restaurants

Interesting name for a restaurant. And I was interested to see there is such a thing as “French tacos”

Sangria — I didn’t know you could get sangria in such a cheap container

Dolly reemerges — Dolly finally comes out from the nice warm spaces

April 26, 2026April 26, 2026

Ring of Beara

this is a smaller peninsula than the ring of Kerry but it’s also a very beautiful one and highly recommended. There is a very nice Buddhist temple with an incredible view of the ocean and the seaside which I highly recommend visiting.

Dzogchen Beara buddhist temple complex

Natural sculpture Ring of Beara — The river makes a very beautiful natural sculpture

Buddhist temple Ring of Beara — This is the Tibetan buddhist temple on the coastline

Very popular Buddhist temple Ring of Beara — As you can see it’s a very popular retreat. The parking lot was completely full

Small café Ring of Beara — They have a very small café with some snack snacks

Aerial view Ring of Beara — An aerial view of the temple complex

Hostel Bill Smale — As you can see there are quite a few buildings here and I think you can stay here, something like a hostel

Main temple Bill Smale — This is the main temple

Building the pagoda Bill Smale — This pagoda will be finished soon

Glengarriff

Main city River Bill Smale — The river right by my bed and breakfast

Downtown — The downtown was not a bustling but it is evidently a very popular tourist place

After Maureen O’Hara made the movie with John Wayne, the quiet man, she came to spend a lot of time on the island just off this little town

OPW managed — The little island is managed by the office of public Works and is a historical site

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