Tag Archives: Dingle Peninsula

Irish Blasket Islands Produce Books Galore

Books: The Islandman by Tomas O’Crohan

Peig: The Autobiography of Peig Sayres of the Great Blasket Island 

Destination: Blasket Islands, Ireland

Ireland's Dingle Peninsula  near Blasket Islands
Ireland road and stone cottage
Sign along the road to Dunquin, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland. Photo by VMB.
Sign along the road to Dunquin, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland. Photo by VMB.

When my husband and I traveled along the coast road of beautiful Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, past the beach where Ryan’s Daughter was filmed, we saw this sign, “Next Pub Boston.” On up the road, we saw the pub, with canned soup and toothpaste among the sundries behind the counter for anyone who did not want to drive all the way back to Dingle. The town is called Duncan, or Dunquin in the native language that holds sway here on the Dingle peninsula.

Near the pub we spotted a very modern building with plate glass windows facing out to sea.The piles of rocks called the Blasket Islands out there in the wild waves used to be home to a hard-working community of folks, but the last inhabitants left in the 1950’s. The modern building houses a museum that provides a look at the islanders’ way of life, fishing and cutting peat from the few areas on the rock that supported any kind of soil.

Continue reading Irish Blasket Islands Produce Books Galore

Irish Music for St. Patrick’s Day and Travel

MUSIC TRAVEL By Kerry Dexter

Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
A foggy day on Dingle Peninsula

The crashing waves at the Cliffs of Mohr, the rising surf at Inishowen, the rocky steps of Giant’s Causeway, the silent beauty of the mountains of Mourne — Ireland’s landscapes are filled with mystery and beauty. That is true of the music of Ireland as well. Continue reading Irish Music for St. Patrick’s Day and Travel

Travel Photo Thursday: A Foggy Day

Chicago Fog
Chicago Fog

I was inspired to post a few pictures of fog and mist by this lovely misty Ireland photo at Music Road, and a memory of a foggy day in Chicago (left).

It also is a challenge to myself, since I tend to leave my camera in its case when the weather turns misty.  I need to learn to experiment with the special effects that can be found on a rainy, foggy day. I wish I had more of these. My normal reaction is to wait until I can see shadows on the ground before snapping.

We have been blessed with good weather on our travels. Our only day on Macau was a rainy day, and we spent some of it searching for a shop that sold umbrellas, and finding expensive antique furniture, delicious Portugese food, postcards to make up for the lack of photo ops, and FINALLY umbrellas. We wound up ducking through puddles and wearing the throw-away raincoats during our three days in Florence, Italy with off-and-on rain. Consequently, we have very few pictures from that gorgeous city.

And then there were these: Continue reading Travel Photo Thursday: A Foggy Day