TravelStream™ news feed for member the_tardifs on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/the_tardifs en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:59:18 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1123804800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1123804800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1123804800/tpod.html Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:59:18 -0500 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Here we are, sitting in the lounge at the gate waiting to find out if we can get seats on the first flight from Calgary to London. We are currently ticketed for the 10:00 pm flight, but the first flight leaves at 7:40 pm, and we would rather leave on the earlier flight to give us a more flexible connection in London.We just said "au revoir" to each of our parents. Aren't good-byes supposed to be getting easier? Tamalyn's parents drove us from Beaumont to Calgary, and my parents came along for the ride. The last five weeks have been quite hectic since we left Bermuda.Our trip from Bermuda to Alberta took us to New York for one day. We both wanted to take in a Yankees game at The Stadium since it will be torn down in two or three years for a more modern facility. After the afternoon game (the Yankees beat the Orioles 12-4) we took in The Lion King on Broadway. A typical whirl wind day in the big apple. From New York, we flew to Calgary via O'Hare for a quick slice of deep dish pizza. How's that for some Americana? Yankees and Broadway in NY and deep dish pizza in Chicago, hmmm.We arrived in Calgary on July 6 late in the evening. From there, the pace accelerated for our brief stay in Alberta. I had a family reunion July 8-10 outside of Falher, in northern Alberta, about 500 km (320 miles) north of Edmonton. Tamalyn's family then had a family reunion in Calgary, about 300 km (190 miles) south of Edmonton. The next weekend saw us back at my parents, before one more weekend in Edmonton to meet up with Tamalyn's cousins, and take in the Heritage Days festival in Edmonton. Heritage Days is a festival celebrating Edmonton and Alberta's multicultural backgrounds. There were over 40 exhibits which featured ethnic food and cultural displays from around the world. We made one more trip up north and back to see my nephews swim in the regional swim meet, the qualifier for the provincial competition. All in, we estimate that we have driven over 5000 km and slept in 14 different beds (yes, always together Chris!). It ended up being quite the training program for our little (OK, big!) adventure. Tomorrow sees us arriving in London's Heathrow airport to connect onwards to Paris. It will be our first time in the city of lights, and we are both excited.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1146878400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1146878400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1146878400/tpod.html Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:05:26 -0500 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Geneva, Switzerland

May 5 - Happy Birthday IainWe met up with Joe, Holly, Iain, and Laragh for lunch. After giving Iain his birthday kisses and a card, we settled into to hear about their antics through Paris. In the two days, they walked almost continually and saw most of Paris' highlights. They had a blast and all really enjoyed the city (even Joe).From lunch, we strolled ourselves to and around the older part of Geneva. We enjoyed walking around through the old cobblestone streets appreciating the beautiful architecture and stillness of the mid-afternoon. We stopped at Cathedral St. Pierre and contemplated paying the CHF8 to climb to the top of the bell tower for a 360 view of Geneva. I think that we were all beginning to feel the pinch of this week and opted for a quick browse through the church.With little else on our "must-see" list and the impending rainshower, we quickly walked to a café perched along a walking bridge next to Pont des Bergues. After waiting a while to be served, we did finally get some beverages. We were just beginning to contemplate a second round when the waitress arrived with our bill wishing for us to pay. Huh?The rainy and wet weather was not great for this outdoor café so they were shutting down for the day. I guess our business and the two other tables of people wasn't enough for them. Instead we found ourselves on MMMM street at another outdoor café for about an hour. This is part of life here in Geneva: sitting in an outdoor café, leisurely snacking and drinking while watching the people go by. Quite nice.From here, the girls and guys split. We went to do a bit of shopping while the guys plunked themselves at the hotel bar. About an hour and a half later, we arrived at the bar, and all split to get ready for dinner.Lynn arrived home shortly after us and by 7:30, we were met up at Mananas, a Mexican restaurant to celebrate Iain's birthday. The food, drinks, and service were great and we had great fun around the table, as we usually do. Eventually, we headed off to find a watering hole and after walking around fruitlessly for a while, we stumbled into a brew pub where we shared a 3L tower of brew.Just past midnight, us girls were losing steam so we headed home while the guys stayed out to party on. Yeah right. They were home only about an hour after us. Is Iain's birthday a reminder to us all that we're not young whippersnappers anymore? Nah, must be all the walking and touring from the week.May 6 - Relaxing SaturdayIt was well past ten before we got up to take on the day. The others had some more souvenir shopping and errands to do while the three of us had a relaxing morning and afternoon. Lynn started things off right by picking up fresh pains au chocolat. These are square pastries like croissants, but with a dark chocolate filling. Divine. Simply divine.A couple of hours later, we found ourselves strolling around, popping into shops, and window shopping. Our favourite shop was the chocolaterie where we sampled the milk chocolate and broke down to buy some chocolate.We then found a wine bar and enjoyed the atmosphere of sipping wine in a trendy market-type café. Ah, the joys of not having anywhere to be or anything to do. Around 4pm, Gerald headed over to the hotel to hang out with the guys while Lynn and I did a bit of shopping.We all ended up back at Lynn's for our last "hang out" evening. This time, we were prepared with food so as not to have to repeat the take-in pizza experience. Around midnight, we forced ourselves to shut it down and hit the hay. Gerald and I would be getting up around 6am and everyone else was meeting for breakfast before flying out.What a great time we had together, as usual. As happy as we were to have had the week together, we were sad to be saying goodbye although we promised to get together again in the next couple of years.May 7 - Flying to DublinLynn refused to let us walk the five minutes to the train station alone. The train was getting ready to leave when we hugged and kissed. We were all quite teary both from the great visit and having to say goodbye again. As the train pulled away, we had to remind ourselves that we were all very fortunate to have had this time together.Within minutes we arrived at the airport, checked in quickly, had some breakfast, and boarded the plane. Off to Ireland, the Green Isle. Poor Iain and Laragh, having to put up with us for another couple of days.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1145401200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1145401200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1145401200/tpod.html Sun, 03 Sep 2006 20:44:17 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Miami, Florida, United States

April 18 - Another city, another Hard Rock.....We arrived in Miami shortly before 6:00 pm. Our flight to Rio wasn't until 11:15 pm. How would we kill the almost five hours? Well, why not head to the Hard Rock Café for dinner and to pick up another Hard Rock Café Pilsner Glass! We hopped in a cab, and headed to Biscayne Blvd. and the Bayside area. We sat down and had dinner, Gerald purchased his glass, and within an hour and a half, we were heading back to the airport. A quick shower at the Admiral's Club in Miami, and we were ready to head to Rio!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1146791400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1146791400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1146791400/tpod.html Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:54:31 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Zermatt, Switzerland

May 4 - The MatterhornWell rested, Gerald and I were ready to see some sights. With so many to choose from, we finally decided to head to the Matterhorn, Switzerland's famous peak. With little help from the tourist information center, we headed off. We remembered that there was a highway somewhat parallel to the winding route that we followed along the lake on Sunday. Mistakenly, I thought that it was a big, fast auto route. Nope. It also went through a bunch of little French towns. It was a bit slow-going until we hit the highway back in Switzerland near St. Gingolfe.Where we'd turned South to head to Chamonix/Mont Blanc on Sunday, today we veered East. Gerald and I were both travelling along with our mouths gaping open. The beautiful snow-capped peaks in front of us were so spectacular. Along this quick highway, we ended up passing through quite a few tunnels. Two of them were each over 3km long!The little town, Zermatt, close to the base of the Matterhorn is a vehicle-free town. This meant that we could only drive as far as Trae? where we parked the car and hopped on the train. Hmmm, how come we cannot see that mountain from here?Following Lonely Planet's recommendation, we sat on the right side of the train. Around each bend, we kept craning our necks to catch our first glimpse of the mountain. Finally, we could just see the peak before heading into a tunnel and then again into the station. Again, out of the station, we couldn't see it.We walked through the pretty little rustic town; past shops, small hotels, ski rental shops, always heading in the direction of the mountain. Actually, it is no surprise that we couldn't see it with mountains on either side of us. Finally, we made it to the end of the town and BAM there it was.We just stood there for a moment admiring its beauty in the beautiful Swiss sunshine against a pretty blue sky background. Its bent peak towered over all of the other mountains at close to 5000m in height.Unfortunately, we couldn't take the gondola up to Klein Matterhorn. This chalet is high up on the Matterhorn and would have given us a great view of the valleys below, the surrounding peaks, and Zermatt as well. But alas, we were too late to head up there today.Actually, it was a bit shocking to learn that the gondola was 80 Swiss Francs each. It wasn't until Gerald realized that this wasn't just a gondola ride ticket, but the actual lift ticket for skiing for a day. It is a bit surprising really that they don't have some other type of ticket for tourists.We could have taken another gondola up to another peak, where we could have had lunch, but according to the map, we weren't really sure if we'd get that great of views of the Matterhorn from there. We were quite happy to "settle" on sitting at a restaurant on a balcony with completely unobstructed views of the majestic peak that stands alone amongst the mountains.We took our time eating our meal. We sat next to each other with the mountain in front of us. It is hard to explain just how breathtaking it was. We tried and tried to see that Abominable Snowman, but we had no luck.Eventually, we relented and left the restaurant. We walked along a couple of paths towards the mountain and realized that had we known, we could have organized ourselves to have gone on a nice hike around here and stopped along the way for a picnic. I guess there will have to be a next time. Realizing that one path wasn't giving us better views, we turned back to the town. Actually, we are pretty sure that this wasn't a path intended for walking, but a ski-out during the winter. Again, we would really love to return someday, especially to ski.Skiing here would be amazing. The map that we had looked at earlier made our mouths water. There are hundreds of runs on this side alone, but also one can ski the backside of the mountains which are in Italy. That would be fun to ski up and over, spend a night in Italy, ski up and over, spend a night in Switzerland, and then head back to Geneva. Lynn has done some skiing here in Switzerland and said that it is really quite good. One day we will return.We strolled back through the town, stopping in a couple of shops along the way before catching the train back to Zermatt. We retraced our steps back along the same highways and through the same tunnels, but once we were back near St. Gingolfe, we made our way around the lake on the Northern Swiss side.This proper auto route knocked an hour off of the trip. I drove all the way back and the only difficulty was keeping my eyes on the road in front of me. The views behind us were out of this world. The sun was shining on the mountains and the lake and the blue sky behind them made for a perfect backdrop. When Gerald awoke from a nap, I told him to look back. He gasped, "WOW!" Yup, it must have been pretty amazing for him to react like that.Much to Lynn's surprise, we walked in at 7:30. Apparently, when she told her co-workers that we were heading to the Matterhorn for the day, they all told her to expect a call from us saying that we were staying overnight there for it was much too far to go for a day trip. Huh? The drive was3 ½ hours there and 2 ½ hours back and we spent about 3 hours there. I guess that could be seen as a bit crazy, but in Alberta, we are used to that kind of travelling.Again, we enjoyed a nice quiet night and headed to bed quite early. We were excited to meet up with the rest of the gang tomorrow and knew that Iain's birthday may be a late night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1153876560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1153876560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1153876560/tpod.html Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:44:29 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Calgary, Canada

May 22 - Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy JigThe flight was pretty decent on an older plane. We didn't have our own personal televisions, but were given our own personal DVD players with a choice of about ten films. Air Canada is upgrading some older planes and in the process of improving their service which we definitely noticed in the quality of food. Stuffed and well juiced we passed almost eleven hours on the plane quite painlessly.What was really neat though was flying over Iceland and Greenland. We saw the southern shore of Iceland. It was mostly a brown slate color of barren land with snow-capped mountains a couple of miles inland. We gasped and gasped and tried to get a photo, but by the time I was able to get out the camera, it had clouded over. Going over Greenland however, we did get some photos.Greenland was completely snow-capped and the icebergs in the Arctic Ocean resembled white puzzle pieces just slightly separated from each other. Massive glaciers with huge crevasse began in the sea and continued until hitting the completely snow-covered jagged mountain range. Now, we've seen some pretty beautiful mountain ranges in this trip: The Andes, The Swiss Alps, The German Alps, The New Zealand Alps, The Canadian Rockies, but we must admit that these were the most spectacular of all.One of the most amazing features that Gerald pointed out was how we could see the flow of the glacier. As we mentioned earlier in the journal, glaciers move like very slow moving rivers. Well, these glaciers had ripple marks in them and crevasse that made the flow very visible. We couldn't tear our eyes away from the beauty of Greenland. Who'd have thunk it?We arrived in Calgary, skirting huge thunderstorms, about a half hour late, but sailed through immigration and the baggage area as we'd managed to return carry-on only. As expected my mom and dad were very excited. My Aunt Betty and Uncle Bob were also there and as we guessed, my Aunt Barb, and Uncle Gary had also hung out to see us arrive home. Many kisses, hugs, and tears were shared and photos taken. We soon hopped into the van for the three hour trip to Beaumont to Tamalyn's parents' home.Well, this is it. We are home. After 286 days of travelling and 6 ½ years of living in Bermuda, we are home. We don't quite know where exactly home will be, but we are home. Let's just hope that reality only nibbles at us.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1148322600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1148322600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1148322600/tpod.html Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:44:08 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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London, United Kingdom

May 22 - Last time in LondonWe arrived in London for our fifth and last time a little tired and wishing that we didn't have six hours to wait. We made the best of it by preparing our journal and pictures in order to upload it all when we get home. We were hoping for free wi-fi in the lounge, but no luck. It really is baffling how many of the airports in affluent countries charge for wi-fi while it is free in countries like Thailand and Chile. Oh well, we'll just have to use my parent's connection.It is amazing how time flies whilst on a computer. Between the internet, doing a final edit of the journal, and crunching photos, we had only enough time left to each have a leisurely shower, pick up some duty free items, walk to the gate, and board the plane. Just as we were about to push off from the gate, the Captain said that we'd have a forty-five minute delay. Apparently, Heathrow has a shortage of employees in the MMMM department and were making a mini-protest by holding back planes.A couple of minutes later, our captain however decided to pull away in hopes of getting in the way of other planes thus allowing us to get moving earlier. Actually, he probably did this as to appear that the flight was only four minutes late as it is not the time that a plane takes off, but the time it leaves the gate that is considered its departure time. This makes the airlines stats look better. Sneaky huh?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147743000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147743000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147743000/tpod.html Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:43:47 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Belfast, United Kingdom

May 15 - Research in Belfast and The Giant's CausewayAfter our typical Irish fry, we headed downtown to the GRONI (General Records Office of Northern Ireland) and had enough time while waiting to have a cup of coffee before Margaret and Gerald were admitted to the computer area. Smartly, as soon as we heard that appointments could be made to use their computer records system, Gerald called ahead and booked a terminal for today.Vic and I spent the time browsing around the nearby shops while Gerald and Margaret spnet about two and a half hours finding information about Margaret's grandparents and great grandparents as well as finding my great grandmother's parents' wedding information.By noon, we were heading out of town. We had already booked our room for the night. We decided that we'd get ourselves back to Slane about a two and a half hour drive from Belfast. With all of that time on our hands we figured that it would be a shame not to drive the final hour north to the ocean. What attracted us to the shore?Bushmills Irish Whiskey distillery and The Giant's Causeway. First stop: whiskey. We only had to wait fifteen minutes for the next tour. After a brief and informative video our tour guide brought us to the mashing room, the distilling room, one of their warehouses where they house the oak barrels to age their whiskey, and finally their bottling and packaging areas.We learned that Irish whiskey is distinctly different as it is distilled three times and the malted barley is dried by clean hot air. Scotch whiskey is distilled twice and smoke dried giving it its distinctly smoky aroma. American whiskey is only distilled once. At the end of the tour, four volunteers were asked to participate.Now, Gerald is not usually the "I volunteer" kind of guy, but since he knew what was in store due to the Lonely Planet, he enthusiastically volunteered and was awarded the chance to do a taste test of three kinds of Bushmills, a scotch, and a bourbon. The objective was to appreciate the differences. Over and above this, he still received his free drink and also received a certificate stating that Gerald is a now a professional whiskey taster.Actually, all four of us chose to try the 12 Year Bushmills as it is only available at the distillery. It is not available in Ireland nor is it exported. Vic enjoyed his pressed, Gerald had his neat, and Margaret had the great idea of making an Irish coffee. This was not an option, but when she bought a coffee and asked the waitress for directions as to how to make an Irish coffee, the waitress offered to make her one. I lucked out and she made one for me too.We all appreciated the warm-up since we had been rained on during our tour and were still a bit damp when we arrived at the 1608 Bar, so named for the first year of legal operation of the whiskey. Monks were actually the first to distil Irish whiskey as early as the 12th century and Bushmills became the first whiskey distillery in the world.From here, we drove to The Giant's Causeway (okay, I drove and Gerald and Margaret navigated). The Giant's Causeway is an amazing natural formation and has been named a World Heritage Site.The Giant's Causeway is a beautiful natural formation of vertical, hexagonal columns that spread from the cliffs into the sea, until they are submerged in the ocean. Interestingly, similar formations are in the nearby island of Staffa in Scotland.We have read two different legends as to how the causeway came about. The giant, Finn MacCool has been the main character in each. One legend says that he built it as a walkway for his love to cross from Scotland. Another says that he built it to get to Scotland to fight his enemy, Benandonner. We all agree that the scientific explanation is just as fascinating as the legends.Scientists explain that molten lava flowed down the slopes and into the ocean. As it dried over the chalk beds, it cracked, much like mud cracks in a drying puddle. It cooled, solidified, and cracked at right angles creating the hexagonal columns. Have you ever noticed that mud dries to make hexagons? We haven't.Let's just say that we were quite impressed with the area and the vast area that it covered. It is pretty amazing to think that there was even more submerged in the ocean. Had we had more energy and better weather, we could have done a few short hikes to get better views and further on we could have walked over a rope suspension bridge. Gotta leave something for next time.Actually, speaking about the weather, this is the first time that we were rained on. Like Vic said, the whole week could have been like this. We've been awfully lucky. Despite the weather, we really enjoyed our detour today.About three hours drive later, we were back at Slane Farm Hostel, exactly one week to the day that we began our Irish adventure. We will stay here one night and then stay around Dublin for a couple of nights before seeing Margaret and Vic off on Friday.In seven full days, we have done a lot of travelling and saw more than we ever thought that we'd get the chance to see.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147657501/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147657501/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147657501/tpod.html Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:43:27 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Kilkenny, Ireland

May 14 - Driving to BelfastWe figured that today would be a non-descript travelling day from here in Kilkenny to Belfast. That was until we opened our bedroom door today to find Vic's ashamed-looking face. He'd accidentally just locked the car keys in the car!Well, that's something both Gerald and I have done in the past just not with a rental car. What to do? Call the rental company. They told us that if their local repairman couldn't open the car, we would have to wait for keys to be sent in the mail from Dublin. Sent in the mail? We were leaving here today to drive to Belfast as we have an appointment in Belfast on the 16th.The repairman arrived with the same old methods to unlock the doors, but since this was a new car, the door handles are designed in such a way that they cannot be pulled open with a wire and there is no button to push to unlock the door. Vic and I left to find a cash machine while Gerald and Margaret stayed with the car.While we were gone, the repairman successfully managed to get the keys onto the hook, but they dropped just above the backseat. Luckily they fell on the seat. Had they fallen in between the seat and the door we would have been up the creek without a paddle. I guess we would have had to have rented a car from Kilkenny, driven to Dublin for keys, driven back to Kilkenny to open the car, and then onwards to Belfast.Luckily the repairman was able to pull the keys out of the car. When Vic and I returned from the cash machine about ten minutes later, Gerald and Margaret didn't have the car packed because Vic had the keys to our room in his pocket. Poor Vic. Tough day for him.Since they didn't have the cash to pay the repairman, Gerald put it on his Visa, but we had to drive to the repair shop to pick up the receipt. Well, the "simple" directions that he gave us omitted to explain that we were not looking for a shop, but a small sign on the wall of his driveway. We must have driven around and around the general neighbourhood for at least half an hour to find it.The only other stop was at St. Francis Brewery. They brew the local beer that is exported as Kilkenny. Gerald wondered if he could get a beer glass to add to his ever-growing collection. Well, Gerald navigated while I drove and soon learned that the Lonely Planet maps of Ireland's towns leave much to be desired. Eventually, we did get there, dropped him off, turned the car around, and picked him up empty-handed. They don't have any merchandise for sale. Shucks.Well, onto the highway. We drove along the Irish highways which again vary from wide, double-lane highways to single-lane highways with shoulders as wide as a full lane, to single-lane roads with no shoulders that wind their way through the countryside. The funny thing is that despite the differences in width, all of these highways have 100 km/hr speed limits. Oh yes, and the motorways (like freeways) have a posted 120 km/hr limit. Imagine.After about three hours of driving, we made our first stop in Straffan, a small town to the southwest of Dublin; the home of the K-Club. This is the golf resort that will be holding the Ryder Cup later this year. One course is currently going through last minute touch ups prior to the Ryder Cup. Their other course is still open for business. We stopped here for Gerald and Vic to pick up a couple of Ryder Cup and K-Club souvenirs.From Straffan, we wanted to get on a certain road to continue on. Well, the little town is also going through some renovations. After fumbling to find the correct road, we gave up and asked a man working on the road to direct us. We ended up on a road that wasn't much wider than our car yet it was a two-lane traffic road. We felt like we were in Bermuda again and even resorted to honking around some sharp curves.We continued on and hooked up with some major motorways, covering a lot of ground in a short time. About an hour South of Belfast, we stopped for a snack and a quick check on the internet. We were all happy to find out that the Oiler's had won the night before and they were now one win away from the semi-finals! A little farther down the road, we stopped in at a tourist information who helped reserved a B&B for us and gave us some really good information and maps for Belfast. From here, we made our way to the B&B, missing a couple of turns here and there, but getting here just the same.We did inspect the rooms before taking them, but I think we just didn't feel like looking around. The rooms are okay, just not to the standard that we've been having so far. Strange really since this B&B has won numerous awards for many years. Maybe it is under new management? The bonus was that it is in the university area, a very safe and walkable neighbourhood, and is close to both of the records offices that we will be visiting tomorrow.We took a little walkabout in the light misty rain and decided to go for dinner. This is definitely the earliest that we've headed out to supper this trip. Our late suppers are a combination of the very filling Irish breakfasts, afternoon snacks, driving quite a bit every day, and only picking accommodation as we arrive in a city (we're not always completely sure how far we'll get). Well, tonight we stretched it out to over two hours enjoying wine, a light appetizer, shared pizzas, shared desserts, and special coffees. By 9pm, we were in our respective rooms to write our journals, watch TV, and take care of other admin stuff.We are all looking forward to tomorrow to see what we can learn about our families!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147642200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147642200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147642200/tpod.html Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:43:07 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Waterford, Ireland

May 14 - Waterford....Luckily we only had to wait about fifteen minutes for the next tour. After a short video presentation, we walked through the various areas of production. Today being a Sunday meant that there was only a skeleton staff working, but we didn't miss any of the process.We had a glassblowing studio in Bermuda yet every time we see it, we are amazed. We also got to see the cast iron molds being used, the cutting area that would create the intricate designs, the etching area, the sculpting area, and met the master crafter.The most amazing detail for me was that the cutters who create those amazing patterns do so by memory. The plain crystal piece has only a few horizontal and vertical lines, but the actual pattern is done by memory. All of the cutters know all of the hundred designs by heart. Whoah.Gerald was amazed to learn that the blowers and cutters are paid by the piece. Now, every piece is hand-crafted meaning that no two pieces will be exactly the same, but every piece has to pass a quality control. At this stage in the process about 20% of the pieces are rejected and the craftsman will not be paid for that piece. All rejected pieces are smashed and then melted to be used in the ingredients, being added to silicon sand and potash.After a quick visit to the giftshop, we continued on to our destination for the night: Kilkenny and by 6:30 we had secured our accommodation at a relatively newly build B&B not far from the Kilkenny Castle. This is quite a bit earlier than the last couple of nights.We only had to walk a couple of blocks to a great restaurant where we treated ourselves to a indulgent meal: appetizers, wine, dessert, and special coffees. Yup, no main courses. Well, you see, every night we are so stuffed and are always tempted by the desserts but never have any room. What a better time then to indulge than Mother's Day? We left the restaurant four very happy travellers.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147657500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147657500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/the_tardifs/thelongwayhome/1147657500/tpod.html Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:42:47 -0400 After six and a half years in Bermuda, we are on our way back to Canada...the long way.

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Cork, Ireland

May 14 - Cork, Waterford, and KilkennyAfter yet another hearty Irish breakfast it was off to do some smooching. Only about a ten minute drive from Cork is the Blarney Castle. That's right, the homeplace of the Blarney Stone.Queen Elizabeth I so named this now famous stone after the Lord of Blarney. It is said that he could talk his way around all sorts of issues and talk his way out of having to agree to her demands. She said that he had the gift of the gab and so named a stone in his castle.We entered the Blarney Castle site and enjoyed the short scenic walk across a small brook, past a clearing, and up to the castle. We were continually admiring the beauty of the castle which was rebuilt in 1446 with stone.The Blarney Stone is at the top of the main castle building meaning that we had to climb up the circular, stone, narrow staircase. Well, three of us walked up while Vic resorted to crawling at many points. Poor him, but he did succeed into finally making it to the top.We walked along the outer wall with a guardrail preventing us from falling into the center down to the ground. A friendly Irish gentleman was seated on a rock with one leg over the edge. It appeared that this was like a chimney shaft. One at a time we laid down on the floor on our backs and scooched our bodies out over the shaft and stretched our hands back to hold vertical rails.Just when we thought we were hovering far enough, the gentleman told us to move back even farther and arch our heads back to kiss the stone. I must admit that I was pretty scared and ended up kissing much too early. I couldn't believe that he wanted me to scooch out even more. I thought that I may fall down the shaft. Just when I couldn't stretch anymore did I see the polished small rectangular stone and gave it a kiss. This was about as much as I could handle and was even afraid scooching back and standing up again.Gerald and Margaret were much more courageous than I. Not only did they not kiss well before getting to the stone, but they had enough wits about them to actually look back over their foreheads down to the grass below. Uggh. As much as I am disappointed that I didn't take a look I am afraid that I would have lost my Irish breakfast. There was no way that Vic would have made it out alive, but we were all very proud of him for making it to the top of the castle and walking around the perimeter.In the end, all four of us were quite happy that we'd come this way and very satisfied with our experience. Despite being deathly afraid, Vic was also glad that he made it to the top. Actually, at the top, Margaret giggled and asked Vic if he'd need a Kleenex to which he replied, "No, I need Diapers."After a short walk on the grounds, we headed for the shops to do a bit of shopping at the Blarney Woolen Mills. It is like Irish heaven: sweaters, scarves, throws, ornaments, family emblems, music, crystal, pottery, etc.From here, we drove directly to Waterford...
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