Category Airbnb/VRBO

Ireland 2026 – Kilkenny, Part Three

April 8 – 10 Continuing down St. Kiernan Street we came to Alice Kyteler’s pub, made famous by the following bit of Kilkenny history.  Back at the corner with the Butter Slip stairs is the site of the first known witch burning in the British Isles, in 1324.  The tale involves Alice Kyteler, a Flemish […]

Ireland 2026 – Kilkenny

April 8 – 10 What we thought would be a straight forward day quickly turned out otherwise when I received a call from John at the Hertz Sales office just down the street that due to the gas price protests around Ireland (bands of individuals using their cars and trucks to block on and off […]

Europe 2025 – Home and Recap

May 28 – 29 We filled up at breakfast the next morning and knowing we might not eat again until later that day, made some sandwiches to bring with us, thinking we would eat them during the two-hour bus ride to Barcelona.  We checked out of the hotel and walked the half mile or so […]

Europe 2025 – Girona, Part Two

May 19 – 21 As we paused on the Eiffel Bridge, we were able to fully enjoy that stretch of the river known for its Colored Houses.  The river does more than split Girona in two, lining its banks are the famous-colored houses, stacked in ochres, pinks, yellows, and reds, their reflections doubling the spectacle […]

Europe 2025 – Girona, Part One

May 19 – 21 The next morning a somewhat complex, but in the end fairly easy day, of travel awaited us as we would fly to Barcelona International, take a taxi to the train station in town and then enjoy a 90-minute ride to Girona.  Our desire to visit Girona was inspired by a couple […]

Europe 2025 – Majorca (Mallorca), Part Two

May 15 – 18 Leaving the area near the harbor we began walking back uphill towards the apartment, having finished the tour.  We wandered around awhile until we stopped in at a small, but interesting site, the Arab Baths, one of the few remaining traces of Mallorca’s Islamic history.  Thought to date back to the […]

Europe 2025 – Majorca (Mallorca), Part One

May 15 – 18 After seeing Beverly off to the airport, Francois, Joanna and I took our own taxi to Barcelona International for our one-hour flight on Ryan Air to Palma (Parma), the capital city of the island of Majorca (Mallorca).  Our round-trip fare would run $332 which also included one checked bag and the […]

Europe 2025 – Barcelona, Part Three

May 12 – 14 Placa de Sant Jaume is set at the intersection of ancient Barcino’s main thoroughfares, and this square was once a Roman forum and is home to the he Palace of the Generalitat of Cataloni, an historic palace that for more than six centuries has housed the offices of the Presidency of […]

Europe 2025 – Barcelona, Part Two

May 12 – 14 Having finished lunch, we went outside and caught a taxi to take us closer to where the Picasso Museum (Museu Picasso) is located.  One nice thing about Barcelona is that it is a taxi town.  Uber does operate there but the black and yellow city taxis are ubiquitous, and can sometimes […]

Europe 2025 – Barcelona, Part One

May 12 – 14 Our final drive of the trip with Bev would take four hours or more as we needed to drop the rental car off at the Barcelona International Airport and then take a taxi into town and to our Airbnb, the Excellent Modernist Apartment, located in a nice neighborhood full of amenities.  […]