Moeckmuehl, Germany

Moeckmuehl is not really a tourist destination, but it is the home of the Reifeis clan which made it worth a visit. My sister is married to a Reifeis (hi Tom!) and since the town is only 2.5hrs away I thought I would check it out while Robert is in Arizona. The city's history indicates that it was founded in 260 AD and even has a castle (which is privately owned). According to the following file (it takes a minute to load - be patient), Jakob Reifeis owned a house next to the city wall in 1853 (which is now a parking lot). I was able to find some additional information about the family on ancestry.de. I visited all 4 cemeteries in the area (Korb, Bittelbronn, Zuettlingen and Moeckmuehl) and was able to find the maiden names of Gueltig and Gauer, both on WWI memorials. Korb has a road named Raiffeisenweg (an older spelling of Reifeis) which is also the name of a huge bank in Europe. I had a great time exploring the area and found a weather rock and something built into a building (in 1832) which remains a complete mystery. Here's a short video of marktplatz - see all the pictures here.

Budapest Hungary

We had the opportunity to take a short trip to Budapest last week and we were granted beautiful weather and some great site seeing. The city is actually two cities: Buda and Pest divided by the Danube River. Buda has the terrific castle hill, the citadella on top of Gellert hill and the famous Gellert Spa and Bath. Pest has great attractions like the Parliament, City Park with dozens of attractions including Heroes Square and the zoo - one of the best zoos we've every visited) and Saint Stephen's Basilica. In between there is the Chain Bridge and Margaret Park located on an island in the river. Hungary is famous for goulash, chicken paprika, a variety of yummy pastries (we tried the Palacsinta and the Rétes) and some terrific wine. Hungary has a long history including WWII and their time under communist rule. We had a great time wandering around this historic city - see the photos here!

Ireland: Belfast to Dublin

In Belfast we poked around the botanic gardens and then decided to drive around town. Unfortunately the Belfast Marathon was in full swing and many of the streets were closed so we decided to cut our visit short and head back to Dublin. Not completely convinced by the brochures, we took a chance and visited the prehistoric tombs (UNESCO) at Newgrange, and Knowth. Not a single sight, but a historic landscape on the banks of the Boyne, dotted with prehistoric monuments - amazing! We had beautiful weather and the tours were incredibly interesting. At the end of the day we stopped for a 7 minute visit to the Dublin botanic gardens, had dinner and turned in early for an early flight home. What a great vacation! See pictures here and here.

Ireland: Donegal to Belfast

A nice drive along the northern coast through the villages of Killybegs, Ardara and Glenties, famed for their cottage industries and the production of Donegal tweed. Heading east we added another country to the list as we entered Northern Ireland and the large town of Londonderry. We took a short detour to Bushmills Distillery and then we were off to enjoy some time outside at the Giant’s Causeway, home to the legendary giant Finn McCool. By the end of the day we were rolling into Belfast to check out the downtown area to see how it was being revitalized. See the photos here, here, and here.

Ireland: Galway to Donegal

Continuing north out of Galway through Connemara towards Clifden. We stopped at the terrific Kylemore Abbey and garden along the way. Traveling through the pretty village of Leenaun, arriving at Westport on Clew Bay, we saw its 100 islands and scenic views of the North Atlantic. Heading north through Castlebar to Sligo, Drumcliff, Ballyshannon and finally to Donegal. As always the landscape was full of eye-popping green, sheep and gorse - an evergreen bush with yellow blooms that smell like coconut. Every day we stayed in a different bed and breakfast, had a traditional Irish breakfast of eggs, sausage, ham, black pudding, toast, homemade brown bread, yogurt, cereal, juice and coffee (we never left hungry, that's for sure). Ireland is known for it's round towers and they are just rare enough that each one is a treat. Interestingly, Ireland was never invaded by the Romans and was untouched by WWII - its stone walls separating pastures, its traditional music and language are Gaelic in origin. Here are some English words that come from Irish. See pictures here and here.

Ireland: Cork to Galway

A short distance outside Cork is Blarney Castle with its famous stone, said to impart the gift of eloquence on all who kiss it. But today was meant for driving around the breathtaking Iveragh Peninsula, better known as the ‘Ring of Kerry’, traveling through Sneem, Waterville, Cahirciveen and Killorglin, towards Killarney. The drive took longer than we thought it would so we cut Limerick (of poetic fame) from our itinerary, hopped on a car ferry and headed north to ensure we would see the breathtaking 200 meter-high Cliffs of Moher. Then we enjoyed the drive through the bare limestone hills of the Burren to Galway, where tradition holds that Columbus prayed before sailing to America. We ate at our favorite restaurant on the trip in Clarinbridge: Paddy Burkes. Check out pictures here, here and here.

Ireland - Dublin to Cork

Traveling south out of Dublin, just past Enniskerry lies the elegant Powerscourt Estate with its gardens, deer herd and the highest waterfall in Ireland. Then we traveled on to the early Christian settlement of Glendalough set at the head of a lake in a scenic glen surrounded by the imposing Wicklow Mountains. We ate our picnic lunch and explored the extensive ruins of the 6th century Irish monastery of St Kevin. Continuing south west we took a whirlwind tour of Waterford and the Waterford Chrystal gift shop. Then we made our way through Youghal (an ancient walled seaport town that provided the location in 1954 for the harbor scenes in Moby Dick) and Cobh (the doomed Titanic’s last port of call in April 1912). Then on to the day's final destination: Cork. I know you don't think it's possible, but we didn't visit the Murphy's brewery while we were there. Pictures of the scenery are here and here.

Ireland - Dublin

We started our visit to Ireland with a 1.5 day visit in Dublin. Here's the top 10 list of the things we did:

- Grafton Street
- General Post Office / City Hall
- Monuments: Molly Mallone - Spire - Ha’penny Bridge
- Walking Tour: Canal District
- Jameson Distillery (Irish whiskey)
- St. Steven's Green Park
- Temple Bar + Stag’s Head Pub
- Musical Pub Tour (listened to great jigs and reels)
- Walking Tour: Historical

- Christ Church Cathedral
- St. Patrick's Cathedral

- Dublin Castle
- Trinity College
- Old Parliament Building

- Georgian Architecture (lots of great doors!)
- Guinness: Tour of St. James Gate (360 degree bar)

We also learned about the Guinness Book of Records, Irish potato famine, Irish surnames, Irish struggles with England and a little about their economy too. In between all those interesting facts we visited several pubs...The Porterhouse and Messre Maguire were two of our favorites! See the pictures here.