The Emerald Isle - a magical place...
Carol and I recently returned from a bicycling vacation to Ireland. We’ve visited Ireland several times before, but our previous visits had always been a few days extended onto a business trip, or as was the case last year, a long weekend getaway at the midpoint between Carol in Philly and me in Dubai. We never truly explored anything beyond a day’s trip from Dublin. But, these brief and geographically limited encounters left us determined to experience the country more fully. To us, that typically means by bicycle, self-powered on two wheels. We signed up for a Backroads trip that traversed the southwestern portion of the country. Luckily we were able to convince our dear friends, Marc & Susie, to join us! The Irish leg of our journey began in Dublin with a very pleasant 2.5 hour cross-country train ride to Cork. Over the next week we ventured from Cork to Kenmare, Kenmare to Bantry, Bantry to Kinsale, and Kinsale back to Cork for a return train ride to Dublin and th