19 Comments

What a gem Ciara is! Fascinating and delicious post, Anne. I love that you broke ranks to visit Ursa Minor!

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Some things you just gotta do!

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Another wonderful post, Anne! Now I have another place I really want to visit and some sourdough bread I want to eat with a peach and some Irish goat cheese. Oh that food and travel--and maybe a flash of yellow gorse--would open people’s minds and hearts!

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It’s a beautiful place and feels untraveled. Maybe that’s what made it more special. Thank you, Ruth!

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You do write so well and once again you brought treasured memories of a scenic Northern Island.I am delighted your very special holiday stimulated your interest in their food. Julie

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It was so lovely there. ❤️

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What a wonderful post.

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Thank you! ❤️

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Oh ~ and I’m so glad you mentioned Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Say Nothing. His book about the Sacklers and the opioid crisis is equally gripping.

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On my list to read. He is a fabulous researcher and writer!

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Thank you for the introduction to Ciara. You made the right call breaking ranks with your tour group, Anne. Northern Ireland is on my list of places to visit, along with a return trip to Ireland, which I visited during college. Even back in the 80s, I remember the bread in the Dublin bakeries being quite good.

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Dublin is hopping right now! We had some really great meals there.

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Glad to hear it. I remember really liking the city. Manageable size, great to walk around in.

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Thank you so much Anne, so gorgeous to meet and chat with you!

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It was such a chance meeting, and that’s why it stayed with me and I wanted to share your story with my community. You live in a beautiful place.

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Such a beautiful expression of the power of travel, and the value of connecting with locals while on the road. Just last night we watched a Rick Steves "Monday Night Travel" about Northern Ireland and were fully enchanted by those landscapes, I put a lot of spots on my hope-to-visit list--though not sure I can handle walking over that rope bridge, we'll see. And I am obsessed with walking-vacation destinations, so adding the Causeway Coast Way to my ever-growing wish list. Thanks for sharing highlights of that trip with us, Anne.

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You would love it, Cynthia! Just drive the coastal causeway and stop along the way, staying in the little towns and taking the local hiking trails. Super friendly.

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Love Ireland! Love bread ... but it’s their potatoes that I still crave. A different type/strain which are so wonderful. Sounds like a cliche , but one of my favorite meals had potatoes served 4 different ways. Yes all at one setting! Lol seams I’m not alone in this.

Sweet wise it’s the giant Strawberry& kiwi Pavlova we had that I remember. Omg now I need this too...

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Yes, the potatoes! I will write about roasting those potatoes sometime this fall. Lots of Pavlova in Ireland, too. Yum!

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