Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Friday, October 5, 2012
Photo Friday: The Southernmost Tip of Europe
I'm not sure why, but one always feels so special, so adventurous, when standing at a geographically unique point on this earth. It was exciting for us years ago to be at the southernmost point in the continental U.S. in Key West, Florida, only 90 miles from Cuba. My fellow travel blogger, Lisa Goodmurphy, who authors the terrific blog Gone With the Family, recently posted a fun report of her family's visit to Cape Spear in Newfoundland which is the most easterly point of North America. The next stop to the east from there is Ireland.
So of course my family celebrated with photos when we stood this summer at the southernmost tip of Europe in Tarifa, Spain. Or, as the sign below reads in Spanglish, "You are in the European Southernpoint." From here you are only 8 miles from the continent of Africa.
This "European Southernpoint" used to be an island, Isla de las Palomas, but has been joined to the mainland by a road.
My kids thought it particularly cool that on one side of the island and road they were on the Atlantic Ocean and on the other, just steps away, they were on the Mediterranean Sea.
So of course my family celebrated with photos when we stood this summer at the southernmost tip of Europe in Tarifa, Spain. Or, as the sign below reads in Spanglish, "You are in the European Southernpoint." From here you are only 8 miles from the continent of Africa.
This "European Southernpoint" used to be an island, Isla de las Palomas, but has been joined to the mainland by a road.
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| Narrow road from the mainland to Isla de las Palomas. |
There's not much to see on the very small Isla de las Palomas, just some ruined fortifications, but you can watch the ferries go back and forth across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa to Tangier.
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| Ruined fortress on Isla de las Palomas. |
My kids thought it particularly cool that on one side of the island and road they were on the Atlantic Ocean and on the other, just steps away, they were on the Mediterranean Sea.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Are You Wearing Green Today?
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
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| This picture of my son in his pre-school's St. Patrick's Day parade ran in our local paper years ago. |
I've never been to Ireland. Sigh . . . . It's second on my list of dream destinations though, right after Croatia. As much as I love train travel, I kind of envision driving around the Irish countryside in a car, taking back roads, sleeping in cottage inns, and mingling with the locals. I'd love to do it with the kids along, but it also sounds like a romantic little trip my husband and I could manage in our retirement. We'll see.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Movie Monday: The Secret of Roan Inish
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To Europe With Kids presents Movie Monday as a weekly feature to recommend films that might expose children and their families to any small bit of European history, folklore, scenery, or animated imagery as entertainment, perhaps new knowledge, or just a couple of hours of electronic babysitting.
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The movie was filmed entirely in rugged and mountainous County Donegal, Ireland, a haven of Gaelic culture and the Irish language. (You might have to turn on the English subtitles for the kids.) The visuals in the film are mainly of the jagged coastline, the small outlying islands, and the untamed sea.
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| Image via www.hummingbirdgirls.blogspot.com |
Donegal is actually a tourist destination among the Irish and foreigners, as well. Popular attractions are a Victorian castle, called Glenveagh Castle, and a 35,000 acre nature reserve, called Glenveagh National Park.
Other Movie Monday posts:
Thursday, March 17, 2011
We Salute the Irish!
Today's the day we salute the Irish! I wish there was a day reserved to salute every foreign country. Wouldn't it be fun to dress up and learn about the cultures of, say, Albania, or Bolivia, or Cameroon every year? Oh well, at least the Irish are a colorful, proud, historic people with great native costumes, music and food. Makes for some fun parades around this country of ours. Which gives me a chance to shamelessly post some more pictures of our trip to Seattle last weekend, where there was a terrific (albeit wet) St. Patrick' Day parade taking place. We watched it from near the Seattle Public Library. Love the kilts and the bagpipes!
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| St. Patty's Day parade in Seattle. |
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Happy Boxing Day!
As long as I can remember, I’ve seen Boxing Day listed on the calendar on December 26th, but never knew what it was or even thought much about it. Yet I knew about the “Second Christmas Day” observed in parts of Europe, just never made the connection between the two.
Boxing Day, as it’s called in America, Canada, and Britain, is known as St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland and Christmas II or the Second Christmas Day in some continental European countries. The day is celebrated as a saint’s feast day, a day of giving to the needy, and, more recently, as a secular, more commercial occasion to shop at stores with huge sales such as Americans do on Black Friday.The etymology of the term “boxing” to describe this day is not certain. One possible explanation stems from an old English tradition. Often the wealthy landowners would give their servants the 26th of December off to visit with their families, and usually gave each servant a box containing gifts, bonuses, and leftover food. Also, churches sometimes opened their alms boxes and distributed the contents to the poor.
In many countries, such as Germany and Austria, both December 25th and 26th are federal holidays, shops and offices are closed, and families spend time visiting, relaxing, and eating. Sounds good to me. Why can’t the U.S. adopt this two-day celebration?
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