I went for the arts in Kilkenny, and instead I found a witch! It’s an hour and 1/2 drive from Dublin south to Kilkenny, a medieval town, with a castle built in 1195. Picking up my rental car in Dublin, I was a bit nervous, since driving is on the left side of the road here, but it was fine. After all, I’d had 3 weeks of practice in New Zealand, although that was almost 7 months ago now. I headed straight to the tourist office and spent...

With only 2 days in Dublin, I set out to make the most of it. I’d tried repeatedly to book an affordable hotel, but there didn’t seem to be such a thing available, and I’d not found any couch surfs, so I checked out my Air B&B app, and was delighted to find an opening with 2 great guys in their 1930’s home, with a cool old tiled fireplace and beautiful backyard deck. Plus, Brian and Oliver gave me lots of travel...

Cinque Terre (translated The Five Lands), a Unesco World Heritage Site, is a necklace of 5 seaside villages strung along the Italian Riviera. It’s some of the most beautiful and dramatic coastal scenery anywhere in the world (my opinion, but also that of countless others). The colorful villages are linked by hiking trails that wind along the coast, up high through olive groves and vineyards, and down low along the water. The whole trail...

Rome, the Eternal City – it was known that way even among the ancient Romans, because the Roman people thought no matter what happened to the world, the brightness of Rome would burn forever. One of my Travel Angels, Beth, made it burn even brighter, when she booked us into the Waldorf Astoria with her travel points, high up on a hill, a true room with a view. It’s a great city to share with a friend! There’s so much to see...

The Isle of Capri, even the name sounds romantic! To stay on the island would be lovely (and cost a king’s ransom), but for a much smaller sum, you can take an all-day tour. The driver met me in the lobby of my hostel and brought me to the harbor in Sorrento, where the boat captain and the rest of the guests were waiting. We climbed aboard Blu Toy, a medium-sized dark blue powerboat, and whizzed off across the azure sea. I sat out on the...