Like so many things, this blog has been on hold for twenty months. We all know why.
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20 Monday Sep 2021
Author Archives: Tom
Ennis, Letterfrack, and Hodson
05 Tuesday Jun 2018
Posted in Travel
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The Rosleague Hotel lobby in Letterfrack, Ireland.
Ennis, Letterfrack, and Hodson. Sounds like a legal firm you might hire to defend your son on a charge of animal abuse with a laser pointer. (“Really, Your Honor: Whiskers had a healthy relationship with that red dot for years. I can only assume it was his old age that led him to confuse it with the barbecue.”)
The Smaller the Better
29 Tuesday May 2018
Posted in Travel
Free upgrades are one of life’s little rewards, cherished and remembered. First class. Room with a view. Bigger car.
Unless you’re in Ireland. If you’re renting a car in Ireland, a free upgrade can be a burden.
We got a free upgrade.
Pissed
27 Sunday May 2018
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One fine Irish afternoon, sitting in a Kinsale pub, I asked the bartender if there are any local beers. “Oh, yes!” interrupted the fellow occupying the stool to my right. “Have a pint of Blacks,” he said. “I got properly pissed on it last night.” The bartender never had a chance to reply.
Grand Larceny
25 Friday May 2018
Posted in Travel
We’ve been contemplating Grand Larceny lately.
How’s this: We could take an out-of-state debit card into a California Safeway, buy $400 worth of whiskey (and maybe get $100 cash back), then sell the whiskey out on the streets. After that, hit another Safeway. Then another. Maybe a Walmart too. And a Walgreen’s. (In California, all these stores sell liquor.)
A Fish on a Bicycle
18 Friday May 2018
Posted in Travel
Some people live to visit Jerusalem. Others, the Blarney Stone. Me? The St. James’s Gate Guinness Brewery in Dublin.
20,000 Leagues and Eight Squirrels
14 Monday May 2018
Posted in Travel
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Let’s get one thing straight: a “league” is a not a measure of depth. A league is equal to three miles. As Jules Verne would have it, twenty thousand leagues was a measure of horizontal distance under the sea, a journey that would’ve gone on longer had Kirk Douglas not interfered.
Wires and Wheels
07 Monday May 2018
Posted in Travel
“I wish you a good vacation. Take advantage of it, and take good care of yourselves. Most of all be wise about not taking on too many challenges.” Such was the advice from our host Sandrine Gailliot-Sopena in an email sent following our tour of Paris aboard her tiny electric scooters.
Misbehavin’
29 Sunday Apr 2018
Posted in Travel
I’m afraid we misbehaved a bit last night.
We’re back in Paris, almost a year to the day after the most recent post in this blog. It has been a busy year, but not one that has much of anything with expatting, so the blog has been quiet. With today’s entry, it returns.
Boots on the Ground?
06 Saturday May 2017
Posted in Travel
Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during an election campaign rally. (Frederic Scheiber/EPA)
I know, I know: we promised boots-on-the-ground election coverage from Paris, yet now that we’ve been here over a week — no news has been forthcoming.
There’s a reason for that. There’s not much to tell you about.
The Expat Almanac 