Our last trip to Europe took us to Wicklow, just outside of Dublin, for a few days (before we skipped off to Spain on a rather terrifying Ryan Air flight that will henceforth be referred to as Kegger at 30,000 Feet). Rand’s conference hosted us at the Powerscourt Hotel, which is in the middle of…
Let me begin with a disclaimer of sorts. For the last seven years on this blog, I have staunchly avoided accepting free trips, tickets, passes, gifts, upgrades, hotel stays, or products. Last month, though, I caved. We were invited to opening weekend of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and offered press tickets for the shows, which…
It’s the first Monday in March of a leap year – you know that means, right? IT’S OMFG I LOVE LEMURS DAY. (Note: OMFG I LOVE LEMURS DAY is something I just made up.) Had I had any forethought AT ALL I’d have put this post up on Leap Day, because, you know, lemurs leap. Regrets,…
I nearly forgot to tell you about the pilgrimage we made last summer to Stratford-upon-Avon: the home of that great Bard, of the man who wrote the sonnets and plays that shaped my awkward adolescence and escorted me to an awkward adulthood. I will confess: at first I found the little town kitschy. The endless…
The thing about Ireland – and Europe in general, really – is that there are castles all over the damn place. They’re sort of like Red Lobster restaurants in America. Everyone’s hometown has one, and they’re usually in various states of disrepair and completely empty. Unless relatives are visiting from afar, you probably aren’t going to…
Every now and then, it’s nice to be indulged. I don’t mean all the time – like my nightly requests that we have orange flavored Hostess cupcakes for dinner (“If we did that as often as you suggested it, we’d die.” – Rand). But once in a while, it’s pretty wonderful when everyone quietly…
Prior to my most recent trip to London, the only thing I knew about Tower Bridge was this: In 1967, an American named Robert McCullough bought London Bridge, dismantled it, and had it moved to the states. The rumor is that he had confused the rather drab and plain bridge he’d purchased with the more architecturally…
Have you ever spent gobs of time with someone, to the point where you think you know everything about them, but then something happens and you start to see them differently? Like, after a dozen years together, you learn that they can touch their nose with their tongue (which, you maintain, is information that you really should…
When compared to the rich history that all but assaults you when you’re in England, Peveril Castle isn’t that interesting. Built by Henry II in 1176, it was one of England’s earliest Norman fortresses. It would change hands over the years, moving in and out of royal control. By the end of the fourteenth century,…
Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury
by Geraldine DeRuiter
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