Travel Log
- Depart Tubbrid Castle at 8:30 AM for Kilkenny, about 30 minute drive.
- Arrive in Kilkenny early so Mazie can go on a birthday run. Tammy goes on a walk. Tyler and Jamie go to breakfast spot early.
- Cafe La Coco for a delicious breakfast.
- Brief shopping — Tyler gets soccer cleats at Intersport.
- Medieval Mile Museum walk to learn so much about Kilkenny.
- Visit Kilkenny Castle and take self-guided tour.
- Some more wandering around exploring various shops.
- Smithwick’s Experience to learn about Smithwick beer and have a glass of Smithwick Red Ale and Kilkenny Cream Ale.
- Go to Cakeface Pastries to get treats for Mazie’s birthday!
- Wander around Kilkenny visiting various stores.
- Visited the Rothe House and spent most of our time exploring the magnificent walled garden.
- More shopping and exploring for Tammy, Mazie, and Tyler — Jamie stops at The Field pub to get a Guinness and listen to live music.
- Everyone meets at The Field and we walk down to the Nore Valley Path.
- Walk Nore Valley Path to bridge and back.
- Had nice dinner at Ristorante Rinuccini including dessert that came with a candle and rendition of Happy Birthday for Mazie.
- Get car out of car park.
- Drive back to Tubbrid Castle for the night, about 10:15 PM.
- Tammy and Mazie go for a run in Belfast.
- Continental breakfast in Titanic Hotel.
- Check-out of hotel.
- Visit Titanic Museum.
- Afternoon tea at Titanic Hotel.
- Visit the S.S. Nomadic, a tender for the Titanic.
- Departed Belfast for Kilkenny.
- Crossed into Ireland between Killeen and Dromad.
- Experienced rush hour traffic around Dublin.
- Fastest driving of the day — nearly all divided highways and 120 km/h speed limit.
- Dinner at Brewery Corner in Kilkenny.
- Get Tyler crêpe at Scrumdiddlys.
- Walk around Kilkenny briefly, everything closed for the night.
- Drive to Tubbrid Castle and check-in for our stay.
- Explore all the various areas of the castle.
- Up early to depart Airbnb at 7:00 AM.
- Drive to Giants Causeway.
- Cross into Northern Ireland at Lifford.
- Arrive at Giants Causeway Hotel to park.
- Hike Red Path to rocks.
- Hang out on rocks for an hour.
- Walk Blue Path back to car.
- Drive to Belfast.
- Arrive at Titanic Hotel.
- Lunch in Drawing Room Two.
- Jamie leaves lunch to join remote board meeting.
- Tammy, Mazie, Tyler explore shipyard section of Belfast.
- Tammy and kids check into hotel.
- Tammy and kids go to Central Belfast to walk around and shop.
- Jamie finishes meeting and walks to meet family.
- Dinner at Little Wing Pizzeria.
- Walk to Timescape and do the “Titanic: The Final Hour” escape room.
- Walk back to hotel.
- Have today’s Guinness in the hotel bar.
- Relaxed morning recharging. Tammy and Mazie go for run. Jamie tends to photos and blog. Tyler sleeps in.
- Drive to Donegal.
- Brunch at The Old Stone.
- Shopping and exploring around The Donegal Diamond including Elvery Sports and Magee of Donegal.
- Drove to Rossnowlagh Beach.
- After two failed attempts to have Tyler and Mazie do a surf class, serendipity struck and we were able to get them learning to surf!
- Pick up breakfast items for tomorrow at the Bakery Shack.
- Drive to Cria Lodge so kids could get warm and dry.
- Drive back to Donegal for dinner at La Bella Donna.
- Drive back to Cria Lodge and walk a kilometer down the road (precisely the middle of nowhere) for a pint at Whoriskey’s Pub.
- Walk back to Cria Lodge to get packed and ready for early morning departure tomorrow. Alarm set to 6:30 AM.
- Picked up to go baked goods and breakfast items at the Bakery Shack in Rossnowlagh.
- Drove to Teelin Pier.
- Took Sliabh League Boat Trips and got a tour of Sliabh Liag Cliffs from the water with Paddy.
- Lunch at The Rusty Mackerel.
- Coffee stop at Brew In Thru in Teelin.
- Drove to upper car park for Sliabh Liag Cliffs and hiked up to viewing location. Mazie hiked up beyond to a further point.
- Drove to Silver Strand Beach.
- Delightful time on this incredibly secluded beach.
- Started drive back to Airbnb.
- Stopped in Donnegal for food. Ended up having crêpes at Little Mamma’s as most dining options were closed.
- Fed the Alpacas at the Airbnb.
- Evening hot tub at Airbnb. Tammy gets an evening walk in.
- Left Doolin at 8 AM.
- Drove to Galway.
- Breakfast at Dela.
- Shopping and exploring in Galway: Port West (Tyler Jacket), Butler’s Chocolates (Truffles), Aran Sweater Shop, Weavers of Ireland, Intersport, Life Style Sports (Tyler Jersey), EuroGiant (Tyler Fan), Coffeewerk + Press (Jamie Mug), Wooden Heart (Mazie Maileg Mice), Le Petite Delice (Jamie Scone), Harper (Tammy clothes), The Sheep, and Murphy’s Ice Cream.
- Checked out the Galway Market.
- Drive to Ashford Castle.
- Go on a Hawk Walk!
- Drive to Bundoran.
- Dinner at Blue Leaf.
- Continue to Cria Lodge to check-in.
- Try out hot tub for our first night.
- Tammy and Mazie go on independent runs.
- Tyler and Jamie walk to Irish Craft for breakfast. Tyler got pancakes. I got a scone and ham & cheese croissant.
- Tyler, Jamie, Tammy meet at Doolin Inn about 10 minutes early for cliff walk. Mazie arrives 2 minutes late.
- Pat Sweeney collects the group for the amazing Doolin Cliff Hike.
- After completing hike visit the shop at Cliffs of Moher and Tammy gets a purse.
- Take shuttle back to Doolin Inn.
- Shopping at Village Crafts. Tammy and Mazie get hats to vibe with Jamie’s.
- Ice Cream stop at Doolin Ice Cream!
- Chocolate stop at Village Crafts.
- We try our hand at golf at the Doolin Pitch & Putt.
- Everyone is very hungry so walk and have dinner at Stonewall Wood-Fired Pizzeria in Hotel Doolin.
- Walk back to cottage to hang out for a bit.
- Walk back into Doolin for music and Guinness at Gus O’Connors Pub.
- As we lose light, walk back to cottage to wrap the day.
- Up early to leave cottage at 8 AM.
- Walk 2 miles from cottage to the Doolin pier.
- Stop at Rocket House for breakfast snacks and cappuccino.
- Bumpy ride on Doolin Ferry to Inis Mór.
- Explore Inis Mór.
- Additional shopping in the stores along the Doolin Pier.
- Final shopping stop at Irish Crafts. Tammy ends up getting four sweaters today.
- Dinner at The Ivy Cottage for what most think is the best fish & chips we’ve had on the trip.
- Walk back to cottage.
- Tammy was up at 8 AM, completely ready to go and prepared by 9 AM. Everyone else awoke shortly after.
- Tammy and Tyler go to Marine Bakery & Cafe for light breakfast.
- We all go for final walk along Ballybunion Beach at low tide.
- Depart Ballybunion for Adare Manor in Adare.
- The best Afternoon Tea ever at Adare Manor.
- Post tea shopping at Adare Store where unexpectedly Tammy buys a jacket and Tyler swim trunks. Jamie gets 1893 Tea to bring home.
- Drive to Doolin.
- Stop at Doolin Lodge, check-in to Cottage at Doonagore Castle.
- Walk to McGann’s Pub for dinner, Guinness, and traditional Irish music set.
- Walk back to cottage.
- Breakfast at hotel
- Short walk to meeting point for David and Duomo VIP Walking Tour
- Viewing of Michelangelo’s David
- Tour of Duomo of Florence
- Walk to special tour of rooftop terrace of Duomo
- Walk up to tour dome of the Duomo which triggers fear of heights and makes all but Mazie turn down before proceeding to the top of the dome.
- Mazie solo visits the top of the Duomo Dome.
- Mazie’s trek to the top of the Dome is extended due to a dignitary from China visiting Duomo
- We all collect together and get Gelato at Venchi and Tyler chooses a crêpe instead
- Lunch at Central Market: Tyler gets smashburger, Jamie gets Tagliatelli with truffle sauce, Mazie and Tammy split caprese panini.
- E-bike Florence & Taste of Tuscany with We Like Tuscany
- Stop at Chalet Fontana for Olive Oil tasting.
- Walk back to hotel to freshen up and quick change
- Ristorante Natalino for Bistecca which is giant and very rare. Mazie gets the House Lasagna and likes it but it is very different than what we usually have for lasagna. Tyler has more pasta with butter.
- After dinner Gelato at Rivareno, again Tyler gets a crêpe and this time with two scoops of gelato as well.
- Slow walk back to hotel
- Stop at Venchi for some after dinner chocolate for Mazie and Jamie
- Bad restaurant choice for crêpes at breakfast, but had nice seating in the shade
- Much better choice for pastries at Pasticceria Giovanni
- Return to Combo Hotel to get luggage
- Attempt to recreate photo from our wedding.
- Water taxi to Venice train station
- Train 8929 to Florence
- Walk from train station to Arté Boutique Hotel with our luggage
- Get checked into hotel, first hotel where we are all in the same room on this trip
- Walk to meeting point for our evening Pizza and Gelato class
- Recreate photo from our wedding in celebration of our 21st Anniversary!
- Take bus few minutes out of Florence into Tuscan hills
- Great time at Pizza and Gelato Cooking Class: Tammy and Jamie make Stracciatella and Mazie and Tyler make Pistachio gelato. Everyone makes Margarita pizzas, except Jamie with sausage and spiced oil.
- Take bus back to Florence
- Walk back to hotel
- 😴
- Underwhelming breakfast at combo hotel
- Walk to Lagoon Excursion: Murano Glass, Burano and Wine
- Took boat to Burano with Christiano, Aubrey, and Ozzie on the special local route
- Admire Burano lace and watch one of the last 7 remaining lacemakers at work
- Rainbow of colorful houses
- Enjoy a ton of unique Venetian cookies: chocolate chip, coconut, apricot, and Nutella
- Sample tomato, basil, and cream cheese chicchetti as a pre-wine appetizer
- Walk around Vinezza vineyard and learn about the struggles of the high ground and low ground grapes
- Sample Venuza and Veniza wines
- Boat to neighboring Murano island
- Glass blowing and sculpting demonstration
- Explore the many various glass shops/factories in Murano
- Boat back to Venice and say goodbye to Christiano
- Walk to a pizza/ panini hole in the wall spot recommended by Christiano
- Meander back to hotel and stop at Time bakery for some Doja bread and cream puffs
- Pit stop at hotel: Jamie stays behind to update YNAB while Tammy, Mazie, and Tyler venture out to explore hundreds of secret alleys in the city
- Tyler buys Real Madrid jersey at soccer shop
- Meet up at Birraria La Corte for dinner
- Delicious bread, pizza, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, tiramisu, biscuit and marscapone cream basket, and panna cotta
- Walk back to Hotel
- Chill
- Underwhelming breakfast at Combo hotel.
- Walk to Venice in a Day experience start.
- Walking tour of many of Venice sights.
- Gondola ride through canals.
- Started raining, duck into Ristorante Chianti just outside of Saint Marco Plazq for a delicious lunch. Tammy orders a bottle of Moscato d’Asti to go with lunch
- Meet back with our group to see the Church of Saint Marco.
- Detailed tour of Doge Palace and introduction to the Venetian government system pre-Napoleon.
- explore to find gelato. Took a bit and found “a really cute place” that Mazie found.
- Walk back to Combo hotel.
- Tammy and Jamie both fall asleep.
- Wake up just in time to walk to Pastry Tour.
- Fast walk to train station to meet Maria, Pastry Tour guide. Jamie’s injured left leg hurt a lot.
- Explore 5 different places.
- Get 3 meatballs at restaurant recommended by Maria.
- Walk back to hotel.
- 😴
- Great breakfast at iQ Hotel. Impressive spread.
- Check out of hotel.
- M3 train to Duomo
- Explore Galleria Vitoria Emanuele
- Get coffee at Marchesi
- Take full tour of Duomo. Incredible! Rooftop views are impressive.
- Tammy and Tyler run to get take home gift for his friends. Jamie and Mazie take pictures in Duomo plaza while thunderstorm approaches.
- Duck into Metro just as storm arrives and take M3 back to Central FS.
- Train 9735 from Milan to Venice
- Arrived in Venice
- Take water bus 4.2 to hotel
- Checkin at Combo
- Poor choice and decide to have a fairly simple and non-Italian dinner at the hotel
- Walk around Venice for an hour and see the city. Amazing golden hour photo opportunities.
- Return to Combo hotel.
- Amazing breakfast at iQ Motel
- Catch express train 8803 from Milan to Modena for Ferrari Day!
- Walk out of train station wrong way because of cute train mural on walls
- Walk to Enzo Ferrari Museam
- Briefly explore the smaller side of museam
- Shuttle to Maranello
- See the museam- Jamie shed some tears at the F1 racing display
- Photo shoot in yellow Ferrari
- Lunch at Museam Cafe (much better than the equivalent in the US and cheaper)
- Panaramic factory tour- short naps for all
- Shuttle back to Modena
- Racing simulation for Mazie and Tyler
- See larger section of the Rnzo Ferrari museam
- Macarons, coffee, and chocolate crumble at museam cafe
- Walk back to train station and wait for delayed train
- Train back to Milan- seating troubles
- Train 40 mins late, so have to take a White Taxi to Mad Machines
- Taxi driver hauls it like we’re on the Amazing Race, but we are still 5 mins late
- Time Machine: another amazing escape room with so many rooms and creative challenges
- Tram to Pizzeria Fabrico
- Delicious pizza, pasta, and tiramisu
- Metro back to hotel
- 😴
- Breakfast in Soglio and sending goodbyes to our hiking group: Dave, Erik, Gary, and Theresa 👋
- Tammy and kids explore Soglio while Jamie has a cappuccino and tended to tasks on the deck
- 🚌 B 632 to Promontogna nice and easy with bus waiting for us
- 🚌 B 4 to Chiavenna super packed bus that we barely squeezed on and had to stand with all our luggage
- 🚊R 10165 Train to Colico
- 🚊R 2825 Train to Varenna
- Lunch at Locando Cavanillo
- 🚊Train to Milan
- Check into iQ Motel
- Take M2 train to Porto Geneva
- Walk to Pizza & Mozarella for delicious pizza
- Walk to Mad Machines
- Escape the Birth room at Mad Machines!
- Walk back to Porto Geneva stop and take M2 back to central station
- return to hotel super tired and debate which train to take tomorrow. Pick 8:05am departure.
- Breakfast at Hotel Edelweiss
- Tammy gets trail lunch at Volg
- Bus to Vicosoprano
- Begin hike to Soglio
- Hunkered down to avoid thunderstorm
- Resumed hike with long ascent
- Beautiful trail across several waterfalls
- Slippery rocks: Tyler falls twice, Jamie slips many times and falls once
- Amazing Roman Road on trail
- Arrive in Soglio
- Explore village
- Shop at Soglio Products for various lotions
- Cappuccino and snack at Palazzo Salis while waiting out another downpour
- Return to hotel for rain gear
- Tyler and Dad watch end of Tour de France stage. Tyler writes another blog post. Mazie and Mom shop in village.
- All Go out for photo walk in Soglio.
- Final group dinner.
- Breakfast at hotel
- Walk from hotel for hike
- Hike begins with a gentle ascent above the treeline
- Walk through amazing village of Grevasalvas
- Break at rocky overlook before descending
- Descend and take path around lake
- Lunch on the trail
- Return to Sils Maria
- Tammy and Mazie do some shopping, buy cool local bowls
- Coffee and snacks at Grond Cafe
- Mazie and Tyler explore
- Tammy and Jamie relax
- Dinner at hotel with delicious Apple Strudel for dessert!
- Depart Guarda and take bus to train station
- Take train to Funicular.
- Guide Dave gets a lot of static from the conductor about having the wrong tickets.
- German lady that moved to Switzerland sits across from Tammy and I and starts a lengthy conversation with Tammy.
- Arrive at funicular and take it 1,000 feet up to start hike.
- Huge climb up to Segantini Hütte.
- Delicious lunch. I had Barley Soup.
- Hike traverse from hut through rock field and take upper trail.
- Mad rush down to chair lift before storm shows up and possibly shuts lift down.
- Get on lift and have a slow, cold, stormy, raining, anxiety producing lift ride.
- Rainy walk to hotel.
- Attempt to get cash and fail.
- Shop.
- Dinner at restaurant.
- Downtime in room.
- Jamie realizes that he has lost his wallet and that sort of sucks a bunch.
- Breakfast.
- Jamie asks front desk person to see if they can help with locating wallet. They have some ideas.
- Dave, one of our guides, attempts to find Jamie’s lost wallet by going back to the train station at Ardez. Sadly no luck.
- We take off for todays hike up to Piz Buin.
- Everyone else hikes down on the service road, Jamie takes a mountain scooter and has a blast.
- Jamie gets back early and decides wallet search is over. It is lost, time to move on.
- Tammy and Mazie explore the town and Tammy has an amazing find! 🤩
- Cold therapy for our tired feet.
- Nice dinner at Meisser Hotel.
- Cool evening back in the room, getting ready for an earlier morning tomorrow.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 14
Weather: Very good, periods of warmth, periods of cold. Was sunny for good portions. Scattered rain shower.
Happy Birthday Mazie! 🎉
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 13
Weather: Rain. Wind. Crappy. Better as we got further South.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 12
Weather: Cool and nice. Not much wind. Warmer in Belfast.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 11
Weather: Reasonably pleasant. A little less windy. Cool temperatures.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 10
Weather: Overall good. Some sun. Kind of windy. Chilly but not too bad.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 9
Weather: Cool with gentle but steady rain much of the day.
Today was a longer transit day starting in Doolin and making our way to Ballyshannon for the next stop.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 8
Weather: Best weather yet. Good amount of sun. Reasonably warm. Not too windy.
Another day spent entirely on foot. Activity for Tammy is 40,995 steps and 95 flights climbed and Jamie 32,498 steps and 81 flights climbed.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 7
Weather: Mixed bag. Periods of cool and cloudy, sunny and warm. It rained at times. Quickly changing and variable.
We did everything on foot or bike today — walking between all of our destination.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 6
Weather: Good weather today — partially cloudy and less wind.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 15
Weather: Warm and cloudy in the morning. Hotter and sunnier in the afternoon.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 14
Weather: Cool morning in Venice. Very nice. Much warmer in Florence in the evening. Nice in the shade.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 13
Weather: Warm and sunny, cool evening
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 12
Weather: Cool and cloudy in morning. Warm and sunny in afternoon. Overall nice day.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 11
Weather: Started warm in the morning. Thunderstorms in Milan in afternoon. Warm in Venice.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 10
Weather: Hot and hot
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 9
Weather: Warm and sunny in the morning.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 8
Weather: Cool morning in Sils Maria. Big thunderstorm in mid-morning by Vicosoprano. Cloudy most of the day on trail. Nice on arrival into Soglio with heavy rain in later afternoon. Cool evening.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 7
Weather: Very cool in the morning warming up through the day. Very pleasant all around.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 5
Weather: Cooler day. Very windy on the mountains today. Raced to chair lift before storm and lightning arrived.
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Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 4
Weather: Hot and sunny in the morning. Day cooled off a bit and was nicer in the mountains. Evening cool.
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