Ireland

 Ireland is a beautiful country and truly green, but most of all, the people are friendly and very welcoming. I went there in October of 2025 and stayed for only 2-1/2 weeks, but that was enough. I'm finding that my trip are getting shorter as I get older. There's so much hassle to travel today, mainly trying to deal with airports and the fact that everything is done online with an iPhone through apps and QR codes. Also, I feel like I have to preplan all my overnights or I won't get a place to sleep other than in a very expensive hotel room. 

I got a bed and breakfast on Homefarm Rd that wasn't very far from the airport and I just took the 19 bus to get to the house. It was also convenient to downtown, with a bus stop right outside her door. But though the room was convenient to downtown Dublin, the room wasn't big enough for me to swing a mouse. There was so much clutter in what felt like an 8 x 8 cell, I had to stack all the extra stuff from the room in the hallway outside my door just so I could move around. It was an old-fashioned place, stuffed with antiques and framed photos with linens covering all the furniture. It's my last Air BnB.

Dublin is an interesting city with loads of sites. I took the Hop On Hop Off Bus and had a great day. The bus stops at places like Trinity College, St. Stephen's Park, the Guiness Factory and so on, and you can get off and stay as long as you like at one site before boarding the bus again when you're finished. A bus comes every 20 minutes to the same stop and you continue on to the next site. What was also great about it were the spiels given by the bus drivers, some of whom gave a detailed history of the city and and weren't timid about slagging the British. All innuendos, of course. I didn't meet any British people while I was there and I got the impression they're not looked upon that favorably.   

Liffey Bridge

Temperance Bar

Portugal

 Nazare 

What an amazing spot. I breathed a sign of relief when I saw the beach. I had pneumonia when I arrived and collapsed in my hotel room for 3 days. The girls there were just so kind it touched my heart. 

beach at Nazare

I stayed at the Promitorio Hotel or the WEAA, I wasn't sure which was the real name. The girls knew I was sick and for them not to run off screaming every time I entered the kitchen was a surprise because I looked like a creature just risen from the dead.   

When I was back to somewhat normal I went on the funicular car that takes you to the promitory where all the great surfing events have been filmed. The waves are enormous, but they weren't the day I visited. 

view from the funicular car Nazare

view from the promitory

where the surfing happens

Portugal

I went to Portugal in October 2024 thinking that it may be the off-season and there would be fewer travellers. There were fewer travellers, but not a lot fewer because if the airport was any indication, I'd be sharp elbowing my way through the country once I got outside. The lineup snaked in various directions to passport control and when I got to the machines, some of them weren't functioning properly and there was no one there to assist, just two young guys standing at a counter, shrugging. 

Lisbon is a wonderful city. I took a bus tour and, of course, went into half a dozen bakeries. You can't beat Lisbon for its bakeries and restaurants. 

castle Lisbon

narrow, crowded streets in Lisbon

After two days in Lisbon I downloaded the FLIX bus app and paid for a bus to Evora. Loved the ancient cobbled streets in the old town and a central square with wonderful little cafes and bars. In Canada there are few bakeries of the quality here and I ate dozens of custard tarts before my stomach whined and protested. What's funny is that with all the bakeries and goodies to eat here, I saw few obese people and the few that I saw were probably from my corner of the planet.  

I got a room at the Moov Hotel for 65 euros a night and it was quiet except for the rain, which had the intensity of a firehose, but luckily I brought my umbrella to Portugal. 

At the Sto Humberto Cafe I had a delicious kidney/brown bean with pumpkin soup. I could have stayed in Evora for weeks it was so delightful. 

The wall that surrounds Evora old city. 

wall around Evora

 

The

The Roman ruins in Evora. 

Roman ruins Evora

Roman ruins Evora

My next stop was Castelo Branco where I stayed at the Girossal for 3 nights. The weather was dismal. One thing I notice about Portugal is the lack of music, I never heard music playing anywhere. Perhaps I'm in the wrong place.

church in Castelo Blanco