Topics

Mar

The Daring of the Green

by Joyce McGreevy on March 11, 2019

A man adjusting a dining room chandelier in Glendalough suggests that Ireland’s culinary renaissance has dispelled stereotypes about Irish cuisine. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

From Glendalough (above) to Galway, cooks have cast Irish cuisine in a whole new light.

Irish Cuisine Turns the Tables on Culinary Stereotypes

St. Patrick’s Day is coming and you know what that means. It’s time for the Annual Feast of Culinary Stereotypes!

Once a year, sales of green food-dye soar in the U.S., evidenced by neon green bagels, chartreuse cupcakes, and acid-lime donuts. Meanwhile, Corned Beef and Cabbage (which originated in the U.S., not Ireland) will be dutifully served at Irish-themed parties.

Don’t get me started about green beer and “shamrock” milkshakes. No wonder many people believe “Irish cuisine” is a contradiction in terms. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 1 Comment

Art of Travel/Ireland/Stereotypes/The World's Chefs

Mar

The Art of Cloud Watching

by Meredith Mullins on March 4, 2019

Altocumulus clouds at sunset near Yosemite National Park in California, traveling the world while cloud watching. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Keep looking up
© Meredith Mullins

Looking Up . . . While Traveling the World

It all started with a mackerel sky—a real-life Magritte painting that rose up in splendor near the foothills of the California Sierra.

I had never seen anything like it before. A sky filled with cotton balls. Dancing sheep. Wayward popcorn.

A mackerel sky (altocumulus clouds) near Yosemite National Park in California, traveling the world while cloud watching. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

My first mackerel sky
© Meredith Mullins

I posted the photo on Facebook, feeling like a humble human proud to share the poetic beauty of nature with the world. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Nature Discovery/Worldwide Sites

Feb

Amazing Places in the World: The Kumbh Mela

by Meredith Mullins on February 25, 2019

Pilgrims on the main street of the 2019 Ardh Kumbh Mela in Praygraj, India, one of the amazing places in the world. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Where Faith and Family Merge in Festival

Some travel opportunities are so rare and so provocative that their seductive siren’s song goes straight to the soul.

A total eclipse of the sun in Patagonia. A full moon at the Taj Mahal. Summiting Mount Everest (well, maybe, Base Camp). Running with the bulls in Pamplona. Finding the spiritual rhythm of the Camino de Santiago. The unending magnetism of amazing places in the world.

The only way to silence this call of adventure is to “just do it.”

Such was the song of the Ardh Kumbh Mela for me in India this month—the largest peaceful religious gathering of humans on Earth. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 6 Comments

Adventure Travel/India

World Views: