I like to think that I have this bizarre superpower that nerd events just happen around me wherever I go.  It strokes my ego.  When I arrived in Glasgow, I was feeling a bit tired on account of a roughly 45 minute hike from the bus station to the B&B I was staying in.  This was Saturday, July 5th, at about 3:30PM.  Given that it was the mid-afternoon already, I decided to

Let me preface this post by saying that I do not know much about Irish history.  Everything I do know either came to me tangentially through my classes in English History, or through museums like the one I visited in Belfast. That said, I do remember, even if only vaguely, the Troubles. For those who don't know, broadly speaking the Troubles refer to a series of conflicts between armed par

If you've never heard of it, The Giant's Causeway is a geological feature in Northern Ireland consisting of several hexagonal rock formations that were formed by volcanic activity thousands of years ago.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a National Nature Reserve of the UK, and I'm making it sound tremendously boring when it is anything but. In actuality, the Causeway is absolutely

I like trains.  I like them because they're better for the environment than driving, they're more relaxing than planes, and they let you sit back and think, or read, or write, or whatever strikes your fancy. Now, my only experience with trains prior to my UK and Ireland visit had been the mass transit systems in Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, but even those are at times quite eff

Man, I sure hope I'm using that word correctly.  Anyway, let's talk about day tours.  I'd never done a day tour before.  Like, ever.  I don't count school trips; those were pre-organized, never took a full day, and the only vivid memories I have either centre around awkward social interaction with the opposite sex or the latest South Park quotes circulating like illegal drugs.

...at least, none that are particularly obvious or helpful.  No, really.  It's kind of bizarre.  Yes, there is plenty of highway signage on the way into Dublin City proper, and again on the way out, but once you're in the thick of it, right on the River Liffey, you suddenly find that signs are placed in locations where no driver would ever spot them without the aid of a sniper spot