I hadn't heard of the Dingle Peninsula until a few years ago during a "girls weekend," when a friend presented a bottle of Dingle Original Gin from the Dingle Distillery for another friend and I to taste.
Then when I was researching a trip to Ireland last year, the travel literature suggested that if visitors had time for just one tour in the west of Ireland and had to choose between the Ring of Kerry and the shorter ring road on the Dingle Peninsula, the choice should be the latter.
And so it was, although it would have been nice to be able to do both.
I recently wrote about my trip around the Dingle Peninsula for the Boston Globe. I didn't travel solo, but it's a place you would enjoy as a solo traveler - if you're willing to drive a standard shift car on the left-hand side of the road.
Or you could join a guided tour of the Slea Head drive and let someone else do the driving. A quick web search shows plenty of companies that will take you around this Irish-speaking region.
Our guide in Port of Spain, Trinidad, pointed to a concrete lot as we drove past it on the way to our hotel. "That's one of the panyards."
Which explained nothing at all.
It wasn't until a couple of days later I understood. Steelpan is the term for steel drums in Trinidad and Tobago. And panyards are where steelpan band members set up their steel drums and practice.
You do need a whole vacant lot in a city because these are big bands playing big instruments. Bands and instruments that don't fit into your average garage.
Trinidad and Tobago, a two-island republic in the Caribbean, offers much to see and do. Birds. Multi-ethnic foods and festivals. Exotic island fruits and vegetables. Crab races.
We did not see crab races. Crab races don't happen every day. Nor do the goat races.
We did motor by boat through the mangroves of Caroni Swamp. The swamp opened on a lake surrounded by trees that are home to thousands of scarlet ibis, the national bird. What a wonder that was, watching hundreds of big, scarlet-red birds fly overhead at sunset to roost for the night.
We tasted goat roti, bake and shark, callaloo. Wait, you don't know what callaloo is? It's a soup. Or maybe it's a sauce. Made from the young curled leaves of the dasheen bush. Got it?
In this country composed mainly of people of African and East Indian descent--but with Spanish, French, British, Dutch, Chinese and many more influences--there were many new dishes to try.
And the island's brand of Caribbean rum. Two kinds recommended to me: Angostura 1924 and Angostura 1919. We tasted one of those rums mixed with LLB - a lemon-lime soda with bitters--yes, Angostura bitters. Because, you guessed it: The Angostura company is based in Trinidad.
But back to steelpan.
Many people know Trinidad for its over-the-top Carnival celebration with crazy complex costumes and street partying. There's a months-long windup to the event.
As part of Carnival, there's a steelpan competition among about 160 bands. Called Panorama. I'm told the competition is as fierce as any sports tournament.
Bands are gearing up now. I watched as the "pannists" of the Caribbean Airlines Invaders pounded the concave interior of pans of various sizes. Some made from the whole oil drum. Others a fifth the depth.
It was a sight to see. And hear. Maybe they'll win it all in 2017. And I can say I knew them when.
Photos and video by Ellen Perlman: 1. cocoa pods in Tobago 2. scarlet ibis at sunset (will ask for zoom lens for my birthday 3. The Caribbean Airlines Invaders practicing for the big time
It's not often one gets to experience a volcano. But there I was in Ecuador, a decade or so ago, watching a plume of what looked like smoke--but had to be ash--spewing from Tungurahua, translated as throat of fire.
In Riobamba and other towns nearby, people were constantly sweeping a film of gray off steps, sidewalks, the front of churches. More ash kept settling down.
Obviously, volcanoes can be dangerous but it was far in the distance and an adrenaline rush to witness. Seems Tungurahua, located along Ecuador's Avenue of the Volcanoes has been showing a lot of activity again these days.
You can take that one of two ways, depending on your personal risk meter. Either it's hey, time for me to go see an active volcano for myself-from a safe distance, course. Or heck no, I'm staying away until things settle down-which way to the Galapagos?
Green and white awnings and a small sign are all that distinguish the Richmond home of Maggie L. Walker from neighboring duplexes that have been carefully restored to their appearance circa 1925. What distinguished Walker in her day was her skill at overcoming all the obstacles society could place before a black woman living under Jim Crow segregation laws.
But wait. Maggie who?
Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a former slave, was a black entrepreneur and civil rights activist who achieved business success at about the same time as the more well-known Vanderbilts, Carnegies and other Northern captains of industry were making their names. She was a respected resident of Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood during the early 20th century, when the area was experiencing its heyday.
Yes, Virginia, there is a side of Richmond known as the cradle of black capitalism, despite the fact that just a few decades earlier, during the Civil War, the city had served as the capital of the Confederacy.
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