It has been six weeks since Belfast - too much to cover in detail so I thought I’d do a brief overview of our bouncing ball itinerary, then a few highlights. (This may be boring to some, sorry.)

IRELAND: 3 days in Belfast; 2 in Port Stewart; 4 in Pomeroy; 1 in Donegal Town; 10 in Burtonport; 2 in Derrynoose, Co. Armagh; BACK TO THE CONTINENT: 3 in Amsterdam; 2 in Bacharach; 4 in Munich; 3 in Rothenberg; 2 more in Bacharach; 4 in Heidelberg; overnight trian (17 hours) to Krakov

After the armed camp that is Northern Ireland, ten days in a cottage in Burtonport was refreshing. There were a couple of day trips, but mostly we would just look at the ocean (“Lookit dat - the waves are breaking over the top of the lighthouse”), drink a Guinness, stoke the turf fire, and turn the page of a book. ML regained her sanity - mine was irretreivably lost after years in pressrooms, though I fake it well.

We blew 10 days of rest in 2 nights in Derrynoose staying up till 6 AM with our musician/performance artist friend, MacDara, and his offbeat and entertaining family and friends. Over 2 nights of watching them perform their art and discussing Irish history, culture, dragons, music, legends, myths, sex and women, we downed liters of beer, wine and whiskey. Ireland - ya gotta love it.

A flight to Amsterdam had us out late again checking out the “scene” - red lights, strange smokey cafes and a roll-your-own cybercafe. That was balanced by a tour of their most excellent museums (an antismoking painting by van Gogh was a surprise) and a moving tour of Anne Frank’s house.

We decided to slow it down by going to Munich for Oktoberfest! What a zoo! Think Texas State Fair times 4 with the beer in liter glasses, not 12 oz. plastic cups. Yes, those ladies can serve 12 beers at a time and it’s not a good idea to