Prisoner of Hopes

Category: Hardships

  • Feast or famine: Travel Goals Ireland

    Feast or famine: Travel Goals Ireland

    Inequities. The rich get richer and the poor get the scraps. Until the chasm gets so wide the system collapses. It is a tale as old as time. People get richer and over time they lose sight of the labor and infrastructure that supports them. They want more for themselves and take more from those…

  • Arigna Mines: Travel Goals Ireland

    Arigna Mines: Travel Goals Ireland

    We arrive at the Arigna mine without preconceived ideas. It is something to do while staying in County Leitrim, Ireland. The woman at check in shows us to an area where we see a brief film that explains the history of the mine which was shut down in the 1990’s. We look at photos and…

  • Country Roads: Travel Goals Ireland

    Country Roads: Travel Goals Ireland

    Detours are what you make of them. My husband has a no back track rule. He doesn’t like out and back journeys. I don’t know why. In his view, we can go out of our way as long as it leads to somewhere we haven’t already been. I, on the other hand, am paradoxical. I…

  • Along the Cladagh: Travel Goals Ireland

    Along the Cladagh: Travel Goals Ireland

    Sitting at home this morning and arranging photos from a recent trip to Ireland, I sorted pictures taken from County Fermanagh. We stayed within a few miles of the border with Northern Ireland and found ourselves in Fermanagh several times during our trip. It rained a lot during our stay so the grass was green…

  • Derry Girl: Travel Goals Ireland

    Derry Girl: Travel Goals Ireland

    I love the television series “Derry Girls”. The sitcom follows the antics of five friends during the 1980’s in Derry, Northern Ireland. It makes light of coming of age in a town rocked with sectarian violence. Five friends rely on each other as the struggle to make sense of a world that makes no sense.…

  • Leaving in a Jet Plane: Travel Goals

    Leaving in a Jet Plane: Travel Goals

    I used to love air travel. It seemed glamorous and uncomplicated. Over the last two decades, while prices have gone up, the experience has definitely lost its luster. Perhaps I am jaded or turning into an old curmudgeon. Or perhaps profit motive and misguided security measures have ruined the experience. I used to call a…

  • Ships Ahoy: Travel Goals Norway

    Ships Ahoy: Travel Goals Norway

    The Bygdoy maritime museum complex is an all day adventure. We opt to visit all three museums in the complex. We start with the Norwegian Maritime Museum where we get to see a man building a Viking ship using ancient methods (and a few power tools). It is fascinating to see the overlapping construction and…

  • Viking Venture: Travel Goals Norway

    Viking Venture: Travel Goals Norway

    Sometimes I just wake up feeling like a kid. On these days I forget the scholarly pursuits and the to do lists and just look for pure fun. We decide to check out Viking World. This small attraction behind Oslo City Hall is a series of video and vr experiences. Interactive computer simulations explain the…

  • Remembrance: Travel Goals Norway

    Remembrance: Travel Goals Norway

    The Holocaust Center in Oslo is located in the former home of the Norwegian Nazi party leader, Vidkun Quisling. His mansion seems in gross excess compared to most Oslo city dwellings. It is now a center that commemorates the forced removal of over 700 Jewish citizens during World War II. Many of the deportees, especially…

  • Military History: Travel Goals Norway

    Military History: Travel Goals Norway

    We aren’t sure what to expect at the Akershus Festning (Fortress). We walked by the large park/military complex when we first arrived in Oslo (two weeks ago). But it is much bigger than it appeared from our walk along the harbor. The walled fortress houses a castle, a resistance museum, a military museum, outdoor amphitheaters,…