By David Lamb

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

By David Lamb Bike Barge& in Northern Europe by David Lamb marvel at the tales of fortitude “You folks ready to get moving?” our and endurance I read on these Belgian captain, Willy Coupe, 58, asked pages as cyclists take on moun- after the last of our group had clambered tains and deserts and the chal- aboard the Sailing Home, found the cof- lenge of the long, open road. feepot, and been sized for bikes — solid But, truth be told, at age 70, I 24-speed, Shimano-geared Gazelles, manu- no longer can identify with the factured by a Dutch company that has pro- riders, athough once, years ago, I biked duced 13 million bicycles since its found- Ialone across the U.S. So I start with a dis- ing in 1892. claimer: this isn’t a real adventure story. It’s Amsterdam was soon behind us. We a story about how a gang of Social Security headed into Holland’s countryside, biking recipients head overseas every summer for along canals and rivers lined with toiling a leisurely cycling holiday on a private windmills, through 16th-century villages tour we customize ourselves to take into with cathedrals and towering bell towers, account our age and abilities, our penchant everything green and flat and feeling so for comfort, and our aversion to the no-pain Dutch you expected to see people wearing no-gain philosophy. wooden shoes. There were cyclists every- That’s why I was on the piers of a where: men in business suits pedaling to small harbor in downtown Amsterdam work; women with kids’ seats taking their on a breezy morning last June to greet 18 children to school; and teenagers on dates. friends from the U.S. who had signed up for Not surprising, perhaps, considering that, another escapade of what they call “Dave’s with 17,000 miles of bike lanes and more Dream Team.” A dozen barges that had O’Callahan came back with a reasonable bicycles than people, the Netherlands sure- been converted into passenger ships, each quote and I emailed a bunch of friends: ly rates as the world’s most bicycle-friendly with about 10 cabins and bicycles on the “Sandy and I have signed up for this pri- country. deck, swayed in the water. I was looking vate bike trip. Want to join?” 16 did. We passed into Belgium the third day for the vessel Sailing Home, which I had On that trip, everyone knew Sandy and and docked for the night in Ghent, Captain chartered for $29,327 for a week-long, 200- me; most didn’t know each other. The risk Coupe’s hometown, just behind the house- mile bike-and-barge trip from Amsterdam of incompatibility lurked. But, just a few boat on which he lives. His family came to Bruges, a medieval city in Belgium. miles down the road, it became apparent aboard for dinner and drinks. Coupe has Before you gasp at the price — for 20 that a shared adventure, even a tame one, been hauling cargo and passengers over people, including my wife and me — it breeds a congenial cohesion. Several rid- Europe’s waterways since he went to work works out to $1,466 per passenger. Not ers who hadn’t cycled in years feared they as a teenager on his parents’ barge 40 years bad for seven nights on a spiffy floating couldn’t handle 30 miles. They were soon ago. A friend recently tried to recruit him hotel, three meals a day, bicycle rentals, appeased. That’s the beauty of a bicycle. to pilot one of the large cruise ships that and a first-rate guide who rides every mile It rises to meet you at your level of ability. carry tourists on overnight routes like with you, knows the region’s history and Since then, we’ve biked France three Budapest to Prague. The money was better, the best cafés and pubs along the way, and times, the Cotswolds of England, Sweden, but he decided to stick with the cycling can fix flats and cranky derailers in a flash. New Zealand, Holland, and the Danube crowd. My work as pro bono, self-appointed River bike path from Passau Germany, to “I just prefer to work in a family atmo- tour organizer of the Dream Team began Vienna. For the last four years, the same 20 sphere, and that’s what you get when you when a large U.S. cycling company cancelled riders — the maximum I allow to keep the take on a couple dozen bicyclists sharing on short notice a tour of Ireland’s Dingle size of the group manageable — have made a week on the water and the bike paths,” Peninsula that four of us had booked. On our rides and now it’s as though all were said Coupe, who helped set tables and the Internet, I found a family-run cycling lifelong chums. “I block off the first week dry dishes when he was moored. In the outfit in Killarney, Cycle Ireland, that let in June every January even if I don’t know evening, the crew — guide, cook, and two me personalize a tour. I had the call on where we’re going,” one of them said. The mates — would gather in his wheel room, daily mileage (about 30), terrain (hills okay, deal I’ve made with the Dream Team is that and the place would ripple with storytell- not mountains), quality of hotels/inns and anyone who joins a tour gets an automatic ing and laughter. restaurants (top notch), daily luggage trans- invitation the next year. If they skip one, If the idea of putting together your fers (essential), and length of tour (eight they go on a waiting list, which now stands own private tour sounds appealing, here days, one afternoon off). Ciaran and Mary at eight. are some suggestions. First, be selective in BARGE - 2 your invitations and leave the complainers, resource that lists more than 150 routes in off from pedaling, you can stay onboard whiners, obsessive talkers, and dullards 27 countries. You’ll find detailed itinerar- while the vessel slips through canals, riv- at home. Build into your itinerary plenty ies for each tour, the daily mileage and ers, and locks en route to the night’s stop- of time to smell the roses and dawdle in terrain, and the cost and the dates they’re over. And, the captain can drop you off at cafés and towns, castles and museums. At offered. You often have a choice of cycling different places to make the day’s cycling the end of the day, it’s the experience, not on your own or having a guide. There’s also distance longer or shorter. the speed or miles, that matters. Design a a special listing for bike-and-barge tours, a The Sailing Home, 132 feet long and trip everyone can handle. You can keep niche market for cyclists that started about diesel powered, started its life in 1927, car- both the serious cyclist and the faint of 20 years ago and is now offered in Holland, rying sand and stone. In 2000, as the bike- heart happy with two daily overlapping Belgium, Germany, and France. and-barge business grew, it was redesigned itineraries of, say, 25 and 50 miles. The tour This was the second year our group and rebuilt, with an attractive, wood-pan- company should be able to accomplish this chose a bike-and-barge tour, and we set eled restaurant and lounge and an outdoor by finding shortcuts that trim miles off the off every morning on our bikes and caught sunning area on the top deck, and 14 cabins, each with private facilities, on the lower deck. In keeping with the family atmosphere, we poured our own cocktails and wine in the evening and marked an honor sheet with our purchases, to be paid at the end of the journey. The sun didn’t set until nearly 10:00 PM, leaving us ample time after dinner to explore the towns and cities where we docked. In Gouda we bought rounds of the town’s famous cheese. In the Turkish quar- ter of Ghent, we found an Internet café to catch up on emails and baseball scores. All of us — nine couples and two singles — sauntered through Antwerpen’s infamous red light district, separated by only a few blocks from the city’s magnificent central plaza. I don’t think we asked a question that our Dutch guide couldn’t answer. What level of support do you need on a private tour? It depends on the tour. In the Cotswolds, we had no guide. In New Full-service SAG. Members of the group ride past their home away from wheels. Zealand, Steven and Tania MacKay, the Christchurch couple who ran our tour, longer route. up with the boat in a different town every provided a van to carry us and our bikes The most essential element, of course, is afternoon. This type of tour offers casual over the Southern Alps and even served an finding the right overseas tour. But where? cyclists some distinct advantages over our elegant English-style tea along the side of There’s a bewildering array of them, from earlier trips that carried us inn-to-inn over the road each day. In Ireland we didn’t have Armenia to Vietnam. Start your search land. First, you only unpack and pack once a guide, but the company gave us detailed at biketours.direct.com, an invaluable during the week.
Recommended publications
  • Real Ireland- an Investigation Into US Tourists' Holiday Photographs
    Technological University Dublin ARROW@TU Dublin Doctoral Tourism and Food 2014-5 Real Ireland- an Investigation into US Tourists' Holiday Photographs Sean T. Ruane Technological University Dublin Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/tourdoc Part of the Tourism Commons Recommended Citation Ruane, S. T. (2014). Real Ireland:an investigation into US tourists' holiday photographs. Doctoral thesis. Technological University Dublin. doi:10.21427/D7G89Q This Theses, Ph.D is brought to you for free and open access by the Tourism and Food at ARROW@TU Dublin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral by an authorized administrator of ARROW@TU Dublin. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License REAL IRELAND – AN INVESTIGATION INTO US TOURISTS’ HOLIDAY PHOTOGRAPHS SEÁN T. RUANE, MSc. SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT AND TOURISM DUBLIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Submitted for the degree of PhD Supervisors: Dr Bernadette Quinn and Dr Sheila Flanagan Advisory Supervisor: Dr Moya Kneafsey May 2014 ABSTRACT Drawing from literature straddling tourism, marketing, geography and anthropology, this thesis investigates how US tourists consume and thereby make sense of Ireland as a place through practicing photography as part of ‘being a tourist’. The constructivist approach to this research facilitated an exchange of ideas between the researcher and the participants. This exchange between the researcher and the participants, in which knowledge is not discovered, but rather created, informs the hermeneutically-situated methodologies sometimes used by constructivists. The thesis, therefore, employs a suite of participant-focused, hermeneutically-situated methodologies, including in-depth interviews and focus groups to produce a phenomenographical account of how the participants made sense of Ireland as a place.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Luttrellstown Demesne, Co. Dublin
    NORTHERN IRELAND HERITAGE GARDENS TRUST OCCASIONAL PAPER, No 4 (2015) 'Without Rival in our Metropolitan County' - The History of Luttrellstown Demesne, Co. Dublin Terence Reeves-Smyth Luttrellstown demesne, which occupies around 600 acres within its walls, has long been recognised as the finest eighteenth century landscape in County Dublin and one of the best in Ireland. Except for the unfortunate incorporation of a golf course into the eastern portion of its historic parkland, the designed landscape has otherwise survived largely unchanged for over two centuries. With its subtle inter-relationship of tree belts and woodlands, its open spaces and disbursement of individual tree specimens, together with its expansive lake, diverse buildings and its tree-clad glen, the demesne, known as 'Woodlands' in the 19th century, was long the subject of lavish praise and admiration from tourists and travellers. As a writer in the Irish Penny Journal remarked in October 1840: ‘considered in connection with its beautiful demesne, [Luttrellstown] may justly rank as the finest aristocratic residence in the immediate vicinity of our metropolis.. in its natural beauties, the richness of its plantations and other artificial improvements, is without rival in our metropolitan county, and indeed is characterised by some features of such exquisite beauty as are rarely found in park scenery anywhere, and which are nowhere to be surpassed’.1 Fig 1. 'View on approaching Luttrellstown Park', drawn & aquatinted by Jonathan Fisher; published as plate 6 in Scenery
    [Show full text]
  • Evergreen Ireland North Starting at $929.00*
    Evergreen Ireland North Starting at $929.00* Venture north for spectacular beauty Trip details Scenic wonders, lively cities, and cozy firesides: this Tour start Tour end Trip Highlights: winter tour of Ireland showcases the best of the Dublin Dublin • Sheepdog Demonstration northern half of the island. • Sean's Bar 7 6 9 • Galway Days Nights Meals • Giant's Causeway • Crosskeys Inn • Carlingford • The Merry Ploughboy Pub Hotels: • Academy Plaza Hotel • Galway Bay Hotel • Station House Hotel - Letterkenny • AC Hotel by Marriott Belfast 2020/2021 Evergreen Ireland North - 7 Days/6 Nights Trip Itinerary Day 2 Sean's Bar | Galway Walking Tour Day 1 Dublin Panoramic Tour | Welcome Drink Proceed to Athlone for a CIE Tours Exclusive, a visit to Sean's Bar, Ireland's oldest pub dating back to 900 AD. Choose a creamy Irish coffee or another drink and raise Your tour begins at 2:00 PM at your hotel. Enjoy an panoramic tour of Dublin, a city your glass as visitors have for centuries. Travel on to Galway for a guided walking known for its literary heritage, Georgian architecture, famed pubs, and the wit of tour of this buzzing city on the River Corrib. There's much to see in the city that's its people. See the capital city's sights including Trinity College, St. Stephen's been chosen the European Capital of Culture for 2020; the medieval streetscape, Green, the River Liffey and more. Return to your hotel for a welcome drink with Eyre Square, the Spanish Arch. Take some time to explore on your own - listen to your group before free time for dinner on your own.
    [Show full text]
  • New Tour: the Best of the Uk & Ireland
    Join our new Best of UK & Ireland tour PLUS your chance to WIN! NEW TOUR: THE BEST OF THE UK & IRELAND 13-days exploring both the UK and Ireland - this is the ultimate tour of the British Isles! Scotland's getting all the attention at the moment, but you'll see England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales too on our brand new tour, which starts and ends in London. Join us for 13 days of incredible sights, scenery, history and culture. The Best of UK & Ireland tour.............................................................FROM £859 Great Britain tour.................................................................................FROM £399 Irish Explorer tour...............................................................................FROM £349 Book now to take advantage of these early-bird prices! Our prices go up as seats are booked, so book your seat early to secure the very best price! The Best of UK & Ireland Irish Explorer FROM £859 Join us on this brand new FROM £349 This 7-day tour of Ireland 13-day tour of the UK and Ireland! covers all of Ireland's best bits, including Starting in London, you'll see the best of The Ring of Kerry, Dublin, Belfast, the England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Cliffs of Moher, the Wild Atlantic Way and Scotland and Wales! more! Click here to see more details. Click here for details. Great Britain Tour WIN a Great Britain tour FROM £399 How about a saunter around Enter now! Answer a simple question Great Britain? See England, Ireland AND and you'll be entered into a draw to win a Scotland, including the Scottish tour of Great Britain for two! Over 7 days, Highlands, Loch Ness (pictured) and you'll enjoy epic scenery, sightseeing and much much more! fascinating history! Click here for more.
    [Show full text]
  • Southwest Tour and Travel Tour Schedule
    Southwest Tour & Travel SOUTHWEST COACHES INCORPORATED | TRAVEL SOUTHWEST & GO WITH THE BEST June 2019 - March 2020 Table Of Contents 2 Travel Southwest and Go With The Best 3 Pricing Structure 4 New and Exciting Changes - January - May 2019 Tours 6 June Mystery Tour 8 New York City 10 Cape Cod 12 Travel Wisconsin Featuring Old World Wisconsin 14 Grand Alaska Land Tour 16 Grand Alaska Land Tour Optional Dates 18 The Wild, Wild West 22 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Tour 24 Ontario Featuring Niagara Falls 28 First Passage to the West with Rocky Mountaineer 30 Indianola National Balloon Classic 32 Alaska and the Yukon by Land & Sea 34 Northern Wisconsin 36 August Mystery 38 Creation Museum & Ark Encounter 40 Spotlight on Chicago 42 Nova Scotia & The Maritimes 44 Classic Canada & New England Cruise 47 A Tasty Adventure in the Twin Cities 48 Door County Including Warrens Cranberry Festival 50 Grand New England 54 America’s Deep South 56 Shades of Ireland 58 A Celebration of Service 60 Holidays in Branson 62 Christmas in Branson 64 Reflections of Italy 66 San Antonio Christmas on the Riverwalk 68 Amish Christmas in Shipshewana 70 A Twin Cities Holiday 72 Tournament of Roses 74 American Queen 75 Hawaiian Island Cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line 77 Warm Weather Fly Mystery 78 Envision Vegas 2020 80 Southern Texas 83 Twins Spring Training 84 California Dreaming 86 Benefits of Travel 87 Full Service Travel Agency 88 Honeymoon Registry & Destination Weddings 89 Charter Services 90 General Information 91 Terms & Conditions 92 Tour Schedule June 2019 to March 2020 Sit back and relax as you travel with Southwest Tour and Travel.
    [Show full text]
  • Shades of Ireland March 13 – 22, 2021
    Laramie County Community College presents… Shades of Ireland March 13 – 22, 2021 Book Now & Save $100 Per Person For more information contact Life Enrichment office Laramie County Community College (307) 778-1236 [email protected] 10 Days ● 13 Meals: 8 Breakfasts, 5 Dinners Book Now & Save $100 Per Person: * Double $3,729; Double $3,629 Single $4,329; Single $4,229; Triple $3,699 Triple $3,599 For bookings made after Sep 14, 2020 call for rates. Included in Price: Round Trip Air from Denver International airport, Air Taxes and Fees/Surcharges, Hotel Transfers Not included in price: Cancellation Waiver and Insurance of $329 per person * All Rates are Per Person and are subject to change, based on air inclusive package from DEN Upgrade your in-flight experience with Elite Airfare Additional rate of: Business Class $4,190 † Refer to the reservation form to choose your upgrade option IMPORTANT CONDITIONS: Your price is subject to increase prior to the time you make full payment. Your price is not subject to increase after you make full payment, except for charges resulting from increases in government-imposed taxes or fees. Once deposited, you have 7 days to send us written consumer consent or withdraw consent and receive a full refund. (See registration form for consent.) Collette’s Flagship: Collette’s tours open the door to a world of amazing destinations. Marvel at must-see sights, sample regional cuisine, stay in centrally located hotels and connect with new and captivating cultures. These itineraries offer an inspiring and easy way to experience the world, where an expert guide takes care of all the details.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Ireland’S Nationalist Leaders
    EUROPE Grand Tour of IRELAND 16 TRAVELLERS PER GROUP 2021 September 12 — September 25 2022 April 24 — May 7 DAYS 1 & 2 GOODBYE CANADA, GOOD DAY IRELAND! DAY 8 GALWAY, CONNEMARA & KYLEMORE ABBEY (125 KM) Enjoy a private car ride to the airport. Travellers departing from the Toronto Explore Galway with a guided tour showcasing the Hiberno-Saxon frescos airport are assisted with their check-in. Meet your dedicated Group Guru of the Galway Cathedral, as well as the famous Lynch House. Marvel at the and fellow travellers and y overnight to Dublin. Following lunch and a one-of-a-kind crystal ware crafted by the skilled artisans at the Celtic Crystal refresh at our hotel, set off on a guided tour of Trinity College, Ireland’s factory. On your way to Connemara, admire exceptional landscapes punc- oldest university and home to the world-famous Book of Kells – a beautiful tuated by stone walls, quaint farms and secluded cottages. Stop at the pictu- illuminated medieval manuscript. Mingle during our welcome cocktail before resque Kylemore Abbey for a memorable visit. Overnight in Westport. (B,L,D) sitting down for dinner. Overnight in Dublin. (L,D) DAY 9 CARROWMORE CEMETERY & DONEGAL (176 KM) DAY 3 DISCOVER DUBLIN Depart for Carrowmore, one of the largest Stone Age cemeteries in Europe, th Begin your day with a guided tour of the 13 -century Dublin Castle. Continue whose rolling hills are dotted with megalithic monuments such as dolmens, on to Christ Church Cathedral, a site with almost 1,000 years of living his- passage tombs and stone circles erected over 7,000 years ago.
    [Show full text]
  • Cycling Ulster AGM 2018
    Cycling Ulster AGM 2018 Cycling Ulster AGM 3rd November 2018 : O’Neill Arms Hotel : Toomebridge, Co Antrim : 12 Noon Agenda 1. Chairman’s Address 2. To adopt the standing orders for the orderly conduct of the AGM. 3. To consider the Minutes of the AGM of Saturday 4th November 2017. 4. To receive the Financial statement to December 2017 approved by Cycling Ireland and the Income and Expenditure Statement for 9 months ended September 2018 5. To fix the Cycling Ulster levy for 2018 6. To Receive the following Reports Secretary’s report Vice Chairman’s Report Safeguarding Officer’s report Road Commission report Off-Road Commission report Youth Academy report BMX Report Track Commission report Women’s Commission report Commonwealth Games Update Mary Peter’s Awards and Leisure Technical Officer’s report 7. Updated Constitution open for discussion and ratification (An overview of the major changes will be given by Marian Lamb) 8. Motions 9. Election of Officers. To elect the following officers to the Executive – • Chairman • Treasurer • Safeguarding Officer • Four Officers to the Executive Close of business. Cycling Ulster is the Provincial Federation and a sub-committee of The Irish Cycling Federation trading as Cycling Ireland, an Irish registered company limited by guarantee. Company Registration Number - 134567 Cycling Ulster AGM 2018 Item 1. Chairman’s Address Item 2. To adopt the standing orders for the orderly conduct of the AGM. (Excerpts from the Cycling Ulster Constitution.) ARTICLE 14 - STANDING ORDERS Honorary Chairperson The Honorary Chairperson shall have the right to preside at all meetings and shall have power to decide points of order, priority of speakers and his decisions upon these matters and the rules of debate shall be final.
    [Show full text]
  • Shades of Ireland Booklet
    Tiffin University presents… Shades of Ireland May 18 – 27, 2019 See Back Cover Book Now & Save $300 Per Person For more information contact Vickie Wilkins Tiffin University (419) 448-3595 [email protected] 10 Days ● 13 Meals: 8 Breakfasts, 5 Dinners Book Now & Save $300 Per Person: * Double $4,299; Double $3,999 Single $4,849; Single $4,549 Triple $4,269 Triple $3,969 For booki ngs made after Nov 19, 2018 call for rates. Included in Price: Round Trip Air from Columbus Intl Airport, Air Taxes and Fees/Surcharges, Hotel Transfers Not included in price: Cancellation Waiver and Insurance of $315 per person * All Rates are Per Person and are subject to change, based on air inclusive package from CMH Upgrade your in-flight experience with Elite Airfare Additional rate of: Business Class $3,990 † Refer to the reservation form to choose your upgrade option IMPORTANT CONDITIONS: Your price is subject to increase prior to the time you make full payment. Your price is not subject to increase after you make full payment, except for charges resulting from increases in government-imposed taxes or fees. Once deposited, you have 7 days to send us written consumer consent or withdraw consent and receive a full refund. (See registration form for consent.) Collette’s Flagship: Collette’s tours open the door to a world of amazing destinations. Marvel at must-see sights, sample regional cuisine, stay in centrally located hotels and connect with new and captivating cultures. These itineraries offer an inspiring and easy way to experience the world, where an expert guide takes care of all the details.
    [Show full text]
  • ENCHANTING IRELAND a Tour of the Emerald Isle July 1-13, 2018
    ENCHANTING IRELAND A TOUR OF THE EMERALD ISLE July 1-13, 2018 13 days for $5,472 total price from Rochester, NY ($5,095 air & land inclusive plus $377 airline taxes and fees) This tour is provided by Odysseys Unlimited, six-time honoree Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best Tour Operators award. An exclusive small group tour for alumni & friends of the University of Rochester Featuring Chad W. Post, Director of Open Letter Books Dear University of Rochester alumni and friends, Please join us on a special 13-day journey to enchanting Ireland. Beginning in the lively capital of Dublin, traveling through festive Galway, and ending in medieval Kilkenny, our small group of travelers will experience Ireland’s many charms. Breathtaking landscapes, rich heritage, and cultural expression – the Emerald Isle has it all. Chad Post, director of Open Letter Books at the University of Rochester, will join us to enhance the educational highlights of the tour. Begin in Dublin with a tour of Ireland’s beautiful capital. Next, head west to Galway and intriguing Inishmore, the largest of the fabled Aran Islands. Travel south along the scenic coastline of County Clare, cross by ferry into County Kerry, and explore Killarney. Travel along the Ring of Kerry, and visit 15th-century Blarney Castle, home of the celebrated Blarney Stone. Finally, tour the cultural capital of Kilkenny before returning to Dublin for a farewell dinner. An optional 4-day/3-night post-tour extension in Northern Ireland is also available. We expect this tour to fill quickly, so your early reservations are encouraged.
    [Show full text]
  • Irish Heritage. IRISH EXPERIENCE, Created with Care
    2019 18 years STRONG! CANADIAN COMPANY, THE AUTHENTIC Irish Heritage. IRISH EXPERIENCE, created with care. Welcome to our 18th year of making memories in Ireland with you. We can recommend our tours to you It’s been our genuine pleasure to because we’ve experienced them ourselves. invite you to experience Ireland up We’ve explored the magnificent basalt close and personal, and we’re proud columns at the Giant’s Causeway and of the part we’ve played in helping breathed the coastal air at the mighty Cliffs of to create thousands of exceptional Moher. We’ve experienced the warm, inviting vacations. As our business has grown atmosphere of a Dublin pub and immersed during this time, the fundamental ourselves in the rich mythology embedded purpose of RIT has remained the deep into the living rock of Irish castles. same: to give you an authentic, We want you to feel the same enthusiasm hand-crafted vacation experience about Ireland that we do. With us, your that you won’t soon forget. vacation is in good hands. Irish roots run deep ONE NAME, AT RIT. four spectacular destinations. Though Canada is home for the Duffy family, Ireland is in our blood. As we open tours to new regions This patriotic love is the driving of the British Isles and beyond, our force behind everything we do. We priority is that we don’t forget where pride ourselves on the unparalleled, we came from. For this reason, we’ve personal experiences that we make rolled all of our tours in under the possible through our strong familiarity name of RIT.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural and Political Geographies of the AIDS Crisis in Ireland
    Cultural and Political Geographies of the AIDS Crisis in Ireland Gisele Eugenia O’Connell This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of M.Litt (Master of Literature) Maynooth University Department of Geography February, 2017 Head of Department: Professor Gerry Kearns Supervisors: Professor Gerry Kearns and Dr Alistair Fraser Contents Abstract………...…………………..…………………………………………………..……………..……..2 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….…………...3 List of Tables/Figures…………………………………………………………………………………........5 1. Research Overview………………………..…………………………………………………….…..........6 1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………............................6 1.2 The Irish AIDS Crisis and Cultural Context……...………………………………………..…...........8 2. Conceptual Framework. Biopolitical Precarity and AIDS Governance…………………………….......14 2.1 Biopolitics and The Government of Life……………………………………………………………....14 2.2 Precarity and Precarious Life…………………………………………………………….…............22 2.3 Precarity and Services/Organisation…………….………………………………………................29 3. Research Design……………………………………………………………………………….…..........34 3.1 Methodology……..…….……………………………………………………………………..........34 3.2 Ethics…………….………………………………………………………………………………....39 3.3 Participants………………………………………….………………………….............................41 3.4Methods…………………………………….………………………………………………………..43 3.4.1 Ethnographic Observation……………………………………………................................43 3.4.2 Interviews………………………………………………………………..............................46 3.4.3 Documentary Research……………………………………………………………………...46
    [Show full text]