Tag Archives: Breakfast

Sep19

Mother’s Day in New England – Part 1 in Medway

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Mother’s Day in New England – Part 1 in Medway

Friday, 08-May-2026 through Wednesday, 13-May-2026

It’s been a bit since I’ve been out to New England – and what better reason to go back than to celebrate Mother’s Day? I’d been meaning to go back to visit my Mom and Grandma, and this was the perfect opportunity for not only a good family visit, but also for a bit of an escape from Ireland – a road trip, and catching up with friends…

It started in the dirt.

For years, when I lived in New England, I’d spend Mother’s Day arm deep in soil. I’d drive out to Medway, and I’d spend a day with my Mom caring for the garden – carving spreading lilies out, clearing space, or any other task that just felt a bit too big or annoying for her to tackle solo.

It’s been years since I’ve been able to do that. But now, with the tumult and chaos of Ireland in full swing, I found myself able to wrestle myself away from projects in Dublin, hop on a plane, and come out for some relaxation and good old manual labor.

I can’t quite express just how perfect it was.

I’ve missed gardening, so very much. I’ve missed digging in the dirt, I’ve missed growing things, and none of our houseplants have quite slacked that thirst. I adore the avocado trees, don’t get me wrong! But… they’re small and contained. They don’t quite give the same visceral, primal feel that wrenching infinitely-spreading plants from an outdoor garden gives.

…

Anyways. Yeah. We pulled some of those infinite lilies out, and repotted them for a garden club sale. We ate Chinese, had lovely breakfasts, and had a singularly lovely time.

Sep30

Settling into Dublin – Food!

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The start of August, 2024


After making my way to Dublin, I set about getting used to town. Finding an apartment, adventures, climbing gyms and lifting weights… all of those revolve around good food. And hey – If I’m going to be settling into a city, I’ve got to know where the good food is, right?

And so, I started exploring.



I went with my Dad’s suggestion for finding the best restaurants in the North End, from when I first moved to Boston to start working on my Undergrad degree – “Wander around, follow your nose, and trust in what smells good.”

I wandered, I kept my senses open, and found quite a few good spots!

I’ll actually avoid listing them all out here, unlike the other cities I’ve wandered, simply because there were too many and I wasn’t keeping as tight a set of records as I was while on the Grand Adventure – but that’s fine. I’m settled down here, right? I don’t need to enumerate every little spot… I’ll be here for a while, and I can always find the good places again when I need.

Jun29

The ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn

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Thursday, 06-June-2024


Unlike my cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki, my cruise from Helsinki onward to Tallinn was just a single day – No fancy cabin or overnight stay for me, this time… though a fancy buffet was still in store for your favorite globe-trotting adventurer.

It went simple and easy, I’m very thankful to report – I’d already scouted out the ferry terminal, by simple fact that I’d arrived in Helsinki there, so I knew approximately how long it’d take to get there, the route to pull it off, and approximately where I should go once I arrived. I had a reasonably-early departure too, which meant that I wouldn’t have to store my bags between check-out and check-in, which just made life that much simpler on top of the already clean and easy route.

Thankfully, nothing happened to change that shroud of simplicity throughout the trip. It was, in every sense, simple and easy.



I boarded, stowed my bags, and sat up on the top deck reviewing some photos. I ended up chatting with a lovely lady from Austria named Magdalina, learned a bit about Austria and Vienna, and appreciated having the company before my brunch kicked off.

I went belowdecks for food, enjoyed a glorious selection of hot bits from the buffet, and appreciated past-Ben’s foresight in ordering tickets for the buffet.



I gorged to my hearts content, appreciated past-Ben’s foresight in packing Dramamine, and then headed back up above-deck to be social a bit more before we made land in Estonia.

Then, we made land in Estonia. I disembarked, and headed to my hotel. Simple-simple.