Archive for Don't Miss & Dismiss
Travel to Dublin: Don’t Miss and Dismiss
Posted by: | CommentsDon’t Miss & Dismiss is an occasional series of travel guide posts about the best (Don’t Miss) and worst (Dismiss) tourist sites in cities all over the world.
When I learned a buddy was planning to travel to Dublin, Ireland, I set about putting together a travel guide of things for him to do on his Irish travel trip. Here are my Don’t Miss and Dismiss Dublin opinions.
Don’t Miss: Trinity College Tour
The student-led tour of the grounds is easily my favorite thing to do in Dublin. I enjoy the school’s interesting history and the guides’ often-humorous insight into Irish college life. The tour also includes a visit to the famous Book of Kells and the library’s impressive long room.
Dismiss: Temple Bar
I admit you should take a stroll through the Temple Bar, but don’t stay long. If you’re looking to hang out with a bunch of other tourists, this is the place to find them.
Don’t Miss: Irish Music Pub Crawl
You bet it’s hokey and touristy, but it’s also a darn good time. Led by local musicians, the tour visits a handful of pubs and provides a fun and educational look (and listen) inside traditional Irish music.
Dismiss: Guinness Storehouse
You can’t visit Dublin without drinking a Guinness. That said, I humbly suggest that you throw back your pint of the dark drink somewhere other than the Guinness Storehouse. The expensive (€15) admission doesn’t cover any of the working parts of the brewery, but provides plenty of opportunity to purchase Guinness-branded souvenir junk.
Don’t Miss: Kilmainham Gaol
I likely would have skipped the Kilmainham Jail, but my lovely wife insisted we visit, and I’m glad she did. The guided tour is excellent and brings the jail’s history to life. Kilmainham is a must for anyone remotely interested in Ireland’s struggle for independence.
Dismiss: O’Connell Street
This big, wide boulevard straddles an uninspiring collection of statues honoring Irish heros and is also home to the 390-foot monstrosity called the Spire of Dublin. We found O’Connell Street so mediocre that we didn’t even take any photos.
Don’t Miss: Number 29 Georgian House
An entertaining museum, Number Twenty-Nine Georgian House represents a middle-class Georgian home and
provides an informative look at everyday life in the late 18th century. As an added bonus, the museum is located right off Merrion Square, a great place to photograph a slew of Dublin’s characteristic and colorful Georgian doors.
Travel to Vancouver: A Don’t Miss and Dismiss of Olympic Proportions
Posted by: | CommentsDon’t Miss & Dismiss is an occasional series of travel guide posts about the best (Don’t Miss) and worst (Dismiss) tourist sites in cities all over the world.
The 2010 Winter Olympics kick off today in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. So here’s my travel guide on the host city’s good and bad tourist sites.
Don’t Miss: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
An authentic representation of a Ming Dynasty scholar’s residence, the garden is a calming oasis in the midst of the city’s hustle and bustle. Read the article I wrote about the garden in The Journal Record.
Dismiss: Gastown
Vancouver’s historic center, Gastown is mostly a collection of tourist shops and restaurants. The architecture is somewhat interesting, and the old steam clock is so-so. Just don’t venture outside Gastown’s core area, as we found the surrounding streets a bit rough to say the least.
Don’t Miss: Museum of Anthropology
Located on the campus of the University of British Columbia, the Museum of Anthropology’s authentic totem poles and sculptures are only a small part of its interesting collection of art and artifacts examining the area’s coastal Native American heritage.
Dismiss: Granville Island
If you’ve never before visited a big public market then stop by Granville Island. Otherwise, it’s just another market.
Don’t Miss: Japa Dog and Tojo’s
Unique and tasty grub is one of the best parts of travel to a foreign destination. Two Japanese-inspired, but very different Vancouver options should not be missed. For lunch, stop in at the Japa Dog stand (see my earlier Japa Dog post here). For dinner, grab some sushi at Tojo’s. Fresh ingredients and a modern flare make Tojo’s the best sushi I’ve eaten outside Japan.
Travel to London: Don’t Miss and Dismiss Day Trips
Posted by: | CommentsDon’t Miss & Dismiss is an occasional series of travel guide posts about the best (Don’t Miss) and worst (Dismiss) tourist sites in cities all over the world.
London day trips is the topic for this installment of Don’t Miss and Dismiss. There are numerous sites huddled around the British capital and below is simply a sampling of a few I’ve visited.
Don’t Miss: Hampton Court Palace
So close to central London it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a day trip, but you could easily spend an entire day at King Henry VIII’s enormous palace. Right on the Thames, the palace is one of my favorites. I especially like the Tudor kitchens and Henry’s apartments.
Dismiss: Leeds Castle
About one hour southeast of London, Leeds Castle has an incredibly beautiful exterior and mostly disappointing interior. Built on two islands in the Len River, the castle’s setting makes for great photos, but the renovated interior is dull and uninspiring. Leeds is 11th century on the outside, 1930’s on the inside.
Don’t Miss: Warwick Castle
If you travel to only one medieval castle outside London, make it Warwick. It’s a little hokey, with Madame Tussauds figures manning the dungeon, but the ancient fortifications and elaborate halls and staterooms help fight off the commercialism. About 2.5 hours from London, day tripping to Warwick makes for a long day, but it’s worth every minute.
Dismiss: Stonehenge
It’s hard for me to call it a dismiss, because I always wanted to see Stonehenge, but it’s really just a grouping of big rocks in the middle of a field. An England icon, I was relieved to see the stones had been restored upright after Clark W. Griswald knocked them over during his family’s European vacation. As I look at my photos, I might have to rethink this dismiss.
Don’t Miss: Blenheim Palace
Just north of the university town of Oxford, a worthy travel trip in its own right, Blenheim Palace is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Built between 1705 and 1722, the stunning palace is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
Travel to Copenhagen: Don’t Miss & Dismiss
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s post is the inaugural installment of Don’t Miss & Dismiss, a series of travel guide posts about the best (Don’t Miss) and worst (Dismiss) tourist sites in cities all over the world.
Of Scandinavia’s capital cities, I think Copenhagen is by far the hippest, especially if you schedule your travel trip during the city’s wonderful jazz festival. Here are my Copenhagen highlights and low lights.
Don’t Miss: The Nyhavn Canal
The city’s coolest hangout, the Nyhavn Canal is Copenhagen at its most picturesque. Traditional wooden boats add authenticity to the old sailors’ quarter, and the brightly painted buildings now house trendy restaurants and clubs instead of bars and brothels.
Dismiss: The Little Mermaid
Okay, I know Hans Christian Andersen and Disney made her famous, but she’s just a tiny statue sitting on a rock.
Don’t Miss: Museum of Danish Resistance
Telling the story of the underground fight against Nazi occupation, this small museum weaves an interesting tale of espionage and sabotage.
Dismiss: Christiania
Copenhagen’s counter-culture hippie haven, Christiania was founded in the early 1970s as an alternative to formal Danish society. The main drag is called Pusher Street. As I wrote in an article published in Edmond Life and Leisure, “While a peace-and-love, flower-power child of the 1960s might see this hippie haven as a trip (pun intended) down memory lane, Christiania was not my bag, baby.”
Don’t Miss: Our Savior’s Church spire
It’s not its height that makes Our Savior’s spire so cool, it’s the way you get to the top. What starts out like any other
church tower climb gets much more interesting as the last 150 stairs twist around the outside of the 350-year-old oak spire.
