I’ve been reading travel books by Dervla Murphy for quite some time now. I started in  chronological order with “Full Tilt” followed by “Tibetan Foothold“. The books  were a sort of novelty to me. I have never read anything so sincere, straightforward and honest. I was fascinated by her style and stories so when I received Dervla Murphy’s biography from Eland I started reading it right away. Here is why you should read “Wheels within Wheels“, too. Ireland It always amazes me how well people remember their childhood and how deep the events and emotions are hidden in our memory. “Wheels within Wheels” is a memorable journey in time.  The author invites us to follow her footsteps in her early years, to explore the history of her family and to discover the nature of relationships with close relatives. It all started in Ireland, before the 2nd world war, when three of them – mother, father and little Dervla – move into a small village Lismore. A remote location in rural Ireland with a beautiful landscape in the background which shaped Dervla’s personality and habits more than anything else. Except, perhaps, her mother’s illness and both parents’ love for books. Personal There is also a particular detail in Dervla Murphy’s biography that I find very powerful. My Mum, just like her mum, is disabled and thus my childhood has been influenced by caring for her. Although my Mum has been more independent than Dervla’s mother  it still influenced me and who I am today. Caring for somebody else, thinking about somebody else’s need and just getting the focus away from myself was my daily routine. I had a beautiful childhood irrespectively of my Mum’s condition, but I see many similarities between myself and the author. Bicycle I found it particularly interesting that an Irish girl, with no formal education, possessed such a curiosity for  other places, cultures, and languages, such a vivid imagination and, at the same time, her actions were characterized to a great extent by common sense. Her childhood in rural Ireland honed her material needs to a minimum which allowed her to travel the world in a very particular way. I hadn’t realized earlier that she stayed with her mother until the very end and only after her death Dervla’s plans to travel the world were realized. Enough to say she was thirty by then. When she finally began her first journey into the unknown, she felt the need to know the world quite urgently. And it was possible because one day her parents gave her a bike. It was love at first sight and soon, even though restrained by the home duties, she ventured out on bike trips. Every time she went further and further until she realized that there was no reason why she shouldn’t cycle wherever she wanted – even to India. Books It is fascinating to learn about her childhood and the way she was learnt about the world through books. Her father was librarian and grandfather a scholar so although she didn’t finish  school due to the hardship within her family, these two men influenced her greatly. Reading every book she found was her way of keeping her mind open, exercising her imagination, and in some years marked by extreme difficulties reading books also kept her sane. Choices This biography is a wonderful testimony that family matters and it marks us to an extent we would never imagine. It shows the author’s ups and downs, fulfilling friendships and school failure, ethical and religious dilemmas, and the everyday struggle to keep her spirits high. Furthermore, the book helps to understand that for Dervla the journey was not only just travelling around, discovering new countries or even talking to the people she met and sharing their reality for a while. It was a deep human activity she undertook out of a need to realize her dream and to fully develop what she believed she was called for. Typically for Dervla her difficult road towards independence in her own words was summarized as follows: “The school was hard, but the knowledge was priceless.” No regrets, no bitterness, no fuss. In her life, everything that should have happened, did happen. And it all made her an amazing person she is today. Wisdom Dervla Murphy traveled the world on her bike. You might think that through her journeys she became knowledgeable and smart but I think, who she is today, is derived from her difficult childhood and obstacles she was confronted with. She was smart before she ever started traveling. And her way of travelling is a result of who she is. Not the other way around. There is one certain thing about Dervla Murphy and her biography: they are characterized by sincerity and integrity, so precious and so rare nowadays. Apparently, formal education is not everything. My biggest regret after reading this book is the missing part of the second half of Dervla’s life. I would be very interested in what happened after her success, how did this change her life, whether she likes meeting her audience and how the international recognition influenced her traveling. Dear Dervla, if you are reading it part two, please!  

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Tbex 2014 in Athens is coming and I’m obviously participating this amazing event. I thought this is a right moment to share some memories from Ireland here. See who I was at Tbex with! Here are some nice captures of these jolly fellows with links to their blogs. I think you might find it interesting! Just as we did! Spending few days in Ireland together was a vibrant and very energetic time. The ideas were just flying around! I would love to share some of the best moments of this trip. So here they are! This is Erin who runs a blog called Travel with Bender. She is Australian mum traveling around the world with all her family. We had eaten our first oyster together! Unforgettable. And in June 2014 she visited Poznan! I have never imagined this was possible but it happened for real! We met in my home city and it was so nice to refresh our memories! Vera from Finding the Universe was sitting next to me in a bus. We met later in Poznan too, having a lovely lazy walk around my Home City. This is Sarah. She is French and so her blog is in French too. Charming girl with curly hair! We both got soaked at our segway tour so we have unforgettable memories of drying our clothes in a hotel. And here is Nick. American guy and adrenaline junky in one. We shared our Killary Adventure. The Big Swing was fun, wasn’t it? He runs a travel blog Nick’s Travel Bug. Here is Lanora from Writing Travel. Her speciality is photography so she was hanging around with her camera watching everything very carefully to get a perfect capture. Amazing photos! Who else? Oh, yes, Corey. Our Irish guru, although not Irish. Rather American with Polish roots. But his blog is focused on Ireland so he felt like at home. His blog is a winner of Best Blog Diaspora 2013. Congratulations and I hope to see you soon! Whose turn is now? Another Aussie in our company. Meet Brendon from Nerd Travels. Hs is on his journey for a long time so being a backpacker in everyday travel (how does this sound?) he was impressed with excellent quality hotels we had been staying at. Johnny is both: chef and traveler. He runs a blog Vagabundus. We had a lovely adventure at Killary Adventure park. Plus he was always sharing some interesting tips on food and kitchen. Best spot at the Irish cottage was taken in a second! And last but not least two German fellows: both running blogs in German so visit their blogs if you speak the language. Carina from the Pink Compass  and Robin from Weltreisejunkies. We met later with Robin in Berlin at ITB Travel Fair in March 2014. The world is really small!    

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Meet Megan, a great journalist and travel blogger. She is Australian and she travels around the world with her American husband. Needless to say that for last 7 years they had many adventures and they willingly share it on their blog. Exclusively for Null&Full blog Megan shared her favorite high adrenalin activities in Ireland. I love Ireland and I enjoyed my stay there a lot but looking at these activities by Megan I feel like I missed something. Instead of going as far as New Zealand I probably should focus on Ireland! Because services offered there are breathtaking. Finding adventure in Ireland Ireland could easily be considered to be the adventure capitol of the world. Stunning landscapes and dramatic scenery lend themselves to high adrenalin activities such as zip lining, abseiling and water sports, and the country offers ample opportunities for extreme sports like skydiving and white water rafting.  Think soaring through brooding forests with views of magical castles or spectacular coastlines. I guarantee you it’s a thrill. Think stepping over the edge of a vertical rock face and looking down when all you can see is the Atlantic Ocean – treacherous waves which crash against the rugged cliffs with spectacular force. It’s terrifying but terrific! And even though these experiences in Ireland were phenomenal, and some of the more adventurous fetes I’ve completed in my life, nothing will get your adrenalin racing more than traveling to the country in the first place. That’s right – the biggest adventure of all, is traveling to Ireland itself. Your adrenalin will pump from just being there. You’ll shake with excitement from the views. You’ll get lost in Irish music & traditional dance. You’ll get drunk from traditional Irish brew. Our adventure started with an Irish tour guide (Patty) who had us in stitches with his insane sense of humor. As with the majority of the Irish population, he was truly blessed with the gift of the gab, and all I remember from our tour of the country is laughing until my sides burst.  We arrived in Ireland with an action packed itinerary which included zip lining, abseiling, rafting and time on water skis, though these proved to be merely an appetizer to a much larger experience. More exciting than the water skis, I can assure you your adrenalin starts pumping as you make the walk across the mind blowing Cliffs of Moher. At 750 ft high the cliffs are both strikingly beautiful and incredibly intimidating, plunging dramatically straight down into the sea with crazy views of the Aran Islands. Would you walk this? Another highlight was a visit to the nearby Burren area. which was a 200 million year old botanical and geological wonderland – and was truly as though we could have been walking on the moon! If you were to tell me I would enjoy karaoke more than zip lining, I would tell you that you were mad. Though in Ireland, Karaoke is a sport. And sharing a beer with colorful Irish characters in one of the country’s many famous pubs is an adventure within itself.  While we would spend our days devouring the country’s many spectacular sights, we would spend the nights partying until we saw leprechauns. There was live music, Irish dancing and absolutely unforgettable memories.  So yes, travel to Ireland for the adventurous activities. Travel to Ireland for the spectacular views. Travel to Ireland for the mountains, the lakes, castles and national parks. But in doing so, realize that the true adventure is in traveling to Ireland itself.   You can’t land here without being swept up in an almost crazy culture which will instantly capture your heart. This is the true adventure.  About Megan Megan is an Australian Journalist who has been traveling and blogging around the world for the last 7 years to inspire others to embark on their own worldwide adventure. Her husband Mike is an American travel photographer, and together they have made the world their home. Meg authors “Mapping Megan”, an adventure travel blog which aims to give you the best tips and advice on traveling, volunteering, living, working and holidaying abroad. You can follow her journey on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram also. Picture credits: courtesy of Megan. Cliffs of Moher photo CC Martin Abegglen http://tinyurl.com/prd2tm4    

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A month ago publishing house Eland got in touch with me referring to my short review of Nicolas Bouvier book The Way of The World, which is my favorite of all times. They sent me a parcel afterwards with a delightful content: 3 travel books to review! I was so happy when I got this parcel from my postman. And just today I’ve finished reading the first book: “Full Tilt. Ireland to India with a Bicycle” by Dervla Murphy. And I am ready to tell you if this book is worthy to read. No spoilers! Promise. One of the best thing in this book is its sincerity and authenticity. At the very beginning of this book author explains her reasons why she did not add any general information about the countries she visited afterwards. And I really appreciate it even if at first I thought this might be a bad idea. On the contrary. This book is a plain and very personal diary of a brave woman who dared to make her dream come true. Riding a bike from Europe to India is a huge physical challenge even today and Dervla was a single woman and did it over 50 years ago. This dream driven journey was not an easy one and every page of this books confirms the truth: nothing worth having comes easy. I think I appreciate this book not only for its sincerity but also for making this journey far from trivial. Obviously, the world has changed in the last 50 years and travels have never been easier than today. And I think reading books like this one captures the essence of traveling as deep human action. Dervla had a certain level of self consciousness: she wanted meeting people just who they are and how they live but she knew her limitations. Even though her biking through the half of the world was extraordinary and she did it as simple as she could she was meeting these people as a guest. A nice one, admired one, open minded and delighted about the places visited but at the end of the day she was always a guest. And she knew it. She did not allow herself to believe that sooner or later she would become a local. What I really love about her book is that she hadn’t tried to convince the reader that she becomes friends with people she met in a minute without even knowing their language. Although I believe in some sort of familiarity with others the full and deep understanding of exotic cultures does not come easy. Not only time spent in this journey – over half a year – gave Dervla a luxury of slow and delightful sinking into the countries and cultures. Going further, her philosophy of traveling is straightforward, and yet so difficult to obtain today! Just as she says “…the general attitude to my conception of traveling, which I once took for granted as normal behaviour but which strikes most people as wild eccentricity, merely because it involves a certain amount of what is now regarded as hardship but was to all our ancestors a feature of everyday life – using physical energy to get from point A to point B” (Murphy, 2010:143). Combination of self sacrifice, effort, endurance, determination and “driving one’s body far beyond the limits of its natural endurance” (p. 193) granted her right to see, smell, touch and hear the exotic world. Just as it was. To my surprise, even 50 years ago there were people to whom traveling was just an expensive hobby. After meeting one of them Dervla said: “To them, travel is more a going away from rather than going towards, and they seem empty and unhappy and bewildered and pathetically anxious for companionship, yet are afraid to commit themselves to any ideal or cause or other individual” (italics original, Murphy, 2010:95). Reading these words and knowing she noticed it in the early 60. was fascinating. I got the impression that the main effort of travelers nowadays is focused on security, live updates and taking pictures rather than traveling for real. Once, there were many virtues crafted through traveling, like being resourceful, but it’s lost now. I think that the most beautiful picture from this book was the one when very tired and starved Dervla was helped to cross a white water by a cow. She caught the cow one hand and her bike the other and crossed the river. How cool is that? Last thing that I like about this book is referred to sharing her emotions like fear, anger caused by helplessness towards bureaucracy, homesickness, sadness, joy and delight. Dervla did it in perfect proportions: I didn’t feel overwhelmed with the description of the situations that caused these emotions but it was powerful enough to be touched. I highly recommend reading this book to everybody who treat traveling seriously. Reading this book will bring you a huge bonus of crossing countries that are not there anymore, (like Persia), visiting places that have been irreversibly changed, and witnessing a sensitive process of knowing The Other. About Dervla Murphy Dervla Murphy is a legend and Fill Tilt was her first book published ever. She wrote twenty other books afterwards but the first one reviewed here is very special. She currently lives in Ireland and – this might shock you – she still travels! Dervla is very Irish through both sides of her family. Indeed her father and aunt Kathleen were freedom fighters in the IRA struggling against British rule over Ireland. She still lives in the town she was born in where her father worked as the librarian. All pictures and note about author courtesy of Eland Publishing House.  

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It’s St. Patrick’s Day today! The whole world celebrates the patron of Ireland and so do I. Ireland is a wonderful country and due to its long and turbulent history it has very particular traditions, culture, music, language and feasts. Following this important tradition of remembering the saints and patrons I am sharing few impressions from my first stay in Ireland. It’s been almost a year since I went there for the first time so it is good to reflect a bit about it. My impressions from the Green Ireland were published on website of a local tour operator Tour Ireland. Read it right here and stay green in St. Patrick’s Day!    

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I blame Nicolas Bouvier for many things. For my love for books, travel and delight with the world. I have never met him. He died sixteen years ago after a filfulling life of a traveler and a writer. Not meeting him in person is one of my biggest regrets in life. Fortunately what he left is more than we could hope for. So here is my tribute to this amazing man. I’ll share some thoughts on his first and best known book: The Way of the World (published originally in French, under the title L’Usage du Monde, published in English by Eland). This book is a masterpiece. In order to write it Nicolas Bouvier threw himself into a one year and a half journey from Geneva to India first, and was writing it for five years afterwards. Five years! I still cannot believe in his determination. But this book justifies it with every page and every chapter. My favorite thing about it is the essence of a real journey: the author exclude any rush from his travel. He had time to stay in a place for few weeks of months. He allowed himself to become friends with local people. He got close to the ethnic music and local celebrations. He struggled with obstacles (formalities when crossing borders), difficulties (breakdown of the car), and eventually reached his destination. He showed real determination although he was not brutal nor impatient. He played this game according to its rules. And this is why he got back rich and full of places, people and their stories. My favorite scene described in this book is referred to difficult situation and reaction of the author. Imagine your car broke down, in a middle of nowhere (literally!), no human activity as far as your sight reaches, no chances for help. And what Nicolas Bouvier does? He gets out of the car, sits under the tree and smokes his cigaret while contemplating amazing view of the valley. Eventually every difficulty is resolvable. The help came even though they had to spend night in a car under the tree in the middle of nowhere. But the view of night sky stayed with him forever. I wish every travel author was so careful about details, so open and so patient. In the traveling community nowadays this is hard to find. People tend to run around like mad looking for another amazing spot they can photograph and share it on their social media. I think this is a very good opportunity to remind us all what the real journey is about: to allow yourself to get transformed by it. And to never cease to delight with the world as it is. This is not the only post about Nicolas Bouvier on this blog. If you are interested in his stay on the Aran Island you can read it here.  

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Another week, another guest post. It looks like an epic accumulation! But here it is: how to prepare a journey that will change your life? Tough question but if you focused on the crucial things you will come much closer to the answer on how to do it. My guest post on Thinking Nomads blog is here. Writing this post after few months made me think how much I miss Ireland. It doesn’t look like I go there in the nearest future but really hope to visit it this year. If only for few days…Let’s get back to the best memories!  

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A food focused post! Finally! I know that some people would not considered Ireland a world capital of good food but I think there is much to talk about. Full Irish Just this morning I found out that ‘full’ means in Swedish ‘drunk’ which would be really bizarre if used with Irish breakfast afterwards. Well, there is nothing of that kind with full Irish breakfast. Here is what we are talking about: eggs, sausage, beacon, beans, tomatoes, white and black pudding and mushrooms. My favorite part of it would be eggs and sausages, and, in fact, if you eat a similar breakfast in the UK or in Canada the sausages are always very tasty. The basic difference between the English version of breakfast is white and black pudding. Now, I’m not an expert and I won’t tell you what is inside but I can assure you it is quite good and it gives an Irish flavor to it. I like it. My Italian readers probably turn their heads with disgust by now but I would like to assure you that such breakfast eaten in Ireland would be really good. If you think about gloomy weather outside, rain, fog and cold it might slightly change your opinion on that. For me eating full Irish (as they call it here) when I’m in Ireland is a perfect solution to go through the day. Just like Penny from the Aran Islands was always saying. And it works. When you eat this breakfast you don’t need to worry about lunch. It will allow you to last until the dinner time. Second breakfast If you had full Irish skip it. But if you had a light continental one you could think about eating a sort of snack before the lunch brake. As we were crossing Ireland we spent a pleasant morning in a small town Roscommon. We stayed at the Glesson’s Cafe having a delicious second breakfast. Freshly baked  fruit scones is something between a cookie and a muffin, it’s sweet, it has raisins in it and I ate it with homemade confiture. The place is known for its excellence in the area. Their products are prepared by themselves and I must say they are really tasty. The scones are also baked without fruits and can be eaten with cream or butter. When looking at the picture and the size of the scones you might think this is not much but I can assure you that one scone is enough to fill your stomach! Lunch That’s right, it’s only noon and we already have three meals eaten! I don’t expect that all Irish eat this much everyday, however, the beauty behind is that whenever you feel hungry there is always something suitable you can eat. And it’s awesome! Especially, when you travel and it is hard to plan the precise time of having meals. Irish lunch comes in a huge variety: both in terms where you eat it and what you eat. To give you two examples: a family owned pub in Newport called Grainne Uaile welcomed us with a traditional soup and stew, while Mulranny Park Hotel prepared fresh oysters. Huge variety of food served gives you an opportunity to try something else each day. The speciality of the region would be sea food, a variety of fishes but also venison. It was the first time I have eaten an oyster. Ever. Although it was served in a very exquisite way with pomegranate and other bloggers said it was delicious I would admit that this is not my favorite food. I am very happy I tried it, though. Now I know for sure that I prefer meat. Beer& Cider You can’t leave Ireland before you drink a pint of Guinness and cider. And there is always good time to do it. Any time after noon, I mean. Now, I’m not a huge fan of beer, to be honest, so you might not believe in what I say about it, but I was very lucky to visit the Guinness Storehouse and to join the party for the Tbex bloggers there. The part itself was fabulous but let me tell you a word about the beer. As the Guinness Storehouse is a core of production process of this excellent beer, the history of this family run business was introduced. We had an opportunity to meet people whose responsibility is tasting the beer on a daily basis to make sure its quality is perfect. The storehouse prepares a sort of short show in beautiful interiors with instruction from the experts how to drink it. I followed the instructions and tried one small glass of Guinness starting with sniffing its aroma, and having white mustache after sipping it. So, if me- a beer abstinent- says it was good it really means something! For me cider would be a favorite drink in Ireland and in the UK. I also drunk it in Canada and it was also delicious. Unfortunately, I had no chance to try the small local companies products and was always drinking the most popular ones, but even though it is very tasty. I need to get back to Ireland to taste some local ciders some day. Dinner and everything else By the time it’s evening you might be very hungry or completely full, depending on how many of the meals you had through the day. Evening would be a good time to sit in a pub and have a traditional fish& chips with a pint of beer, but it is also excellent opportunity to visit some fancy restaurant. We had a chance to try both: traditional Irish cuisine and some new compositions of tastes (seaweeds seams to be very trendy at the moment). Two remarkable places with excellent food: Twelve Hotel and Portfinn Lodge& Fjord Restaurat. The Twelve Hotel served all seafood imaginable, including exquisite dumplings with seafood filling. They were placed on seaweed and served on a St. James shell just like the picture below shows....

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Crossing Ireland by bus gave all Tbex blogger an opportunity to see the landscape of the island. We saw endless green pastures with sheep and cows walking around. We saw stone walls and some small towns in county Mayo and Connemara. BUT until our last day we hadn’t have an opportunity to get a full picture: the cultural experience was missing. Our guides from Failte Ireland thought about it in advance and so the last morning was spent in a charming remote location called Cnoc Suain: Conmara Gaelic Culture Experience. Irish Cottage I saw the typical Irish cottage before on my recent trip to the Aran Island but I didn’t have a chance to enter one. People who run this place- Cnoc Suain- bought an old cottage and renovated it. They did their best to keep most of it as it was hundred years ago. Our tour started in one of the cottages in front of the warm fireplace. Cosy is a word that I used in Ireland every day! But have a look for yourself! Isn’t it cosy? Entering the cottage brought us not only to warm and cosy interior but way long back in time. One of our hosts demonstrated the traditional bread making speaking and singing in real Irish! That was really powerful experience as the Irish language is very different from English. She was telling the stories about the previous owners, about the everyday life organization,  emigration to the US and hardship of the rural life. It was like a visit at the house of grandparents who love to tell the stories. There was everything what I recall from my childhood: warm, smell of a fireplace, good food and lovely voice that was telling the stories. The owners do their best to bring the old times to live and they are pretty successful. Turf After we experienced the taste of traditional irish bread we went to another building prepared for groups to give a precise information about the turf that has served to heat the cottages for a long time. We saw the whole process of growing, harvesting and drying. The host’s story was accompanied with touching and smelling the plants at every stage of the turf production. Music & Dance We left the turf and switched to a lovely cottage with wooden floor and warm fireplace. There was a local musician who was waiting for us with his show. He told us about the traditional Irish whistle demonstrating like 7 different sizes of it. He was playing his accordion and singing the traditional music. At some point few volunteers had their first dancing lesson. That was fun! The dance didn’t seam to be difficult but large group of people doing the same thing at the same time is always spectacular. They were quite good at it! The conclusion of our stay at Cnoc Suain was watching the other cottages ready for the guests. You can actually rent a small cottage only for yourself and stay as at sort of B&B. It is really cute! Not only from the outside but it is also very cosy inside. I think it would be really fun to stay here for a little bit longer to enjoy the silence and wonderful Irish landscape.    

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If I went to the Little Museum of Dublin earlier it would be on my list of my 5 best museums in the world! I mean it! Although it is small for me that was one of the best things I saw in Dublin. For many reasons. Mainly because it stands for a completely new way of organizing a museum and get people interested in an issue or a place. But also because of its marvelous exhibits and wonderful staff. If you’re in Dublin you simply cannot miss it! I first read about this museum at Everywhereist blog and I knew I wish to visit it when I’m in Dublin. And I made it! So thank you Geraldine for sharing it! Less is more The name of this museum is absolutely right: it is little. 2 floors of half of this building at the picture above is enough to get people interested in Dublin and its history. First, a gentleman who welcomes you. An old fashioned bow-tie made me wonder from the very beginning whether he and the whole museum is there for centuries. Surprisingly it’s not. In fact it was established not that long time ago – in 2011 and until now it has collected over 5,000 artifacts! All donated by the Dubliners. It’s lovely with its green color all over the place: green ad in a front, green walls, green signs and pillows. Green makes you sure about being in Ireland. I entered this museum with great expectations, a warm welcome at the front desk made me sure about the fact it’s going to be spectacular. And it was. It really was. New Meaning Of Cosiness I got informed that a guided tour is about to start so took few pictures with my cellphone (sorry for poor quality) and I sat in a comfy armchair waiting for a guide. This was a relief! After a long walk I simply needed it. There were some books displayed and candies in a jar so after 5 minutes I felt like at home. I had started reading a book about Dublin and I forgot about the whole world while suddenly heard a voice. I was almost surprised with it but a very warm welcome of a gentleman (in bow-tie again!) made me wondering if this museum can possibly get any better. And it got better with every minute of this guide speech! This was amazing travel in time: a century of this city story just flew in front of our eyes! Thanks to amazing gift of storytelling of this guide we felt like the real Dubliners at the end. My story Each of the objects kept in this museum has a long and fascinating story behind. When I was watching the collection of photos I saw one that caught my attention. Remember when I was telling you a story about John Minihan? An Irish photographer who was famous for his pictures of Samuel Beckett? Well, his well known picture of Beckett was right there, in front of me, with John’s own inscription. Under the photo there was a framed letter and a picture of ordinary Irish house. I asked our guide immediately about this photo. And so, here is the story: a little boy got a homework at school. He was to get information about his current house from a previous owner. He suppose to know how was life 20 years earlier. It happened that the previous owner of his home was Beckett. And so he wrote a letter to Samuel Beckett (who was born in Dublin). And….he got a reply! A letter from Beckett is kept right next to the photo of the house. How cool is that? The best is ending of a letter, saying: If you ever meet my ghost in house or grounds, give it my best regards. The guide said a boy was scared but also thrilled to get a reply. I can easily believe it. If I received a letter from Beckett I would be deliriously happy. But even though, finding this story and sharing it with you make me feel really proud. Perhaps you are a German speaking tourist who would like to plan a trip to Dublin? Here is little something for you: a post on best activities in Dublin by Monika. Enjoy!  

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