Program 280: Rewards of a Road Trip Pilgrim; Exploring Ireland 2012

Rick discusses the rewards of being a "road trip pilgrim" with author and traveler Dan Austin, and, in the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day, Irish tour guide Stephen McPhilemy takes listener calls, offers advice on touring convivial towns and ancient sites, and updates Rick on contemporary issues in Ireland.

• Dan Austin, author of True Fans and The Road Trip Pilgrim’s Guide, and co-founder of the 88 Bikes Foundation
• Tour guide Stephen McPhilemy, proprietor of Paddy's Palace Hostel in Derry, Northern Ireland

• Dan Austin's original cross-country bicycle trip is documented in a book and video called "True Fans": http://www.truefans.com/
• Dan Austin also has a website for his book, The Road Trip Pilgrim's Guide
• The 88 Bikes Foundation is a project of Dan's to provide bicycles to children and young people in the developing world: www.88bikes.com
• Stephen McPhilemy's contact information is online at www.irishexperience.ie and the website for the Paddy's Palace hostel in Derry.
• Information and photos of Staigue Fort on the Ring of Kerry is included on the Stone Pages website in Ireland: http://www.stonepages.com/ireland/staigue.html It also includes entries on Newgrange, and on Stephen's favorite stone site in Donegal, Grianan Alliech
• Further information about Newgrange, in the historic Boyne Valley of County Meath" http://www.newgrange.com/
• Wikipedia has extensive information on sites at Glendalough in County Wicklow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendalough
• Background information about the November 2011 closure of Ireland's embassy to the Vatican, from Reuters and the Irish Times

Program 280 Haiku awards:

Cooley morning: mist
music mystery rise from
heartland of legends
— Kerry Dexter, Tallahassee, Florida

Standing where the high kings sat,
I look across the valley,
Skylark sings.
 — Lara Hardin, Escondido, California

It's odd that there's sun;
The traditional moist days
Were not to be had.

— G-Robin Smith, Everett, Washington