Category: Destination Spotlight

Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland are 2 different countries that share the same island. Northern Ireland is part of the UK. It’s not as touristy or as built up as The Republic of Ireland, and it wasn’t considered an especially safe place to visit until the early 2000’s. As with all of Ireland, Northern Ireland is beautiful. Lush, rolling green hills, lots of history, old castles… No matter where you visit, it’s worth going.

Although still a bit off the beaten path, Northern Ireland is a great place to vacation. We spent 3 days in the area and took one tour through the countryside, a half day trip to the Giant’s Causeway, and another tour through the Titanic Museum. Everything we did was well worth it, but when I go back, I hope to be able to do a Black Cab tour to learn more about the “Troubles”. 

The Titanic Museum

Continue reading “Belfast, Northern Ireland”

Oman is a sultanate on the Arabian peninsula, bordered by The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. We were on a cruise when we visited, so we didn’t get to explore as much of the area as I’d have liked. We stayed in the northern part of the country, only stopping in the cities of Khasab and the capital city of Muscat. This northern area is very rugged and arid – which makes for some beautiful scenery when you look at the juxtaposition between the rocky hills and the sea! We heard amazing things about the lush southern area around Salalah, but we didn’t get the chance to visit.

Continue reading “Khasab and Muscat, Oman”

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, and it’s located about 2 hours outside of Dubai. While you’ll still find the beautiful sky scrapers and gigantic malls that seem to be a UAE staple, it’s much quieter than neighboring Dubai.

We have friends who live in Abu Dhabi, so we got a week’s worth of insiders views of the city. If you do go, please don’t miss the Grand Mosque or the Emirates Palace Hotel.

Continue reading “The Best Things to do in Abu Dhabi, UAE”

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a beautiful country, and Dubai is it’s most well known and populous state. We traveled to the country at the end of February, which was a great time to go as it’s not too hot, but it’s also at the tail end of the high tourist season. We were told the area generally gets about 5 rainy days a year, and we happened to be there for all 10 of them.

Continue reading “The Best Things to do in Dubai, UAE”