greyhound

Postcards from Ireland: Dublin to Winnipeg

One more day to lose ourselves in this oh-so walkable city. Our last day in Dublin. In Ireland. Tomorrow it’s back to Winnipeg.

But we won’t be leaving Ireland behind.

During our trip, we have been in contact with Sheena, an Irish women living in Naas, a small community just outside of Dublin. We didn’t know her any more than she had any connection to us. Just a common friend in Canada, James. And two greyhounds. Hers, Joey. Ours, Styxx. Just enough for her to contact us while we were tramping across Ireland. Enough to invite us to her home. By the time we had completed our walk, arrangements were in place to visit her in Naas, once we returned to Dublin.  (more…)

Coast To Coast in Ireland: East Munster Way

From Carrick-on-Suir, our walk flows seamlessly into a three-day hike along the East Munster Way. So too, the scenery is a familiar rural setting with each day seeing us climbing reasonably scaled hills and descending into river valleys. Along the way, locals greet us openly and spend time to talk about our hike, the state of the Irish economy and, especially, the state of the weather and appreciation of even a modest display of sunlight.
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Apps To Get Lost With: Trace

Trace is the third in a trio of walking apps that I’m putting to the test. And, yes, it involves a dog.

Compared to Drift or Likeways, Trace calls for a high degree of user interaction with the app and, optionally, collaboration with others using the app.

Developed at the Tactile and Tactical Design Lab (TAT Lab) at the University of Washington., the app was designed to explore the role of GIS (geographic information systems) technology in shifting our walking habits away from efficiency and towards communication and reflection.

It all starts with a sketch drawn on the screen of a smartphone, a simple line drawing that the app then transfers to a mapped route for the walker to follow.

Here’s how it works. (more…)

A Dog Goes West: Part Three

It is a slow but beautiful road winding its way from Kelowna south down Highway 33 and then east along Highway 3. Styxx reclines in his lair – pretty much the entire rear compartment of our Prius. Occasionally he takes a look out the side or rear windows to examine the endless forests occasionally punctuated with the jagged grey peaks of mountains in the distance. Along the way, we stop at wayside pullouts to stretch, to have a picnic lunch or to take a close look at some stream with clear cool water noisily rushing over a bed of river-smoothed rocks. (more…)