So I took this trip . . .

Nearly all of you know how much I love to travel, and you probably know that I was incredibly excited for the recent trip I took with my husband to Ireland and Italy. It was a fabulous adventure!

We spent most of our days in Ireland in County Donegal. Here we stayed at the wonderful Harvey’s Point Hotel on the shores of Lough Eske just outside Donegal Town. I fear that this hotel has spoiled me forever! We had a lakeshore suite that was enormous with the most beautiful view.

I made a point to get to as many of the locations from my Circle of Nine series as possible and the highlight of these visits included the Beltany Stone Circle. 

As you can see, the largest of these stones is about 10 feet high and were likely higher as they’ve sunk a bit into the turf through the many centuries since they were put in this place.

Doe Castle (below) is an important location in the novella Dervla’s Destiny. From Circle of Nine – Beltany, you might remember the description of the tall sea cliffs that Dervla and her brother Aiden ride along . . . here they are in all their glory!

As we drove through the Glengesh Pass I captured the experience on video. This was part of the journey that Liam and Dervla make together--only they were on horseback. (Driving in Ireland is something that requires a bit of courage . . . this is definitely NOT the most precarious road we've been on. They do get much more narrow, often right at the point you are at the top a clifff.)

We also visited the Hill of Tara nearer to Dublin. This location is the home to one of the four sacred treasures of the Tuatha de Danann. The Stone of Destiny (seen here) is supposed to roar with approval when a true king of Ireland places his hands on it. Um . . . didn’t work for me or my husband. 

We also visited the Kilclooney Dolmen in County Donegal. This is a hint of something yet to come in Circle of Nine – Sacred Treasures.

We traveled on to Italy as my husband had been invited to a conference at the Vatican. This was a very special day as we were afforded a Papal Audience (as a group), as well as a private after-hours tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. 

On our final day in Italy, we toured Pompeii and a bit of the Amalfi coast, having lunch in the beautiful coastal, cliff side town of Positano. The lemons are truly as large as a bocce ball and the delicious buffalo mozzarella in this salad is not much smaller. YUM!

I’d love to see photos of your latest travel adventure. (And I’m not just saying that!) Check out my FB post about my vacation and share your photo for a chance to win a copy of my novella collection.