When the magic age of retirement is looming many Irish people around the world want to return to Ireland and live out their leisure years in a country that is familiar to them, and where they may still have relatives and friends.   In my case, I was born in Ireland, left in the 70s …more

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For a lover of gardens, there is nothing like being in one – and especially if this is a private garden – you learn not only about the garden but about the gardeners. I had first set eyes on the enchanting garden of Helen Dillon in 2000. Yes it had been awhile and I was …more

Ever wonder what it would be like to make Europe your home? After having lived all around the United States and traveling much of the world, my husband and I moved to Portugal more than seven years ago. Here’s why we stay. Lifestyle Born in Brooklyn and living almost 30 years in Los Angeles, I’m …more

Sitting in my seat about halfway down the aisle I could feel the bus slow down and move over to the curb. I pulled my eyes away from the book I was reading and glanced out of the tinted window to my right. Just a few feet from my face, on the other side of …more

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My legs were aching as I trudged up the slippery stone steps. The enclosed spiral staircase, dank and claustrophobic, ascended one-hundred and twenty steps up to the top of the ancient castle. It was proving to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated. Occasionally I would thankfully step aside and lean against the …more

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The wheels started turning in our patio one evening after my wife Jane and I returned from a trip to Atlantic City. Sitting there enjoying the August evening in Wausau, Wisconsin, my thoughts were about the next week when I had to return to work. After awhile I broke the peaceful silence and announced “I …more

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Moving to Italy was my dream. As I approached retirement age, I could be found most nights surfing the web, searching for my place in the sun. Those cold, wet winter evenings in Galway, Ireland, glass of red wine (Italian) and a few potato chips for company, I scanned a multitude of property websites in …more

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” (Seneca) I suspected for a couple of years that ‘things’ within me were not too good, a once-enjoyable job had transformed itself into a draconian chore of almost Herculean proportion, my social existence too had entered a stage of wane – and as for realising any …more

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