This is The Temple Bar, in Dublin, Ireland.

(Sunday Paper, Year VIII, Issue 27)

We’re a little thin on guest posts this year, but I did manage to convince at least one member of the family to write one while I enjoyed a full week of vacation away from writing.

This week, I turn the Sunday Paper over to Kathy.

She has her own spin on one of the new Sunday Paper themes.

A couple of weeks ago on the Sunday Paper, John introduced The City Series to you, in which he will be writing about U.S. cities that he has traveled to for one reason or another. (Baseball. The reason is definitely baseball.)

For this week’s guest post, I’ve decided to write about some of the favorite cities I’ve been to that you won’t read about in John’s post. (Work. The reason is definitely work.) Although work travel can sometimes be a slog, I’ve tried to make the most of it and take in some of the local sites when I can. Here are a handful of the favorite locales I’ve been to, and a few highlights from my trips.

Amsterdam: My company’s European headquarters are in the Netherlands, so I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited Amsterdam twice. The first time I went, I visited Anne Frank’s house. I read her diary when I was younger, and it was really interesting to be able to walk through the door hidden behind the bookcase and see where she lived in hiding. On my most recent trip to Amsterdam, I visited the Van Gogh museum (I saw the famous “Sunflowers” painting) and the Rijksmuseum, which has Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” on display. Fun fact: if you see a “coffee house” in Amsterdam, it’s not really a coffee house. It’s a place to smoke weed.

London: I went to a conference in London back in 2018 and took a day to walk around the city. That trip was memorable because it was freezing in London and it actually snowed, which is a rarity there. As a New Englander, it was pretty typical March weather, so I had no problem walking around and seeing the sites. I was staying near the Tower Bridge, so I walked across there and saw the Tower of London. I went to King’s Cross Station to see Platform 9 ¾ and walked to Buckingham Palace and past Big Ben (which was undergoing construction at the time) and Parliament. I loved London so much that I knew it was one city I would want to bring the family to one day. We were supposed to visit in the Summer of 2020, but that trip - like everything else that summer - was canceled, and we still haven’t rescheduled it.

Dublin: My most recent international trip was to Dublin. I’m surprised it took me so long to go to Dublin for the first time, given my Irish heritage. After my work obligations, I stayed for two days, and I spent one of those days in Dublin and the other taking a bus trip to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. I enjoyed Dublin - visited Trinity College, Guinness Storehouse, and shopped on Grafton Street - but I really loved the atmosphere in Galway. It felt a little less touristy and more authentically Irish. I would love to go back to Ireland one day and explore more of the country.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

I have a daily routine where I play Wordle on the New York Times app every morning and then play Spelling Bee when I need a break during the day. Recently one of my kids turned me on to Categories, which is currently in beta mode on the NYT website. Only a couple of days in, but it’s a fun addition to the game rotation.

Notes

*Since John usually has at least one baseball-related comment in his Sunday Paper, here’s mine: I’m excited to go to a Red Sox game this coming week with the entire family. My mom has a share of a season ticket, and I was able to trade in several dates to get a set of tickets together for a game. So for maybe the first time ever, all the Suciches will see a Red Sox game together this week.

*I wrote a lot about international travel, but I’ve also been to some pretty cool places in the U.S. as well. My most recent trip was to Yellowstone National Park. The geysers and hot springs are really unlike anything I have ever seen before. Another neat experience - having to stop your car for a herd of bison crossing the street.

*A reminder that John is running the Chicago Marathon to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities. If you’re feeling generous, you can donate at this link.