Kathleen Smith's Blog, page 3

The Giants Causeway: Nature and the Atlantic at its best

The Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland! It’s been a couple of years since I visited the Giants Causeway. In March my husband and I were able to go there just the two of us. I have to say I missed this place! Climbing up these natural stones can be a bit of a challenge, but well worth it. Finding a stone to sit on is not nearly as challenging. You do need to watch your footing while climbing and walking on top of the Causeway, but it is worth it. And I can tell you whether you are standing on one of the stones or sitting the view of the Atlantic Ocean never gets old.

I know there are people who love to watch the waves on the beach, but I think watching them from the Causeway is so much better. Sitting or standing watching those ocean waves crashing against the rocks. There is something oddly comforting about it, but make no mistake you don’t want to find yourself falling off those rocks and into that ocean. In fact, there are workers there that will let you know when you are getting too close to the edge and they will blow their whistle until you listen to them. That Causeway is amazing to sit on, and that ocean view is spectacular, but remember it can be dangerous. The workers are there for a reason.

Just so you know there is a visitor center, an area with information about the Giants Causeway, a place to eat, a gift shop, and bathrooms. There is also a fee that you need to pay for the parking and the visitor’s center. I would check the times for that if you are planning to go. Or you can do what my family and I did on our very first trip to the Causeway. Message me if you want to know what we did. I have to say I do appreciate the bathroom and I enjoy my gift shopping.

With all that said I would highly recommend the Giants Causeway to anyone who hasn’t visited it yet and if you have and liked it as much as we do, then I would also suggest going back. There is something majestic about the Giants Causeway that has us going to it as often as we can. And that ocean view is just as spectacular. OH, I forgot to mention on a clear day you can see Scotland from the Causeway! It truly is an amazing view that doesn’t get old. My husband and I could sit on those rocks for a long time and not get bored.

Giants Causeway click for YouTube Short

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

The City of Nazareth: Can Any Good Come From it

The City of Nazareth, can any good come from it? Before you get offended this is a direct quote from the Bible and it sounded like a good title for this blog about Nazareth. I have been wanting to write this blog for a couple of weeks now, but I am finding it difficult to come up with the right words for Nazareth. Not because it was a boring place. Quite the opposite. I was completely amazed by the city of Nazareth. Mostly because it’s a Biblical city and it’s where Jesus grew up.

In all honesty, I don’t think there is a lot to do in Nazareth. But there are important places to visit. First of all the Airbnb we stayed in was absolutely beautiful and the owners were so nice to us. On our first day in Nazareth, my husband and I walked downhill to the Church that they believe is covering Mary’s house, which apparently in the days of Jesus would have been considered a cave. This is the place where the angel visited Mary one night to let her know she was pregnant with Jesus. If you ask me that’s a special cave/house. I also thought it was rather tasteful how they built that church around the cave instead of covering the entire place. On that same street, there are a couple of souvenir stores where we did some shopping.

The next day we went to a very tiny church that was built on top of what they believe is the synagogue where Jesus read from the scrolls. After that, we drove up to a mountaintop where a crowd so many thousands of years ago didn’t like what Jesus was saying in that temple, took him to and tried to throw him over the cliff for what they thought was blaspheme. Funny thing about that cliff is, I never realized that was in the Bible until we were visiting Nazareth and wanted to see this place for ourselves. Indeed there is a plaque mentioning that and there is a verse about it, which I have apparently read in the past, but it didn’t really click in my mind what that verse was saying. That was something new that I learned that day.

My husband and I didn’t do much else while we were in Nazareth. We did find a mall to walk around oddly enough and there was a restaurant in that mall that has delicious food, we found my favorite makeup store in that mall too. We also bought a new star for our Christmas tree again oddly enough in Nazareth, not Bethlehem which is where we thought we would have found a star. And on our last day there we stopped at a local bakery and bought some fresh bread and babka for our breakfast. I have to say that the bread and babka were so delicious! So would I go back to Nazareth for another visit? Yes, I would and I would gladly stay at the Airbnb we stayed in. It was a beautiful place. The people were kind to us and they had the freshest, sweetest little oranges I’ve ever tasted. And let’s not forget it’s also where Mary was told she would have Jesus and it’s where Jesus grew up.

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

The Holy Sepulcher, its Beauty, and its Churches

For 2 months I have been struggling with the right words for this blog about the Holy Sepulcher. And now I hope it doesn’t take me 2 weeks to write it. I have finally decided to start with my positive thoughts about this place and then the negative ones. Are you ready? Let’s go! Okay, so back in November at Thanksgiving my husband and I took our first trip to Israel. We were both super excited. We had a list of places we wanted to visit and the Holy Sepulcher was one of them. The morning we decided to go we made sure to get there as early as possible. When we got there the first thing we looked at was the marble slab that they say was where Jesus’s body was put in preparation for His tomb. It was decorative and definitely worth looking at.

After that, we walked over to where the line was to see inside the Holy Sepulcher. I think we waited for half an hour and I’m not sure what we were waiting for. Finally, the line started to move. They let 4 people in at a time and you had to be quiet and no pictures were allowed inside. So my husband and I followed the very crowded line of people and we waited our turn to walk inside the Holy Sepulcher. We stood there, we looked around inside it. Again it was very ornate. And all I could think to myself was “this is it, this is where they say Jesus was buried.” Honestly, I can’t describe how I was feeling at that moment because I think it is indescribable. After that, I started watching people and their reactions to this Church and the Holy Sepulcher and my mind was starting to go a mile a minute. I’ll explain what I mean soon. My husband and I explored the rest of these churches and we actually found a spot that we found more fascinating than the Holy Sepulcher.

During our stay in Old Jerusalem, we found ourselves back at the Holy Sepulcher one last time so we walked through it again. Mostly because we wanted to see that one spot that we liked one more time. As we were walking around I was observing the people again. This is where I explain myself. So while there I was noticing how other people were reacting. Some of the people were crying. One lady kneeled down on her knees, crying, and kissed the place where Jesus would have been lying down inside the Holy Sepulcher. I saw others kissing the slab where they say Jesus’s body was prepared for the tomb. I have no problem with people walking around inside these churches. And I understand looking at everything in amazement. But, I do think it’s wrong to kneel down and kiss a piece of slab or where Jesus’s body quite possibly was buried. That isn’t a place of worship. Doing something like that in my opinion is more like using the Holy Sepulcher as an idol.

Jesus didn’t die on the cross so we could use His tomb as an idol. He died for our sins and He kept His promise and rose again on the third day. He isn’t in that tomb anymore. He hasn’t been in there for a very long time, so to kneel down in front of it and kiss it I feel is not something Jesus wants anyone to do. Visiting it, yes. Walking around it sure. Idolizing it no. And before you get mad at me, these are my thoughts and opinions. Please feel free to have your own.

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

Israel: It’s ancient, It’s amazing and so much more

For years I’ve wanted to go to Israel and when I say years I mean YEARS. The week of Thanksgiving that dream came true! Explaining what this trip meant to me in this blog won’t be easy, but I’m going to give it my best shot. First of all, let me tell you my husband and I fit A LOT into this 10-day trip to Israel. We went to a lot of places and saw so many things.

For the first four days of our trip, we stayed in Old Jerusalem in the Muslim Quarter. By the way, there are four quarters: The Muslim Quarter, The Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter. The place we stayed in was small, but it was all we needed and I thought it was cute. On our first night in Old Jerusalem, we went to the Western Wall and saw so many men praying. It was our first night and I was already feeling overwhelmed with tears in my eyes. I was at the Western Wall! It was an amazing sight to see. While we stayed in Old Jerusalem we walked up and down all the different streets. We saw so many different shopping stalls and yes, we bought souvenirs. We walked along the Via Delarosa, we went to the Church where they believe Jesus was put on the cross and where they believe His tomb was. We ate delicious food.

On one of the days we were staying there we had a driver take us to Bethlehem in the West Bank area. He took us to Jericho, the mountains where Jesus stayed for 40 days and 40 nights, He took us to the Church where they believe Mary gave birth to Jesus, He took us to the area where Zachius’s tree would have been and last he took us to the Valley of Achor better know as the Wadi Qelt. The Wadi Qelt was a very emotional spot for me. I’ve been wanting to visit that places for about 15 years now, since the time when I was in a ladies’ Bible Study and we studied the book of Joshua. A dream come true and well worth the wait.

The second half of our stay was in an Airbnb in Nazareth. This place was beautiful. The first thing we did in Nazareth was a walk to the Church that is surrounded by the cave they believe Mary lived in. We also went to the church that is built over the Synagogue that Jesus would have taught at. While we stayed in Nazareth we had a rental car so we could drive to places like Tel Dan, the Sea of Galilee, Tel Megiddo, Caesarea, and many other places. Like where they believe Peter’s house would have been! We went to an area that has an ancient ruined city. When you think about it there are a lot of ancient ruined cities in Israel that need to be found like the City of David which was found years ago.

There are other places that we went to. Fitting it all in this blog isn’t possible. So I will be writing more blogs about the different places we went to and the different things we saw and experienced. I will be able to go more in-depth about each place in their own blogs. For now, I’m just giving you a little summary of each location. I hope you will enjoy all the blogs that I have planned for Israel and the places we visited and what we experienced in the coming weeks and months.

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

Westminster Abbey: It’s beautiful to Look at and it Has Amazing History

Westminster Abbey, First of all, let me say I should have written this blog two months ago, but time got away from me. Oh well, I’m writing it now so I guess that’s what matters. Like the title says Westminster Abbey is beautiful to look at and it has amazing history. I’ve had the privilege to visit and tour Westminster abbey twice now. The first time was a couple of years ago with my husband and our daughter. I was completely amazed by this Church back then. And I was just as amazed by it in August when it was just my husband and I visiting.

Our first visit to Westminster had me in complete awe. Seeing all of the different crypts of all the people who are buried there had me so curious about each person. What they might have been like. What their personalities were like. And then I was trying to keep track of who was who, who was royalty, and who was an important person from way back when. I mean think about it there is a LOT of history that went on in Westminster Abbey with the royal families and such continue to make history in that Church. Westminster overall is in a word WOW.

Our second visit was in August for my birthday. This time it was my husband and I and we bought tickets for the behind-the-scenes tour of Westminster (Hidden Highlights Tour) which was absolutely incredible. The guide took us to rooms behind secret doors. He showed us places outside the Abbey doors and he took us high up into the Abbey. This was a seriously cool tour to take and well worth the money. When the tour was done we went on our own and explored the many different rooms in Westminster including the crypts of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I. I do find every one of the crypts that are in Westminster Abbey to be fascinating. Each one is filled with history! Well, I suppose and a dead body if you think about it.

It’s also cool to see and stand in the same Church where you know Kings and Queens had their coronations take place. I love history to begin with so getting to visit and take a tour of Westminster Abbey is in my opinion one of the coolest things I could do. Taking in all the architecture. Standing where you know so many important people stood as well as Kings and Queens. There truly is a rich history in Wesminster Abbey, one in which I’m glad I’ve had the chance to walk through twice now. I would highly recommend taking a tour of Westminster if you are going to visit London, England. It is without a doubt one of the must sees and must do’s in England. At least I think so!

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

The Tower of London: This is a Great Place to Tour When visiting England

If you are ever planning a trip to England no matter where you live in this world or if you already have plans to visit England, then taking a tour of The Tower of London is a must. I’ve taken this tour twice now and loved it both times. You do need to purchase tickets which you can buy when you get there or you can order them ahead of time. These tickets are well worth the price!

So the last time I took a tour of The Tower of London which was also my first time taking it I thought it was one of the most excellent tours I’ve ever been on and very informative as well. My second time which was only a couple of weeks ago was just as informative and filled with such history. It also helped that our guide was funny. Now, you need to remember that the Tower of London has been around for centuries and a lot of history has taken place there, especially with King Henry Vlll.

Now I do remember the tour guide telling us about King Henry Vlll and Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Gray during our first tour of the Tower of London a couple of years ago, but what I heard didn’t click in my mind until we took the tour for the second time a couple of weeks ago. What clicked in my mind, might you be thinking? The fact that King Henry the Vlll was at the Tower of London all those centuries ago. And the fact that Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Gray were both there as well. Not only were those two ladies there they were both beheaded at the Tower of London and both ladies’ bodies are still at the bottom of the chapel at the Tower of London where they were both laid to rest after they were beheaded.

That fact about Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Gray struck me. To realize I was standing in an area where they both stood at some point and time. To realize that the chapel that I was sitting in had the remains of both ladies after all these centuries. For me, that was something else. To think about what they went through and to know I was so close to their tombs. Seriously, if I could have I would have gone down to the crypt of that chapel to look at their tombs and I don’t know stare at them in wonder. Being able to stand around all that history that day at the Tower of London was something else for me.

That tower is still being closely guarded by the queen’s guards and the guides known as the Beefeaters. It’s still cool to walk around and tour the different buildings. After the chapel, my favorite building is probably the central white tower with all the cool armor and such. And like I said at the beginning of this blog no matter where you live in this world the Tower of London is definitely worth touring if you are planning to visit England. The history behind that tower is simply amazing!

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

King Arthur and Tintagel Castle: Is He a Myth or Real

I absolutely love anything having to do with Medieval times, especially King Arthur and Camelot. If you ask me what it is about that time and era I suppose I would have to say the castles and the clothes. I love how the castles from medieval times look. I love how these castles were made. I love the staircases and the windows. I love it all. I love the clothes from that period too. I love how long they are. and I love the styles. And then there is King Arthur and Camelot and I want to know as much as possible about him and his court. According to all the myths and legends, he was a good king. He was a fair king and a loving king. Now tell me who doesn’t want that!

A couple of months ago I was watching a documentary about a castle ruin called Tintagel Castle and the surrounding area in Cornwall, England. This documentary was about King Arthur and the possibility of this being the castle where he lived growing up. I seriously found this documentary interesting. The way the man explained what he was finding about this castle possibly belonging to King Arthur and trying to determine whether Arthur was a real king or a myth or a combination of a bunch of kings that over time became this legend. All I do know for sure is I was fascinated by what I was watching and know I was going to be in Cornwall for my vacation I asked my husband if we could go to this castle ruin.

Here comes the fun part! Last week while I was on vacation, my husband and I did spend 2 days in Cornwall. We stayed in a hotel called Camelot and the view from my room’s window was King Arthur’s Castle aka Tintagel Castle. It was truly a stunning view! The castle ruin with the Ocean behind it. It was breathtaking. We got to see firsthand King Arthur’s Castle ruin along with what is left of the wall and a bunch of nearby ruins that the man showed in the documentary. I was truly excited to see it all for myself and naturally, I had to touch the wall. I even got a picture with the statue of King Arthur! It was so cool!

So was King Arthur real? Was Camelot real? Were his nights and the round table real? I don’t know. I think some historians would tell you he’s a myth. I think other historians would tell you he was a combination of a bunch of kings. And then I think there are others who would say yes, he was a real king and a good king. Me personally, I would like to think he was a real king and a good king, and a fair king. But like I said this is my personal opinion. And I have a feeling I will always be fascinated by King Arthur, Camelot, and everything medieval. OH, by the way, I did make a video and I put it on my YouTube channel if you would like to see it.

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

Quebec: It’s Not Scotland, but it Sure Does Look Like it!

A couple of weeks ago I went to Quebec, Canada with my husband. This is a place my husband has been wanting to visit for years now. We finally got the chance to so we took it! Before we drove the 5 hours that it took us to get there, my husband kept telling me how much like France it would be. I thought cool I’ve been to France and loved the old world feel it had and the delicious food we ate. The funny thing is when we finally got to Quebec City it reminded me more of Edinburgh, Scotland than it did France, but that’s ok because I loved Edinburgh too.

Unfortunately for us, it rained just about the entire time we were in Quebec. I don’t mean a bit of rain here and there. That wouldn’t have been a big deal. We would have worn our rain jackets and our hoods. No, when I say it rained I mean it rained all day to the point that we used our jackets and our umbrella. Good thing we had one! Just so you know I’m not complaining about the rain, I’m simply letting you know that it put a slight damper on things. Overall we did have a good time in Quebec and we found some cute stores and had delicious food and wonderful espresso.

We did a lot of walking while we were in Quebec, in the rain. We found a sandwich shop that had croissants and espresso. We liked that place so much we went there two mornings in a row. We ate an authentic Canadian dinner at a restaurant that was down the block and across the street from our hotel. That was a seriously nice restaurant which is the oldest house in Quebec City. We found a crepe place that made good crepes and, yes, they had really good espresso too. We even found a gourmet popcorn place that had, yes very tasty popcorn.

We really wanted to go to a museum while we were in Quebec, but sadly it was closed on the only day we could go. So we did a lot of touristy stuff like going into A LOT of different stores. Yep, we gladly spent money in some of them too. I did love the fact that Quebec looked and felt a lot like Edinburgh, Scotland. Especially the one street that reminded me of Diagon-ally from the Harry Potter books. I would have loved to go into some museums or maybe have done a walking tour. Watching the changing of the guards would have been cool too. Sadly we didn’t have enough time. Between that and the pouring rain, it couldn’t happen. As my husband says “that’s ok that just gives us a reason to go back when the weather is nice.”

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

Vibrant Beautiful Flowers in a Colorful Array

Two months ago in March, I had the chance to see some vibrant beautiful flowers in a colorful array. There were blue, pink, yellow, and white flowers. There were some flowers that had two or three colors together. These beautiful flowers were at the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden. Yes, this beautiful garden was in a casino. It was one of the most beautiful gardens I’ve ever seen, and there were more than just flowers in this conservatory. There were hot air balloons that had flowers in them and flower petals on them. There was a beautiful peacock made of flowers and more!

Before I go any further I would like to say I’m sorry I didn’t write this blog sooner because I googled the Bellagio to get more info on these vibrant flowers and found out they will be getting replaced on May 14, 2022. I didn’t realize that it was a seasonal showcase. The flowers were for Spring. They will be putting something else up for Summer. I think you get the picture. Anyway if you had the chance to visit the Bellagio between March and May then you had the chance to see the same beautiful flowers that I did. If you didn’t sorry for writing this blog so late. Like I said I had no idea until today. Anyway, these flowers and everything else in this conservatory is beautiful.

I loved looking at all the different types of flowers. I loved the beautiful different colors. I loved the way some of the flowers had multiply colors in them. I did find myself captivated by one of the big flowers hanging from the ceiling that had a hummingbird flying next to it. They were both huge and you could see the intricacy of how they were both put together. It was cool to see the peacock sitting in one of the colorful balloons and see how its feathers gracefully flowed down into the water.

There was a huge yellow rose that was beautiful to look at. There were what I believe to be sunflowers that were pink and purple. There were yellow tulips. And I think there were 6 in total hot air balloons. Each balloon was made from vibrant beautiful flowers or their petals. They had blue balloons. They had pink balloons. There were hot air balloons that were multiple in color. I really have never seen anything like this botanical garden. It truly was vibrant and beautiful. And I probably didn’t do this garden justice with my blog. I tried, but I find myself having trouble coming up with the right words to describe this garden. Yeah, it was that beautiful to look at and walkthrough. I can tell you I’m glad I did it with my husband and I’m glad I got the chance to see it while it was there. Again, sorry I didn’t write this blog about it sooner.

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel

Valley of Fire Highway: These Red Holed Rocks are Amazing to See!

I am going to do my best to explain to you in this blog what the Valley of Fire Highway is. And if not my best then I am at least going to try and do a good job describing this amazing-looking place. Back in March while on vacation with my husband it was suggested to us that we drive to the Valley of Fire Highway. I had no clue what this place was, but my husband was already planning to go so I guess either way we were going. I’m very glad we did!

There is a reason why the area this road goes through is called the Valley of Fire. It’s pretty easy to figure that out as soon as you get to this place. There are these rocks there that are so red that they look like they are on fire. It truly is an amazing sight to see. My husband and I had the chance to walk around these big, tall red rocks. Some of them looked like beehives, at least to me they did. Some of them had these big holes in them. There were even some that looked a bit cave-like that you could walk into. I got to do that in one of them. It was pretty cool standing in it and touching it.

For me, it was incredible to see and walk around this Valley of Fire. Seeing nature in the form of a red holed rock that looked like it was on fire was a true amazement for me. By the way, this place is often closed in the summer due to the extreme heat. There are also 3 brick homes in the Valley of Fire that were built in the early 1900s for people who liked to camp there. No one has stayed in these places for years, but it was cool to walk in each one and see what they look like.

I am grateful I got to experience the Valley of Fire with my husband. I love going on adventures with him, not knowing what exactly we might see or find. This Valley of Fire was a great find and it was wonderful to explore it with my husband. We even saw a mountain goat while we were there! I would highly recommend these red-holed rocks at the Valley of Fire Highway to anyone. I would suggest going when it isn’t so hot, but that’s up to you.

Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel