Stories from travels in

Minnesota

Mall of America, Bloomington, MN

I went unprepared. I’d heard the bumf: biggest shopping mall in America, has its own amusement park … inside, would take 86 hours to spend

Walnut Grove, MN: Little House on the Prairie

We were on holidays in St Joseph’s Hotel in Fethard-on-Sea in Co. Wexford when Elvis Presley died. I didn’t realise what the big deal was

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives

You can tell just by looking at me that I like my food.  I appreciate good food, be it in 5-star restaurants, other people’s dining

All Aboard the Empire Builder

That’s it. I’m converted. My preferred mode of transport in America is now the train. Yes, Amtrak has its detractors but I’m certainly not one

Minneapolis, MN

I’d be hard pushed to tell you where Minneapolis ends and St Paul begins. My geography and sense of place, never good at the best

Fort Snelling, Minnesota

“Discover the deep cultural, social, military, and political history of this historic site near the confluence of the rivers. Take a guided tour, view an

A walk through a cancer survivors park

Death and cancer are not synonymous. Fight. Don’t give up. In 1980, Richard A. Bloch (co-founder of H&R Block, those people who help you with

A parallel universe

Although it’s been more than a month since I was in the States, one morning in particular keeps replaying itself in my head – the morning we

Walking on air

There’s something a little surreal about being about to walk around a city without once going outside. Given the cruelty of the Minnesota winter, this

Floured

I’m not a great one for museums. Unless of course they’re connected to the Holocaust, genocide, resistance, war, the Inquisition – things that we need