by Julie Skurdenis

Twenty-five years ago I made my first “pilgrimage” to two of Ireland’s holiest places: the Hill of Tara and Newgrange. With me was my newly adopted Chilean daughter, 4-year-old Katie. What Katie remembers from that trip are the sheep nibbling Tara’s grassy mounds and the eerie darkness of the Newgrange tomb.

It was time to update those memories, so, on a trip to Dublin in March ’09, Katie and I decided to revisit both sites.

It’s not easy to see both...

In mid-July we mailed a survey to 1,000 ITN subscribers. By mid-August we had just about 800 responses. To show our appreciation, we’re giving out $800 worth of prizes. The prizes are sixteen 50-dollar gift certificates for the travel-supply company Magellan’s.

We don’t know who returned the surveys, so, at random, selections were made from the list of those to whom the surveys were sent.

The winners were, from east to west: Mark Benvenuti, Holliston, MA; Madeline Selden,...

by Julie Skurdenis (Second of two parts)

Early in our January ’09 trip to El Salvador, my husband, Paul, and I visited four of the country’s major archaeological sites: Joya de Cerén, San Andrés, Tazumal and Casa Blanca. We saved Cihuatán for last.

Cihuatán is special in many ways. It is El Salvador’s largest archaeological site, spreading over an area of more than one square mile. Excavation is currently in progress and, from everything we heard, Cihuatán is destined to become...