Ruth FitzPatrick

This Traveltalk visit to Ireland starts with a look at the countryside, with its farms, small villages, and fields with walls and fences built of stone without the use of mortar. We then visit Hope Castle in Castleblayney and end our journey in Galway.

This FitzPatrick Traveltalks short visits Holland in springtime, going first to the below-sea-level fishing village of Volendam, then to the capital city of Amsterdam. We then turn our sights to the cultivation of flowering spring bulbs - tulips and hyacinths. No other country is as renowned for bulb cultivation as is Holland.

This Traveltalk series short visits The Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon.

This Traveltalk short visits Hawaii's capital city.

In this Traveltalk series short we learn that four million ethnic French, German and Italian people live in Switzerland. The Alps and their important part in the country's history is noted. We view vividly-coloured alpine wildflowers which cover the mountain meadows in the spring. We see rushing mountain streams, fed by melting snows, and then learn of colourful alpine chalets and traditional wood-carving amongst other highlights.

This Traveltalk visits Zeeland, a province of the Netherlands. Traditional costumes and architecture abound and cleanliness is a hallmark of local life. They paint their houses every year and Saturday is the great cleaning day. Dog carts are widely used. Zeeland is the richest agricultural province of the Netherlands and specializes in dairy farming with production of cheese and butter. Most of the land has been recovered land from the sea where you now find now fields and fruit trees.