Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites - Travel Adventures

Members of the American Irish Historical Society (founded in 1897 in New York) Santa Barbara California Branch hosted a celebration of forty years of events with the sale of a new book following a March 9^th lecture by Professor Enda Duffy on “The Irish/Gaelic language its Near-disappearance, its Revival, its future” at the Santa Barbara Club on Chapala Street in Santa Barbara, which was followed by a fine wine and hors d’ oeuvre gathering.

Organization President Frank McGinty was the Emcee for the evening and introduced Santa Barbara fine portrait artist Andrea Anderson who has created an exquisite painting of Nicholas Den, renowned Irish Pioneer of Santa Barbara, from a photograph which will be donated and placed in AIHS historic headquarters museum on 5^th Avenue in New York in the spring of 2023.

Mr. McGinty then gave Professor Enda Duffy a grand introduction, and his

background is quite beyond impressive. Enda Duffy is a Professor in the English Department at UC Santa Barbara. He

received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, where he won a Whiting Fellowship, and taught at Reed College and Wesleyan University before coming to UC Santa Barbara. His central interests include modernism and postmodernism, Irish literature, cultural studies and critical theory, and James Joyce. He is the author of The Subaltern Ulysses (U of Minnesota P, 1994), and of The Speed Handbook: Velocity, Pleasure, Modernism (Duke University Press, 2009). The Speed Handbook was co-winner of the Modernist Studies Association Book Award as the best book in modernist studies, 2010. Prof.

Duffy is co-editor of Joyce, Benjamin and Magical Urbanism (European

Joyce Studies, Vol. 21, 2011), of an edition of Ulysses and of Katherine Mansfield’s short stories, and of numerous articles on Joyce, Irish modernism, and on post-colonial and modernist literature and culture. He is the founding director of COMMA, the Center on Modern Literature and Culture in the English Dept. Professor Duffy is currently working on two projects: a cultural history of modern Ireland, and a book on energy in modernist culture.

Enda Duffy gave a lighthearted but somber talk on the Gaelic language, which has been nearly lost but is now in the process of being brought back to life again by groups in Ireland, as is also being done by indigenious survivors of the Chumash to revive the Chumash language. It was noted by Professor Duffy that the recent 2023 Oscar nominated film “Quiet Girl” is spoken completely in Gaelic with English subtitles and was shown in Santa Barbara during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

The history of Nicholas Den, who was born in Kilkenny, Ireland 1812, immigrated to California where he became owner of Dos Pueblos Ranch,

became a huge cattle rancher in Santa Barbara, and was revered by everyone who knew him has endured time. Den is considered one of the most important people in the history of Goleta. He died in 1862 from pneumonia and was buried at the Santa Barbara Mission, which he contributed to saving for the Franciscan Fathers. His life story is fascinating and inspiring. A video of his life narrated by Frank McGinty and other notable historians can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/116728380. For information on the SB American Irish Historical Society visit: www.cal-aibs.org or National https://aihs.org/.

Viking Receives Top Honors in Six Categories, Including “Best Overall Line”

Viking® (www.viking.com) today received a new set of accolades from the popular online cruise resource, Cruise Critic®, earning six First Place awards in the 11^th Annual Cruisers’ Choice Awards. Cruise Critic presented First Place awards across Viking’s river, ocean and expedition offerings, including Best River Line for the second consecutive time. Viking’s ocean and expedition voyages also earned the top two placements in nearly every eligible category including Best Overall Line (Small Ship Category). In its first year of operation, Viking’s expedition voyages also claimed First Place in the Best Dining category.

“We are honored to be recognized with top placements for our entire fleet by the Cruise Critic community, which represents some of the most experienced voices in the travel industry,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “For more than 25 years, we have welcomed guests on destination-focused voyages around the world, and it is a delight to see how well our approach resonates with such knowledgeable travelers. I would like to thank our guests, the Cruise Critic community and our entire Viking family, who make these awards possible.”

Classified by Cruise Critic in the small ship category—ships carrying between 400-1,199 guests—Viking’s ocean and expedition voyages took First and Second Place, respectively, across three categories: Best Overall Line, Best Cabins and Best Value for Money. Viking’s expedition voyages took First Place in Best Dining, with the company’s ocean voyages following in Second Place. Additionally, Viking’s ocean voyages were named the Best for First-Timers.

Cruise Critic is the world’s leading cruise reviews site and online cruise community, with more than 650,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 700 cruise ships across the globe. The Cruisers’ Choice Awards name the world’s most popular cruises, based entirely on reviews posted to the Cruise Critic website in the last 12 months.

During the review process for the 11^th Annual Cruisers’ Choice Awards, Cruise Critic members and past Viking guests shared highlights of their experiences. Comments included:

Best River Line: “Everything about this cruise and all the ports were so unforgettable ... The local food dishes were well represented in all meals prepared onboard. All details were very well planned. The service was impeccable, the crew was absolutely lovely.” – Cruise Critic Member RoxanneM

First Place – Viking’s ocean voyages: “We may be getting spoiled with Viking’s consistently outstanding ships, crews, food & accommodations, but that is why we keep going back to Viking.” – Cruise Critic Member RHunt8218

Second Place – Viking’s expedition voyages: “On the far edge of the world, you still have an incredible variety of sumptuous food, wonderful places to relax, a large and absolutely first-rate library with books of all sorts, and a captain and crew who are clearly at the top of their game. Our best vacation ever.” – Cruise Critic Member rgoodby

First Place – Viking’s expedition voyages: “Food was over the top great for every meal. Prepared to order in the grill and the special sit-down restaurants, and the buffets offered wonderful variety morning, noon and night.”– Cruise Critic Member ALLTHENAMESHAVEBEENTAKEN

Second Place – Viking’s ocean voyages: “The food on board is OUTSTANDING and is like eating at a 5-star dining restaurant at each meal.”– Cruise Critic Member Dafongs

Today’s announcement from Cruise Critic is the most recent milestone as Viking continues celebrating its 25^th anniversary. In January 2023, the company had its most successful single month of bookings following recent years of strong growth. Since 2020, Viking has welcomed 16 new ships to its fleet—including eight new Viking Longships on the rivers of Europe, new purpose-built vessels on the Mekong, Nile and Mississippi rivers; three new, identical ocean ships; and Polar Class expedition vessels. Viking was also named both the #1 Ocean Line and #1 River Line by both Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler, making it the first line ever to simultaneously earn #1 in its categories from both publications.

Viking was founded in 1997 and provides destination-focused journeys on rivers, oceans, and lakes around the world. Designed for experienced travelers with interests in science, history, culture and cuisine, Chairman Torstein Hagen often says Viking offers experiences for The Thinking Person™. Viking has more than 250 awards to its name, including being the first cruise line to ever be named both the #1 Ocean Line and the #1 River Line in a single year in Travel + Leisure’s 2022 “World’s Best” Awards. Viking has also been rated the #1 River Line and #1 Ocean Line by Condé Nast Traveler in the publication’s 2022 and 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards. For additional information, contact Viking at 1-800-2-VIKING (1-800-284-5464) or visit www.viking.com. For Viking’s award-winning enrichment channel, visit www.viking.tv.