A Foggy Day in London Town (September 8)

Okay…that was really cheesy.  Sorry.  It sounds better if you imagine Michael Buble singing it like I do in my head.  Today, as our one and only touristy day in London, was filled to the max with your typical tourist outings for London (minus the double decker bus tour…we ran out of time for that :P).  I think we left the hotel room for the day around 8:30 this morning and we just got back for the night at about 10:45.  My feet are killing me, but it was totally worth it and that’s what I get for wearing a cheap pair of flats on a day of exploring.  We started out at the Tower of London.  By arriving before the first tour of the day even started, Dad and I were trying to avoid the rush of people and we halfway succeeded.  I didn’t want to look like a total American tourist, but I figured I was getting out-touristed by all of the families around me taking posed pictures every 5 feet.  “Look!  A British tree!  Let me document it!”  I just went for it…camera around the neck and all for a while.  Plus, any picture worth taking required hanging the camera off ledges or other semi-precarious positions.  We took a few canned shots (you're welcome, Mom) before heading off on our rather entertaining tour.  I didn’t know that learning about England’s first official gallows and the prison for both Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Anne Bolelyn could be so interesting.  It helped that our tour guide was making fun of an Australian in the group every few seconds.  The crown jewels are amazing!  The workmanship is extremely intricate and some of those gems are nearly palm-sized!  It’s crazy to think that people would actually wear that much wealth on their heads, even for a few minutes.  Other things of note: a giant (now grass-filled) moat, 20 stone towers, 2 spiked gates suspended above sidewalks, some beefeaters and Royal guardsmen, an array of armor, and some giant fake cannons. 

From the Tower of London, we saw the Tower Bridge before hopping back on the London Underground in search of the Lyceum Theater to buy tickets for the Lion King.  We got some more of those wonderful English directions  from well-meaning Brits, so we had a bit of wandering before we found it.  Just another opportunity for adventure. (:  In the roundabout process, we got to find Tralfalgar Square…I think.  Dad and I secured some seats for the show and got back on the tube to find the old Tate Gallery.  The Gallery is reminiscent of the National Gallery back home in Washington, D.C.  We got to see some really neat paintings by John Singer Sargent (the whole reason we went to the Tate), including my favorite painting of two girls in a garden with Japanese laterns.  I saw the classic Piet Mondrian piece and some neat contemporary art by British artist Fiona Banner. 

With a couple hours to spare before the show in London’s West End, we made a pit stop back at the hotel room for coats as the fog progressed to rain and took shelter in another café in Kensington for supper.   Seeing as how we couldn’t pull a total tourist move by catching a bus tour, we did it on our own by going to see Big Ben, Westminster Abby, the Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye by riding the Underground again.  The sidewalks were brimming with hustling Londoners and snap-happy tourists (much like ourselves) so we bailed on that area fairly quickly to go to a coffee shop a couple tube stops down at Temple.  The show was amazing!  The stage was so dynamic and the sets were gorgeous.  The little kids asking their parents if/when Mufasa died, Scar died, and what hyenas were only added to the show.  (The fact that they had pint-sized British accents made it even cuter.)  So, even if this day was busier than most, it was perfect for getting to see all that I wanted to see in London in one day.

Portmarnock, Ireland

Their roads have some pretty good views.

View of Ireland from the plane to London

First sights of England

London from the express train

Victoria Station 

& back to Portmarnock (they're a tad out of order)...

First night in London

The Tower Bridge 

1st cool sidewalk I've seen Abs (: & in honor of Mom's wonderful videos from Europe...

Inside the Tower of London

The Tate Gallery

Westminster by the London Eye & Big Ben

Big Ben

The Lyceum Theatre where we saw the Lion King

Better shot of the Thames 

London Calling

(This was written on September 7.  This is the first chance I've had to post.)

     I finally arrived in London…it looks really cool, but it’s horrendous to get around in…when you arrive on the one 24 hour strike so the London Underground isn’t running at all.  We took a super short flight (only an hour and 5 minutes) from the Dublin airport to London-Gatwick.  We spent the morning dropping off a bunch of excess luggage with Bernie at St. Pat’s before heading to Malahide and Portmarnock.  The coastal road was gorgeous and we got our second semi-sunny day in Ireland.  After finishing up our drive, we wandered around town on back roads and found a cool little café called That’s Amore, where we ate…paninis!  It was really cute and it started raining again while we were eating.  Dad and I meandered back to the center of Malahide to get the Ford Fiesta for the last time before heading back to Dublin’s airport.

     We dropped the car off and checked Dad’s bags before checking in for our flight.  His duffel was 4 kilos over…which added 80 euro to our trip.  Remind me to pack a tiny backpack for any other flight I’ll take on Ryanair!  By the time we made it to our gate, the sky had totally cleared back up.  For the first time in my life, we wandered out onto the airfield to board the plane.  It’s definitely not as glamorous as it usually looks, since everyone was clamoring for seats (as they’re all unassigned on Ryanair flights).  As we were first coming into England, Dad pointed out the Cliffs of Dover from the plane.  They’re gorgeous and gleaming white since the sun was actually out.  Anyways, it was better to pay attention to those instead of the French couple in front of me making out intermittently through the flight.  Customs was a breeze…I don’t think the border guard in England even glanced at my passport coming in.

            Getting to the hotel in Kensington was a whole new unexpected adventure all its own.  We collected Dad’s bag, picked up our second currency for this trip (British pounds), and bought tickets for the express train out of Dublin airport to Victoria Station.   Victoria Station is extremely busy…like a cleaner version of Grand Central.  People are coming and going in all directions and they’re all in a hurry.  Armed with our hotel map, Dad and I were all set to jump on the London Underground and settle in at our hotel.  It didn’t take long to figure out that we had managed to book our flight on the one day of the month that all of the Underground workers decided to go on a 24-hour strike.  Buses were going every which direction and lets just say that the directions the English give could use a little work.  They were extremely willing to help, but it’s hard to follow, “Jump on bus C1 to Kensington station, walk and get on bus 9 or 10, get off the bus when you see Boots, walk a couple blocks and the hotel should be on your…left…or…yeah, your left.”  After the first round of directions, a bout on a very crowded London bus, and 8 pounds down the drain, Dad gave up on the idea of walking and we took a cab to the hotel.  It took us longer to get to the hotel from the airport than it took to fly from Dublin to London. 

            Our hotel is down a quiet street off Kensington High Street, so we settled our stuff in the room and headed out to wander the streets of London in search of pictures and food.  The streets are beautiful at night.  The double decker buses, full to overflowing, and pristine black London cabs are still making their rounds.  Old, established buildings push right up against the posh, polished buildings that look like they were built yesterday in comparison.  Random flower markets, ancient churches, and solid statues dot the main streets, reminding you of how old London really is.  London has a really neat polished feel to the city, not as gritty or raw feeling as some of the cities in New England back home.  Tomorrow is our one and only day touring London, so it’s going to be a busy one.  By Thursday morning, we’re headed to King’s Cross rail station to catch a train to Edinburgh.

I've got another post I wrote in London, so I'll attach pictures to that one.

     I just got back to the hotel after 2 wonderful days with a professing family about 20 minutes south of Dublin.  They have 4 kids (3 girls and 1 boy) ranging from 2 months younger than me to 13 years old.  The oldest girl is the same age with the same major, who reads the same crazy mystery and adventure novels as me.  I think I'm going to spending a lot of time with them...if they'll have me. (: 
     Dad & I spent a couple hours looking for their house on Saturday, driving around aimlessly and exploring for a while since we didn't have a phone & we knew the family wouldn't be home yet anyways.  Saturday was pretty foggy and spitting rain for a while, so we couldn't see out to the sea, but it was beautiful just the same.  Our little car zipped along the left side of the road all the way to Wicklow, where we ate more paninis and met even more friendly people.  All of the storefronts overflow with flower baskets so full that you can barely see the hanger that the baskets are on.  We got directions back to Kilcoole and survived a trip with some of the most narrow two-way roads you have ever seen.  Saturday night we hung out at the friends' house & ate amazing curry!  Okay...enough about food for now.  (But everything I've eaten over here has been delicious!  I just might be massive by the time I come home.)
    Sunday, we went next door, to their grandparents' house, for the Sunday morning meeting.  The Spirit was the same as always and we got to meet some more of the professing Irish, even if they are one field south of the field my school is in.  Most everybody came next door for tea right after meeting.  After everybody else went back to their houses, the kids tried to explain the game of hurling to me...I'm not sure if I understand it, but I'll try and hopefully get it by the time my semester here is up.  We had a few more cups of coffee and tea before we all went to Bible study nearby this evening.  I've only known these people for a few days, but I'm already going to miss them in the week or so that I'll be out of the country with Dad.
    The jet lag wore off by Friday night and I'm already back to my bad old habits of staying up late.  I can't get over how friendly and helpful everybody we've met has been, professing and otherwise.  Ireland is really good at making you feel totally at home, even though it's obvious we're foreign as soon as we open our mouths.  As one of the older men in meeting said this morning, "There's no country like Ireland." (:
     Tomorrow is going to be full of errands between packing for England and Scotland, booking our flights, getting a mobile (so I don't feel totally disconnected here anymore), figuring out the DART around Dublin, and going back to St. Patrick's to drop off some of the stuff that I won't need until school starts.  I still have to wander around O'Connell Street and the River Liffey too.  Here's to hoping that I take better pictures there than the ones I've taken so far...

None of the exit signs here say "EXIT."  They're all just symbols of people running at random doors.

There should definitely be something else here...like, possibly, a steering wheel.

The traffic around the Dublin city centre is absolutely bonkers at anytime of day.  Everytime we get on the road, I'm glad I won't be driving this semester.

As you can see by his marvelous parking job, Dad isn't quite used to the little spots in Ireland.

This is the only picture I took at my college so far.  The college is kind of walled off from the road.  This is the cathedral on campus.

I know...here's some food pictures, Abby!  Nothing too different or exciting yet, but it still tasted good!

These next few pictures of all of the flowers and the sea are in Malahide, which is about 10 minutes from our hotel and maybe 15 or 20 minutes from Dublin.  (Abs...it's Illy!  I promise I didn't notice when I took the picture.)

We got our first glimpse of the ocean on Friday afternoon when we went in search of free wi-fi at Starbucks.  Internet at the hotel is 20 euro for 24 hours of access!

The Dublin Fire Brigade was doing water training in the river.  Traffic wasn't moving so I figured I may as well take pictures to entertain myself.

  Dad, looking like a total tourist with the cheesiest grin ever, at lunch in Wicklow.

  Yes, that is a palm tree in Ireland.

Kilcoole and Newcastle don't seem to look all that different from home in some spots.

Dad was making fun of me for taking pictures of weeds, but I thought they were pretty so I kept right on going.

This is a two-lane road in Ireland...depending on which way the cars are going.  A regular two-lane road is a little bit wider, but not by much.

Irish-ism of the day:  craic (pronounced "crack) - fun
*Alanna had to explain it to me, so I must have made a weird face when she described something as being "the crack."


P.S. I learned my first word in Irish today!  Alanna taught me how to say milk, which is bainne.  We'll see if I can remember how to pronounce it tomorrow.

Hello, future home.

We made it!!!! Our flight landed at 8:40 this morning at the Dublin International Airport, about six hours after our flight took off from the Philadelphia Airport at 9:05 pm.  So far the time change hasn’t gotten to me since I managed to pass out for 4 hours on flight over the ocean, but Dad is more than a little loopy.  The flights over weren’t too bad. During the first flight from Denver to Philly, I sat next to a tattoo-covered machinist and his 10-year-old daughter from Loveland.  They were really friendly and sweet and told me about their trip to Marseilles to visit family.  The girl got bored on doing homework after about 10 minutes on the plane, so she started making a bunch of paper airplanes for a “project.”  On the long flight, I sat next to a couple girls who were almost 30.  I found out a couple hours into the flight that one of the women is just about 12 weeks pregnant, ‘cause she whipped out some ultrasound pictures.  The baby’s current name is “the beast” since it’s growing fast…fast enough to make her need to get up to go to the bathroom every hour since the “beast” was sitting squarely on her bladder.

Irish people rightly deserve the international reputation that they have for being beyond friendly.  After getting off the plane, we had a minor adventure to find our way to where our rental car was waiting.  Person after person in the airport terminal at the rental agencies went out of their way to help us until we finally got our car.  The cars here are tiny…our Ford Fiesta seems massive in comparison to some of the cars on the road.  We took to the streets, on the tiniest roads I’ve ever been on in my life…driving with the “passenger in the ditch.”  Dad’s still trying to get the hang of it, making me question the survival of the mirrors every once in a while.  We made it to my college to take a look around with Dad only stalling the car twice in the ridiculous bumper-to-bumper traffic that seems to be a trademark of Dublin’s city centre.  I can’t move into my dorms for about 3 more weeks, but I wanted to see what Moville looked like.  It basically looks just about like any other dorm…except that it’s across the ocean from Cowtown, USA.   We tracked down the international coordinator at the school and she dropped whatever she had been working on to talk to us.  She didn’t seem bothered at all and just sat and talked with us for hours, gave us directions to various places, gave us hints on where to get phones, offered storage for some of the extra stuff I packed, and the list goes on.

Now we’re just chilling out in the lobby of the hotel, waiting for our room to be ready so we can shower and try to clear the fog fuzzing up our minds from being in airports for almost an entire day.  Maybe I can start practicing my accent…but I guess it’s me that has one now. :P

I'll try to get pictures up as soon as I take some good ones & get them onto my computer...