Dublin!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

We made it to Dublin!

We're tired and it's raining like crazy, fits the mood, I guess.

We found the hotel, and wandered Dublin a bit. We saw the Book of Kells -- the Long Hall is amazing! We found a pub in the Temple Bar area that had some awesome Trad music, but it was also crazy-crowded! We had a couple pints, ate at another pub, and headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow's our one day in Dublin, to see the sights, so we have to figure out the plan.

Me, I'm not so enthusiastic today. I'm homesick, and miss Joe terribly. The rain didn't help much either, but hopefully things will be better after a good night's sleep.

Goodnight!

FRIDAY! (October 22, 2010)

** Note to any readers (if there are any): I've been lame and not finished the Ireland Poo Journal entries, but I'm back at it! I think, though, that I will finish them without photos, as you can see the pictures at http://s1090.photobucket.com/home/orshadow2010/index **

We stayed in town, taking a taxi to St. Patrick's Cathedral & then walked around all day. It was great! Except for the wind and rain.

We saw some lovely sights, went to a lot of shops, and got our TATTOOS! They look awesome, and had a great experience with the tattoo artists. Inkfingers in Galway was the studio, and Steve (from Australia) and Joe (from Ireland) were our artists, and it was LOVELY!

Brian and I wandered into some pubs on our list, and we heard some Irish music at a couple of them. (Brian had a Galway pub list downloaded to his iphone, along with a walking tour and historic sites!) And we also enjoyed pre (and post) tattoo Irish Coffee at Taaffe's (I think that's how it's spelled!). Yummy! Just like Grandma's -- heavy on the "wee bit"! :)

So, we did a little souvenir shopping, at some fantastic fish and chips at McDonagh's (so good!), lovely tea and scones, and more Guinness, of course :). A good day overall.

We made it back to the B&B, and figured out our bus transport to Dublin, took pictures of our tats, and sent them to the hubsters. We're pretty much packed, so we'll shower and finish packing in the morning, and leave after breakfast.

But now it's time to write some postcards and hit the hay.

G'night!

Off to Inis Mor!

Thursday, October 21

It's been another great day! It was a gloomy, cloudy start, but we decided to brave it and head to the ferry to tour Inishmoor (Inis Mor), the largest of the Aran Islands. We walked down to the bay to catch the ferry shuttle bus (after another yummy breakfast at Amber Hill, and dropping off a bag of laundry). It was crowded, but there were two seats up front (across the aisle from each other). After the icky bus ride to Galway, I decided to get some Dramamine, just in case I needed something a bit stronger than ginger, so I was ready!

The trip was about 45 minutes long, winding around Galway Bay, through several towns and rural areas, including Connemara, I believe. As we went, I saw fewer and fewer signs with any English on them.

We arrived at the ferry port, loaded onto the boat, and found some seats. A lot of older folks on board -- a couple of tour groups, I think. The ferry ride was fairly uneventful, a good sign, considering the rain last night, and the overcast skies both made me worry about water travel... my Dramamine did make me a bit sleepy, though.

Once we left the ferry it was a short walk from the pier to the village of Kilronan, where we decided to get on a mini-coach tourbus. It turned out to be a great way to see the island, that's for sure, but the tour guide was no Desmond :(.


We stopped at the bottom of a steep hill that turned out to be the tallest point of the island. It had a circle fort at the top called Du'n Echla, and there was a signal tower/light house next to it. Well, there were ruins of these buildings there, I should say It was a brisk, steep walk up the hill, but the views were AWESOME! We wandered around, and then headed back down to the mini-coach, and then we drove to another fort area. Well, we actually stopped at a little set of shops and the visitor's center where we went through to get to the actual fort. This fort was called Du'n Aonghasa, and it was 2500 years old! The ruins stood on 300-ft cliffs, so we had another climb to the top. We got some coffee (meh) and some scones (yum!) and off we went! Great views once again, and we even saw a leprechaun's house on the way up!

The walk was great, though a bit rocky. It's a lot like the Burren, rocky, with some grass and vegetation in and around the rocks. And Cliffs!! with NO railings!! Ack it was scary! After spending a long time up there, we wandered down the hill again and did some shopping. We had to wait a while for one of our tourbusmates to come back to the meeting spot -- he was off buying some sweaters. Once we were all there, we loaded back up and went to the ruins of Seven Churches -- amazingly old! 7th or 8th century, I believe. Lots of tombstones and carvings.

We then drove down to the end of the island "as close as we could get to the States". There were two small islands off that coast, but were uninhabited (there's an automatic lighthouse on one now). We saw many thatch cottages, including one from a 1930's movie "Man of Aran" -- sounds interesting. We drove past the Seal Colony, but since the tide was high there were no seals :(... We then headed back to the village and our tour was over.

A bit chilly and hungry, we decided to get some tea and food, and went to the American Bar (where everyone was speaking Gaelic!) for some potato & leek soup and brown bread. So yummy! Refreshed, we shopped some more. Brian bought me a cute little black sheep (since we've decided we're the black sheep of the family), which I promptly named Desmond! I keep adding to his name, too... so far it's Desmond Seamus Patrick... who knows where it will end :)! Now Phil the Squirrel has a friend!

We headed back to the pier, and after nearly being run over by a swarm of old people in a tour group, we loaded up , sat down, and fell asleep. We then got on the bus back to Galway, and it was PACKED! The heat was cranked, and I felt like I was BAKING, so we got off as soon as we could to get some fresh air. We walked to Salthill to find some dinner, and decided to go back to Lohan's (where we ate the first night), and I had a pint of Guinness. It was lovely! Brian added a shot of Jameson's to his (ew! -- the bartender hadn't even tried that before!) Dinner was good, but dessert was DIVINE!! Bailey's Cheesecake! It was like mousse, so yummy! We walked back to the B&B and worked on some details for our Dublin trip (we had to research train v. bus -- bus won out!), and got our laundry back. Yay for clean underwear!!

Now, it's time for bed. No alarms set tonight, we're just waking up whenever. We're going to Galway tomorrow to check it out in the daylight, and possibly get our tattoos! there are some historical sites, too, and hopefully some music to be heard.

G'Night ALL!

What a Wednesday!!!

20/10/10 Wednesday

I have decided that Galway is my long, lost home. I love it!

Well, today started in a bit of a panic, oversleeping by an hour! It worked out okay, though, Brian took his shower as I started gathering stuff together for the day (and had my Nescafe'). When he finished, I hopped in, and Brian went to go talk to Anthony or his colleague Patrick about booking tickets for today on the bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Luckily it could be arranged for them to pick us up at the B&B, which gave us some time to eat some breakfast and have some real coffee! Brian opted for the Irish Breakfast, while I chose the continental breakfast (I don't eat pork, and the Irish Breakfast was almost all pork, with 2 eggs and toast)... yum!

We were picked up out front of the B&B, and after picking up some other tourists at other hotels and B&Bs, we went to the bus (or "coach") station and switched over to the actual Tour Coach. It was already pretty full, so Brian went to the back, and I sat as close as I could to the front. I sat next to an older American gentleman who didn't talk much, but appeared to be enjoying himself. We sat across from the bus loo, which stunk a bit the entire day. Yay.

We saw our driver, Ray, and the Tour Guide Desmond, who was Ray's father. It was a DELIGHTFUL trip! I loaded up on ginger this time, and didn't feel sick at all! We stopped a lot, getting out to walk around and take pictures, and lots of fresh air. The views were ALL spectacular, and Des was a wonderful storyteller! I took some video of him, and of the scenery, to try to catch a little bit of his character to take home with me! And I took a bunch of pictures -- so many that my camera battery died!

We stopped at the Ballyalban Fairy Fort, which was really the remains of an ancient ring-fort, or perhaps part of a homestead, but, according to Desmond, is now inhabited by fairies and leprechauns, who will run up your pant leg if you're not careful! :). The Fairy Fort did feel very magical and mystical to me...

Burren means "rocky place," I think, and the area is entirely made up of limestone. It has grass and some flora growing in the cracks of the rocks, but no trees to speak of. We stopped at an ancient tomb, called Poulnabrone Dolmen, that was estimated to have been built 5,800 years ago! amazing!

We walked around it (the tomb itself is protected, of course), and were able to take a tiny piece of limestone with us!




We stopped in Kilfenora, the city of crosses, and there were a bunch there! We walked around an old monastery, and Ray explained some of the things we were seeing in the carvings and the layouts of the rooms, as well as tombs and a graveyard. We learned that the St. Patrick's Cross is really a combination of a cross, the Christian symbol, and a circle, a Pagan symbol (I hope I'm remembering that right!).



We stopped for lunch in a pub in Doolin and had some yummy fish and chips! I also tasted my first Guinness in Ireland -- just a sip of Brian's, since I didn't want to jeopardize my happy tummy travels.




Then there were the Cliffs! Oh. My. God. I was awe-struck, close to tears. It was truly an amazingly beautiful sight. Wow.

(I'm only posting a couple pictures, so the rest you can find on my photobucket.com page...)

We eventually headed back to Galway, serenaded by Ray, the driver, as he sang some songs we might hear in pubs. What a great day!

We were dropped off at the coach station, and we walked to Eyre Square. I finally found an ATM to get some Euro cash! Whew! We stopped in a pub for a beer, and to warm up, then walked around some more to find a pub that served food. We also learned that most pubs that serve food won't have live music -- just not enough space for a kitchen in those pubs!

It started raining after our tour, sprinkling, mostly. We got new calling cards, and went to nearby phone booths to check in on the hubbies. These booths smelled much better than the ones in London, but while I was on the phone some random drunk guy walked up, knocked on the glass, then put his cheek/mouth on it... whatever.

Now we're back at the B&B, and may try to get to the Aran Islands tomorrow (Thursday), but we're going to have to wait and see what the weather brings.

G'night!

Tuesday Travel

Okay, so we're still on October 19th, right?

Ah, yes, we were at Heathrow, Ireland-bound.

We boarded the plane and found our seats -- not hard, since were were in Row 1. Brian had the aisle seat, I had the middle seat, and the window seat was empty. Well, not for long.

A rather unsteady elderly man stumbled on, a mix of Otis from the Andy Griffith Show and WC Fields.He sat down, hard, and appeared to be confused by the buckle portion of the seat belt, so I helped him understand how to strap in (!) and he settled in quickly, talking to himself (I think!). He had a bit of body odor, and was frequently coughing into a handkerchief. Yay. I tried to lean on Brian as much as possible during the trip, to stay out of the line of fire! Toward the end of the flight, WC Otis burped loudly, and quite possibly pooped himself. *sigh*

Brian and I got up quickly, and went down the steps to the tarmac at Shannon Airport, and headed in to get our passports stamped. We were #1 and #2 from our flight! We didn't have to wait long for our luggage and headed for the info desk to find out where to catch the bus. Oh, and since Ireland uses the Euro and England doesn't, we had to exchange our Pounds for Euros, too. We found the bus stop, and luckily only had about 15 minutes to wait.


It was only about 1 1/2 hours to Galway from Shannon by bus, but the roads are so narrow! And the Roundabouts! Oh. My. Golly Gosh. There seemed to be about 1,000 roundabouts between the airport in Shannon and Galway city center. The scenery was lovely -- so green! But unfortunately I started feeling a bit green, and I had to close my eyes for the rest of the trip. Of course, I won't let Brian forget that HE was the one who decided we should sit toward the BACK of the bus, the kiss of death for any person who has ever gotten car sick. And then you add those roundabouts... you get the point. Poor Brian! I couldn't even talk to him, just so I could concentrate on not throwing up. Guess my ginger was not cut out for Irish Roundabouts.

But, I survived the trip, and we got off the bus at the bus station in Galway. Of course, the information office was closed (as our luck would have it), and so we had to get our bearings the hard way -- wandering around. With suitcases in tow, we wandered down the hill to the corner, and saw a hotel. There was a park-like square in front of it, which turned out to be Eyre Square, in the city's center. To be honest, I was just SO glad to be off that bus and breathing some fresh air, I could have walked to the B&B and been completely fine!

We noticed a "Taxi" sign off to the right of Eyre Square, so we worked our way over there. The crosswalks there have the audible signals for the visually impaired, and it took me a while to NOT jump when I heard it! The taxi spot we walked to was apparently for late-night taxi rides, as a very helpful older man informed us, and he pointed us to the top of the Square, where there were buses and taxis. He also gave us a little tip: When choosing a taxi, pick one being driven by a "loci" (pronounced low-key), since "tose others, they'll add on a lil extra, they'll fleece ya" -- in other words, an Irish driver. Interesting introduction to Galway. So, we headed up the top of the Square and caught a cab. Our driver's name was something like Michael Patrick O'Malley -- clearly an Irishman :). He was friendly, pointing out several landmarks on the way to our B&B, though the sun was going down, so it was a bit harder to see clearly.

Amber Hill Bed and Breakfast. Oh, how we love you! It's closer to Salt Hill than Galway, but still close enough, about a 10Euro cab ride to Galway city center, and a 10 minute walk down to Galway Bay takes you to Salt Hill. But I digress. We were greeted by Anthony, and he gave us a quick tour of the place -- the breakfast room, the tv lounge, and showed us to our room. Lovely! So comfy, we loved it! Brian and I apparently have some work to do on understanding the brogue, as we tried to get walking directions to a restaurant, and got lost. We eventually wandered down to Galway Bay, which I thought was beautiful! Brian, of course, was all business, as it was cold, dark, and we were hungry. "The water will be there, we need food!" So we found a restaurant in Salt Hill, Lohan's, and finally ate. Brian got the Irish stew, and I had Vegetarian Shepard's Pie... yum! Once our tummies were happy, we walked back to the B&B to make the plan for the next day.

Looking at the weather forecast, Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be pretty clear, and Friday is supposed to be rainy, so we knew this meant our outdoor activities would have to happen right away. So, the plan? Bed, so we can get up early to go to the Cliffs of Moher!

Off to the Emerald Isle!

TUESDAY!! October19

Woo hoo!

Today we got up early, packed all of our belongings, and got some breakfast -- our last in our beloved breakfast place.

We decided not to repeat our mistake on the way in, and walked the short distance to Paddington Station. My friend Heidi requested a picture of Paddington Bear, and so we had to oblige:

We had to catch the Heathrow Express train to the airport, where we had to find our check-in desk for Aer Lingus. They were restricting carry ons for some reason, so we had to check our suitcases, and then we headed through security. Somehow I managed to set off the alarm, and so I got patted down (bad touch! stranger danger!) on a pretty personal level... and my carry-on was searched (thanks to my crochet scissors!). While a bit inconvenient and not pleasant, it is funny after the fact :).

We wandered and people-watched, at a lovely lunch at an airport pub, and headed to the gate. Heathrow is quite well-organized, and so the gate was easy to find.

Waited there for a bit as the plane unloaded and was cleaned (I guess), and Brian noticed the name of the mobile stairs they were using with our plane: Menzies.

Well, this of course started a whole slew of jokes about how no one can use those stairs for one week out of the month because the stairs are bloated and crampy, etc... I'm sure you can use your imagination, eheheh.

More later! TTFN!

Day THREE

Monday, also known as October 18, 2010

My brain is MUSH! I've seen so much today!

We started off at our breakfast spot, and decided to walk through Hyde Park to get to the Albert Memorial. Hyde Park is so nice and peaceful, yet still pretty busy with walkers, runners, and folks like us (tourists!). There were a few art installations that were interesting, and we looked at them along the way.

The memorial. Wow! It was BIG, and quite fancy! On each of the four corners there was a statue representing a region: Asia, Europe, Africa, and America. What was interesting (and funny!), though, is that all of the area's pigeons seemed to love to sit (and poop) on the America statue! HAHAHA!

[Pause slightly for sleep -- I am exhausted!]

TUESDAY -- october 19.

Ack! I'm so far behind!

So, to sum up (and pick up where I left off), we walked to Buckingham Palace (but missed the changing of the Guard), took a bunch of pictures, then found a place to eat lunch. We took the Underground to the Tower station, and we then decided to walk down to see the Tower of London (the outside - an inside tour would be a day-long event!), and the we walked over the Tower Bridge to the South Side of London. We then walked alllllllll along the River Thames and walked by some interesting sites.

We passed by a Dungeon museum called the Clink, and part of an old building that were remains from centuries ago (part of the great hall, I think). We also walked passed the reconstructed Globe Theater, and walked across the Millennium Bridge. Whoooo!! The bridges were really cool, and the Millennium Bridge is for pedestrians only, and it takes you up to St Paul's Cathedral. We didn't go into that, either, since we had to get to dinner and didn't have much time. It was beautiful from the outside, though!

We walked to Camden Market, well, cut through it, really, to get to the Hospital Club, where we were meeting Barb and Ren for dinner. That building wasn't much to look at from the outside, but it was really cool on the inside! Ren is a member, and he and Barb treated us to dinner -- how nice! We were up on the second floor, which had a loungey bar area, complete with big couches and tables. The restaurant side was open to the lounge, but was really fancy! Luckily they didn't have a dress code, as Brian and I were "slumming it". Barb ordered us some champagne, we ordered dinner, and Ren picked out a bottle of wine, too! All was quite yummy!

It was pretty late by the time we got done with dinner (Barb and Ren had an hour-long trip home), so we had a quick look around to the top floor and a super great view!! Brian and I decided to splurge on a taxi to get us back to the hotel -- too cool! Huge back seats, way cool to see other parts of London, too, and travel above ground! We then made the requisite calls to the hubbies, and I crashed when we got back.

I'll post today's actual events next...

Day Two in London

Sunday, for those keeping track... 17/10/2010

Woke up to a squirrel in my face. Literally. And Brian cackling hysterically. Apparently he was waiting for a while for me to wake up. Thanks, brother.

Oh, joyous SLEEP! It was fantastic! Feel like a new person! We heated up some water (in our lovely electric kettle) for tea (Brian) and Nescafe' (por moi), and we came up with a general plan for the day.

Today we tried showers for the first time, and we realized that the bathroom floor tiles are heated! Tried out the wacky hair dyer hose thing, too. Hmmm... guess my hair's gonna be a bit flat while in London.

The Art Cafe' is officialy our breakfast spot! We had dinner here last night, though I think the breakfasts (especially the latte's) are better! Yaaaaay!


Today we are heading to Portobello Road Market, the London Eye, walk across the Millennium Bridge, and the Covent Garden Market. Who knows what other adventures await! :)

(later that day)
WOW! Beat again. What a day!

(I do need to say, though, that I'm sort of surprised at how few British folk we've actually talked to or seen in the shops, trains, etc... oh well.)

Portobello Road was FANTASTIC! Great little shops and vendors all up and down this long stretch of road -- great buildings, neat little shops and cafe's -- we probably could have spent the entire day there! Brian nearly bought some cool rings, and there were lots of items I was drawn to (but had to resist -- what can I say? I'm a cheapskate!). We found a woman selling amber jewelry, and she told us she was the "Queen of Amber" :). She was from Russia, she said, and had an amazing variety of Amber -- there are hundreds of different kinds! [Can't write the next part - it has to do with a gift we bought! Don't want to spoil the surprise!]

After walking all the way down the street, and then all the way back up the other side of the street (so much to see!) we headed to the Underground, and stepped off at Westminster Station ("Mind the Gap!"). We were immediately faced with Big Ben -- it's big alright! the Westminster Abbey (which I somehow managed NOT to get a picture of), and the House of Parliament. Such majestic buildings! Oh, and there were a TON of people with the same idea... crowds, crowds, and more crowds. A bit annoying at times, but we soldiered on. We walked over the Westminster Bridge and down to the London Eye. Crowded, Crowded, Crowded! We got our tickets for our "flight" and queued up, with the rest of the cattle. We were searched/patted down on the way in ("got anything sharp in that bag?" "Only a safety pin" "I meant like scissors or a knife." "Oh, no, nothing like that"), and we entered our little pod.

Well, it wasn't little, it was big enough for about 10-15 people to walk around or sit on a bench down the middle, and was completely surrounded by glass, for a 360 degree view. There were two little kids, along with their Italian parents/grandparents/other family, and they were running around in there most of the time, as the rest of us tried to enjoy the amazing views. The mom halfheartedly tried to stop them, but she gave up, since a little while later they were playing with the air conditioner/ventilation and then started SPITTING on the glass and SMEARING it! So gross! :( Kinda killed the experience a bit.

Once back on the ground we high-tailed it through Jubilee Park along the River Thames, where there were a lot of street performers. We didn't really stop, though, as we were anxious to get away from the intensity of these crowds.

The Jubilee Bridge was really nice, a pedestrian bridge that took us back to the North side of London. Wandering around there a bit, we headed to the Covent Garden Market. meh. It was okay, but we were cranky after our run-in with Satan's Italian Spawn on the Eye. Brian and I decided to get some coffee and sit for a bit. Once again we pulled out the map and guide book, and made a plan based on where we were.

To get the train, we headed back to Trafalgar Square and headed underground. Got back to the Queensway Station, and we found a yummy pub and had dinner. I had a falafel burger with chips and a Stella, and Brian had some sausage and mashed potatoes, known as Bangers and Mash. He also had some yummy broccoli soup and a hard cider called Strongbow. Yummy!

Brian needed a new calling card, so we headed to a shop (he's much chattier than I am, apparently), then called our hubbies to check in. Got a bottle of water for the hotel room (the tap or "still" water is warm :( ), and we headed for our London home.

We have a neighbor now! He's Arabic, or speaks the language, at least. We know this because he's LOUD. And he's been on the phone. A LOT.

So, we chilled. Had some tea, and made the plan for the next day. Brian makes fun of my lists, but it helps to keep up with what we've seen! Tomorrow we're hoping to see the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge, London Bridge, plus we're meeting Brian's friend Barb (and her boyfriend Ren) for dinner at some place called The Hospital Club near the Covent Garden Tube. So, I guess I should go to bed now -- Nighty Night!

Landing in London

Saturday (I think!?!?)

We're in London, baby! Brian made it to our Chicago gate just in time (dead cow and fried potatoes in hand). We boarded the plane and immediately started cracking ourselves up! It started simply enough -- Brian was unpacking his backpack and pulled out a HUGE ziplock baggy, held it up to my face and said "Craisins?" That set us both off giggling, and set the tone for most of the trip.

We took some self-portraits (which became a ritual we started each day with), played with the buttons and features on the consoles, and settled in to watch movies on our little screens! I watched "Grown Ups" and "Toy Story 3" and Brian watched "Karate Kid" and "Toy Story 3". We tried to sleep, but were horribly unsuccessful.

The food was meh... airplane food.

It was a really long flight. I mean, REALLY long. Did I mention it was long? Luckily it was also uneventful, only very minor turbulence every once in a while.


We got to Heathrow and luckily did not have to deal with picking up luggage, since we both carried our suitcases on. It took a while to actually get off the plane -- we were close to the back of a REALLY big plane!

Once we got off the plane with our carry-ons we had to find Customs and then the train. Both took a long time to find -- there are a lot of long, winding tunnels under this city! We got our passports stamped (my first!!!) and headed to the Heathrow Express train. We took the train to Paddington Station, and found out that the train we needed to take us to Bayswater wasn't working, so that we had to take a bus. That was kind of a waste, though, since it ended up being fairly close by. It was kind of nice, though, to not have to negotiate sidewalks with suitcases.

We made it to our hotel, and to our room without any problem. Kensington Gardens Hotel -- cute! Not huge, but very cute. We changed shirts and "freshened up" (brushed teeth and washed face) and off we went! (Sleep-deprived and all!) First we had to find a Barclay's Bank to get some cash -- I got L100 (that's supposed to be pounds) to start with. The pound notes are interesting, but the pound coins are really cool! We debated lunch, and ended up at the Noodle Oodle, though we had no noodles, only rice :). After lunch we felt much better, and we headed out to get calling cards and to call our hubbies (most of the phone booths I went to in London, by the way, smelled of urine. Lovely).

Then we decided to wander around a bit. Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park were beautiful! The buildings surrounding them are really neat, too. At Hyde Park we started taking pictures with Phil Oakley, our squirrel companion and familiar. We even tried to get pictures of him with an actual squirrel, but it just knocked him off the fence and ran off!




We wandered to Piccadilly Circus (and no, there are no clowns!), which reminded me a lot of Times Square in NYC, and it was crazy full of people! Found a little shop to sit and eat a donut and have some coffee. Man, it felt good to sit after all of that walking! After consulting the map and guide book (something we did A LOT), we headed on foot (sore feet!) toward King James Park near the Household Cavalry Museum. Amazing buildings! We saw more squirrels, and Phil (and Brian and I) had to use the loo. (Previous to this point, actually, Phil was "Phyllis", but because he went to the Men's Loo, he clearly had completed his gender transformation and was now a boy.)


We took some great pictures of the London Eye in the distance, and even got some with a British Guard. He had a "JUST KILL ME" look, with all of the tourists around.

Trafalgar Square was so cool! We looked around a bit (well, I did, Brian's been to London before, and was pretty much leading me around), figured out where we were heading next, and took the trains back to our part of town. We found the Art Cafe' on Queensway for some fish and chips, and a phone booth for Brian to call Michael and check in. I'm not much of a "phone person", so I didn't make as many phone calls as Brian did. While Brian was on the phone, I tried to find a sewing kit to fix the velcro on my bag, and a Pashmina to "blend" with the Europeans. No luck today!

We headed toward our hotel -- actually went to the hotel next door to get the key to our room, and chilled. I made Phil a purple scarf, we took some pictures, and pretty much passed out.



(Okay, now that I've finished this, I can see it will be a bit time-consuming and frustrating to add a lot of pictures. Also, you can see that most of my pictures are of Brian, just as most of his are of me. So, to see more pics, feel free to go to Brian's Flickr page or my Facebook page)

Notes from the Poo Pages

Okay, before I begin, let me explain the Poo Pages mentioned above. I knew I'd want to write things down about my trip, as we went, and so I bought a small journal that would fit in my purse. It's got a zebra-print cover, and the paper is all made from -- you guessed it -- poo. Elephant poo, to be exact. It's made by a company called The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper, and it's tagline is awesome: "We're number one at number two!". So, it became fondly known to us as the Poo Poo journal or the Poo Diary, and was often the start of many juvenile poo jokes that left us in giggle fits.

Now, another note: Remember, I will be posting separate entries for each day we were traveling, as I wrote them in the diary. I will add some commentary and reflections, as well as pictures (if the technology gods are with me). So, here it goes:

*ahem*

Friday, October 15, 2010 -- Chicago, IL

Arrived at O'Hare without any problem, just a jam-packed flight! I'm at my gate, finishing my peanut-butter-filled pretzels I bought at the Raleigh-Durham airport, waiting for Brian. Nothing terribly interesting to report so far. I miss Joe and the kitties already, but I have no doubt that this will be the trip of a lifetime!!

OOOOOH! A Guinness commercial! :)

Now at this point I should point out that I have no pictures from the airport-portion of the trip. I used my cell phone to text some pics to Joe, and when I figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer, I will add some. This is not particularly exciting, I know, but it's a start.

Coming SOON!

I had an AMAZING trip to London and parts of Ireland! I wanted to share some of my adventures, but we had no real way to blog while my brother and I were there. So, I will be sharing our adventures post-trip. Complete with pictures, if technology cooperates!


Stay tuned!

Join me! Or, help me by donating!
Step OUT!
Walk to raise money for the American Diabetes Association

See? I don't completely suck...

I've actually got some plants growing at the new digs.

My mom sent us two rose bushes as a housewarming gift, and we've had some bloomage! Check them out!





I actually bought a book on Rose care, and just recently tried using cayenne pepper spray to ward off nasty chomper bugs.

Plus, I still have my shamrocks! Joe keeps thinking I've killed them, but they keep coming back, so he calls them "Zombie Shamrocks". I just remind him that they are Irish, and therefore are stubborn.

Mystery Foliage! Help me help my new yard...

So, Joe and I have moved into the new house, and we're slooooowly getting settled as well as cleaning up the old place.

Since the new house has been empty for so long, the yard has not been kept up, and so we'll soon have to tackle the jungle before it takes over the house (or the neighbors lose patience!)!

I know little to nothing about plants, yards, and the care of either, so I'm asking for help in identifying the growth in the yard as well as help figuring out how to take care of it. So, PLEASE let me know if you know what any of these things are:

#1

#2

#3

#4

Anyone???