Ok, so I have been putting this off, because there is so much to write.. I'll start from the beginning of April.. That is when I went to Cork. Aunt Bella is doing good, and looks good. Actually mom and dad were pleasently surprised when they saw her, saying that she looks great for all that she has been through. She's a incredibly strong person, and is no where near giving up the fight. After I went to Cork, I went to Leitrum to see Aunt Margaret. It was great seeing her and everyone else. I mainly hung out with Oonaugh. We went to the caves up north. I don't remeber what they are called right now, but I'll figure it out soon. We also went up to the bog, and explored a bit. It was such a beautiful day.
The day after I got home from Leitrum I had my Irish exam. I studied like crazy for that. I feel like I did well. It wasn't too bad. Then two days after that, I had my Celtic Myth exam. And again I feel like I studied wayyyy too much for that. I definitely aced that test.
The next day, Thursday April 14th, Jenny, from Wisconsin went home. :0( It was very sad, but we definitely gave her a proper goodbye the night before. We all definitely miss her, but this summer will definitely be fun. Road trip??
On Friday, April 15th, I met mom dad and Brian in Dublin. It was great seeing them, and boy, did Brian get tall! I feel like Ashley now! Oh well.. I guess my time had to come sometime..
With mom dad, and Bri, I stayed in Dublin for 3 days, and I realized just how much dad snores. (I have sympathy for my mother.) We met up with David one night for a few drinks, and had fun. We also did the wax museum, Dublin Castle, and they did the Guinness Store house when I took a nap. We also met up with mom's cousin Myra from Jersey Isles. Next we headed to Cork and had lunch with Auntie Mae.. It was great seeing her, and she looks fantastic! Then we went to see Aunt Bella and family. It was great seeing them, and we had a great time wth Yvonne and Deidre. We stayed a night in Cork, then went to Limerick to see Auntie Vera. We had a great meal with her, then headed home to Galway. It was a lot of fun showing them my apartment, and the city. Dad has never been here, and mom stayed breifly, so it was cool being sort of a tourguide.. (especially of the pubs!) They stayed 3 nights in Galway, and I headed to Sligo for a friends birthday beach party, and they went up to Liscanner (Vincent has a house on the Cliffs of Moher.) The beach party was a lot of fun. Great Craic. I then met the folks in Liscanner for Easter. We spent Easter with the Campbells. It was great seeing everyone again. On Monday, April 25th, we went to Leitrum to say hi to everyone. Then on Tuesday I caught a bus home to Galway and they went home to America. It was really great seeing them. Can't wait till Ashley comes!!!
The future plans are one of my best friends, Jacki is coming on Monday May 2nd, I have an exam on the 3rd and the 5th, then Ashley comes on May 20th.. The Campbell party on the 21st,and then I leave on June 9th. This is all coming at me wayyyy too fast!!! It should just slowww down!!!
Till next time!
Slainte
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Do you know 'Arry Pottah??
Alright.. So again, I haven’t written in a while.. But I wrote a few notes about things during London, so I think I got everything exciting that happened.. Here it goes….
Leaving Galway:
Apparently I don’t know how to book tickets, and I booked for the exact opposite times that I wanted to. I wanted to leave just after my Irish class, and get home just before it. Instead I booked Alyssa and my tickets for just before my Irish class (6:25 AM) and get home after my Irish class the next week (flight landed at 6:45PM). Wonderful.
Apparently I don’t know how to book tickets, and I booked for the exact opposite times that I wanted to. I wanted to leave just after my Irish class, and get home just before it. Instead I booked Alyssa and my tickets for just before my Irish class (6:25 AM) and get home after my Irish class the next week (flight landed at 6:45PM). Wonderful.
So, in order for us to make the flight from Dublin, we got on a bus at 1:15AM. Needless to say, we didn’t really sleep that night.
London:
Day 1:
Arrivied at around 8:30AM. We were SO tired from being up all day, and night.. So we were a bit delirious. We were very excited about being in London. We hopped on the bus to the city centre, and when we got off we were absolutely starving. We spent about 3 hours trying to find a place to eat/ our hostel, but nothing was open for food that early in the morning. We ran into the first place that was open about 2 hours later. Unfortunately we didn’t look at the prices. We got a hamburger each for 17 pounds. It wasn’t even that amazing! We finally got to the hostel, and took a nap. In the end, Alyssa was up for 30 hours straight, and I was up for 34. The reason I was up for the extra 4 hours was because of this woman that was sharing our room. This woman I learned later was a gypsy that a new person who just started working there accidently rented a bed to. The gypsy came to the door 15 minutes after we got there, and her card wasn’t working so she started knocking. Alyssa was already asleep, so being a nice person, I let her in. I knew it was a mistake the second I let her in. She smelled reallllllyy bad. And her bunk had so much random trinkets on it, such as a scary mask and a lot of bags. And guess who unfortunately picked the bed next to hers’? So I basically tried to wait it out, but then eventually changed beds to the top bunk next to Alyssa. I then couldn’t really fall asleep because she was noisy and smelly. I eventually did fall asleep though, and was woken up when the gypsy was getting kicked out. A little while after that Shaun got to the hostel (he took the right plane) and we went out for a drink down the block. Headed back to the hostel early because we were all beat.
Day 1:
Arrivied at around 8:30AM. We were SO tired from being up all day, and night.. So we were a bit delirious. We were very excited about being in London. We hopped on the bus to the city centre, and when we got off we were absolutely starving. We spent about 3 hours trying to find a place to eat/ our hostel, but nothing was open for food that early in the morning. We ran into the first place that was open about 2 hours later. Unfortunately we didn’t look at the prices. We got a hamburger each for 17 pounds. It wasn’t even that amazing! We finally got to the hostel, and took a nap. In the end, Alyssa was up for 30 hours straight, and I was up for 34. The reason I was up for the extra 4 hours was because of this woman that was sharing our room. This woman I learned later was a gypsy that a new person who just started working there accidently rented a bed to. The gypsy came to the door 15 minutes after we got there, and her card wasn’t working so she started knocking. Alyssa was already asleep, so being a nice person, I let her in. I knew it was a mistake the second I let her in. She smelled reallllllyy bad. And her bunk had so much random trinkets on it, such as a scary mask and a lot of bags. And guess who unfortunately picked the bed next to hers’? So I basically tried to wait it out, but then eventually changed beds to the top bunk next to Alyssa. I then couldn’t really fall asleep because she was noisy and smelly. I eventually did fall asleep though, and was woken up when the gypsy was getting kicked out. A little while after that Shaun got to the hostel (he took the right plane) and we went out for a drink down the block. Headed back to the hostel early because we were all beat.
Day 2:
We woke up around 9:30ish. Took the bus into town, and hopped on the Big Bus tour. It was pretty cool. We went to Buckingham Palace, and walked around the park a bit. We also did the Tower of London, and got a tour from the Beefeaters. It was pretty cool. We took the riverboat tour as well. After the Tower of London, we were going to take the big bus back, but we found out that it ended. So we had to walk a while to get back to the place we could grab a bus to the hostel. We tried to go to the Hard Rock Café, but after standing on line for a half hour, we were told the wait would be another hour and a half. Needless to say, we went somewhere else. After that, we went back to the hostel, again really tired.
We woke up around 9:30ish. Took the bus into town, and hopped on the Big Bus tour. It was pretty cool. We went to Buckingham Palace, and walked around the park a bit. We also did the Tower of London, and got a tour from the Beefeaters. It was pretty cool. We took the riverboat tour as well. After the Tower of London, we were going to take the big bus back, but we found out that it ended. So we had to walk a while to get back to the place we could grab a bus to the hostel. We tried to go to the Hard Rock Café, but after standing on line for a half hour, we were told the wait would be another hour and a half. Needless to say, we went somewhere else. After that, we went back to the hostel, again really tired.
Day 3:
Woke up again at 9:30. We were going to do the Harry Potter tour, but backwards. We went to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 ¾. We then went to a bar to map (Called O’Neill’s) out the confusing path of the Harry Potter tour. Alyssa opted that we would stay on the tour, but Shaun went to the war museum. We planned to meet up in Trafalgar Square at 2:00 for the Beatles tour. Seeing that it was 12:45 and the Harry Potter tour would take at least 2 hours to complete, we decided to save it for another day, and get food instead. After eating we headed to Trafalgar Square a bit early. There we found ourselves in the middle of a HUGE protest. We hung out by the musicians for a while until 2. Then we went to look for Shaun and the tour. We found out later that it was cancelled. We couldn’t find Shaun either.. So, we too joined the protest! We didn’t know what we were protesting at the time, but they were very enthusiastic! We stayed next to our drummers most of the time, and had a bottle of wine, so it was a good time. We later learned that we protested the government cutting a lot of funds. We met up with Shaun later and went to the Hard Rock Café. Had some of the best Mac n Cheese I’ve ever had. And then we went to a few pubs, and back to the hostel.
Woke up again at 9:30. We were going to do the Harry Potter tour, but backwards. We went to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 ¾. We then went to a bar to map (Called O’Neill’s) out the confusing path of the Harry Potter tour. Alyssa opted that we would stay on the tour, but Shaun went to the war museum. We planned to meet up in Trafalgar Square at 2:00 for the Beatles tour. Seeing that it was 12:45 and the Harry Potter tour would take at least 2 hours to complete, we decided to save it for another day, and get food instead. After eating we headed to Trafalgar Square a bit early. There we found ourselves in the middle of a HUGE protest. We hung out by the musicians for a while until 2. Then we went to look for Shaun and the tour. We found out later that it was cancelled. We couldn’t find Shaun either.. So, we too joined the protest! We didn’t know what we were protesting at the time, but they were very enthusiastic! We stayed next to our drummers most of the time, and had a bottle of wine, so it was a good time. We later learned that we protested the government cutting a lot of funds. We met up with Shaun later and went to the Hard Rock Café. Had some of the best Mac n Cheese I’ve ever had. And then we went to a few pubs, and back to the hostel.
Day 4:
Shaun and I went to Accomplice: London. For those of you who don’t know what that is: The easiest way of putting it is that it is basically an improve scavenger hunt throughout the city. It was pretty cool, and a lot of fun. After Accomplice, we met up with Alyssa for lunch. Then I got a call from Amy Bitterman saying that she was in town for the night. This started the saga of finding Amy. It took 3 hours to find her. We took 3 wrong busses, and eventually walked there. It would have taken less time and energy to walk from our hostel to her hotel. But we made it there. During the walk to Amy, Shaun bailed because he had a bus to Scotland in a few hours. It took a long time to find her, but it was great seeing family. Very glad we were able to meet up. We had dinner and a few drinks with her, then walked back to our hostel. Alyssa attempted to conquer her fear of parks at night, and we walked through only to find out that they lock all of the gates at night. So, we climbed the fence. Something to cross off my to do list. Then we headed back to the hostel.
Shaun and I went to Accomplice: London. For those of you who don’t know what that is: The easiest way of putting it is that it is basically an improve scavenger hunt throughout the city. It was pretty cool, and a lot of fun. After Accomplice, we met up with Alyssa for lunch. Then I got a call from Amy Bitterman saying that she was in town for the night. This started the saga of finding Amy. It took 3 hours to find her. We took 3 wrong busses, and eventually walked there. It would have taken less time and energy to walk from our hostel to her hotel. But we made it there. During the walk to Amy, Shaun bailed because he had a bus to Scotland in a few hours. It took a long time to find her, but it was great seeing family. Very glad we were able to meet up. We had dinner and a few drinks with her, then walked back to our hostel. Alyssa attempted to conquer her fear of parks at night, and we walked through only to find out that they lock all of the gates at night. So, we climbed the fence. Something to cross off my to do list. Then we headed back to the hostel.
Day 5:
We got breakfast at a waffle place. Then we sat in Hyde Park for a bit. We then went to One Logan Place, the place where Freddie Mercury lived most of his life and died in. We wrote on the brick wall outside of the house. I expected a bit more to be written there, but it looks like a lot has been worn down/ washed off by rain, and whatnot. When we kneeled down to write on the wall, a cat came up to us, and climbed on my lap. Since he was so friendly, we hung out with him for a bit. We of course named him Freddie. He was sooo cute. I’m SO glad I got to Freddie’s house. After that, Alyssa went home, and I went to see ‘We Will Rock You.’ It was really good, and a lot of fun. I really liked it a lot. After that Alyssa met up with me, and we got a few drinks.
We got breakfast at a waffle place. Then we sat in Hyde Park for a bit. We then went to One Logan Place, the place where Freddie Mercury lived most of his life and died in. We wrote on the brick wall outside of the house. I expected a bit more to be written there, but it looks like a lot has been worn down/ washed off by rain, and whatnot. When we kneeled down to write on the wall, a cat came up to us, and climbed on my lap. Since he was so friendly, we hung out with him for a bit. We of course named him Freddie. He was sooo cute. I’m SO glad I got to Freddie’s house. After that, Alyssa went home, and I went to see ‘We Will Rock You.’ It was really good, and a lot of fun. I really liked it a lot. After that Alyssa met up with me, and we got a few drinks.
Day 6:
We basically hung out most of the day. We went to the British museum, but I felt really sick and went home for a nap. Then I went to see ‘Thriller’ the Michael Jackson play. I was pretty disappointed, because it was basically just a few people that were singing his songs. There was no story line, and I could dance better than most of the girls. The guys were fantastic though. I am also a firm believer that if there is a dance already made up to a song (such as Thriller, or beat it) you can not make up your own crappy dance. It just didn’t feel right. After that, Alyssa was supposed to meet up withme, but she ate an entire nutella pizza for dessert, and wasn’t quite feeling well. So I enjoyed a lovely (far) walk home. It was really gorgeous out.
We basically hung out most of the day. We went to the British museum, but I felt really sick and went home for a nap. Then I went to see ‘Thriller’ the Michael Jackson play. I was pretty disappointed, because it was basically just a few people that were singing his songs. There was no story line, and I could dance better than most of the girls. The guys were fantastic though. I am also a firm believer that if there is a dance already made up to a song (such as Thriller, or beat it) you can not make up your own crappy dance. It just didn’t feel right. After that, Alyssa was supposed to meet up withme, but she ate an entire nutella pizza for dessert, and wasn’t quite feeling well. So I enjoyed a lovely (far) walk home. It was really gorgeous out.
Day 7:
This day we went back to lovely Galway. We had fun, but it was good to get home.
This day we went back to lovely Galway. We had fun, but it was good to get home.
Last weekend I went to Cork to see Aunt Bella. She is doing o.k. The first day I saw her, she looked really good. She was really happy to see me. The next day, we went to Mothers day lunch (she was allowed to go out of the hospital from 12-5, and then had to go back). She was very tired from not getting much sleep the night before. The next day when I was leaving,she apparently was looking better after a good nights sleep. She is supposed to be getting out today. I’ll check up with Dec, then post it in a bit. I’ll also post pics from London soon, so look back for them..
Till next time, Slainte.
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