I spent the past week and a half traveling down south and through England and Scotland with my family. It was a brilliant trip, testing at times, as I had never really traveled with my parents. I don't think grandma's house or the beach really count, especially since in the past 6 years I have always driven myself. But overall, we had a great time, saw amazing sites- including the queen!- and enjoyed each others company.
We started down in Bunratty, Ireland near Shannon. Mom, Dad, Drew, and cousin Debbie flew in to Shannon, rented a car, and had an eventful morning while I flew to Galway from Belfast, paid 38 Euros for a taxi because I got to the bus station and realized my luggage was still at the airport, and took a long bus to Shannon. When I arrived at the BB, I woke Debbie up to hear about their morning of flat tires and dad's crazy driving. I should have warned them about the stone wall lined streets, where the stone is all covered in grass. Two flat tires, a super nice man whose driveway they landed in, and a trip out from the rental company later, they rested in the BB and I arrived. After such an eventful morning, we decided to stay close to home and only explore a little bit of Bunratty. We went, of course, shopping, then got an early pub dinner.
The next morning, we headed out to explore County Clare. Our first stop was the Cliffs of Moher. Dad was driving much better, but I got shotgun as I am used to the view of the left side of the road. We headed out to the country roads, and the views were brilliant. We opted to not climb up to the top of the cliffs as we would be soon on a boat to see them from the water. We stopped at castle ruins and for photo opps, and the freedom of having a car was amazing. In Doolin, we got on a boat which took us out into the Atlantic to see the amazing cliffs that line the west coast of Ireland. We then continued along the coastal road, circling the Burren and stopped for lunch at a famous pub that turned out to not be so good. A few thatched roof cottages later, we turned into the Burren. Now if you're like me, you're probably thinking at this point, okay cool, The Burren of Co. Clare- whatever that is... So basically its a huge rocky area with lots of ancient stone structures and ruins. The drive itself was really cool and we stopped to see a few of the sights, skipping the highly crowded tourist ones (unfortunately).
That night for dinner we headed to the tiny town of Six Mile Bridge. Mom, Dad, and Deb ate at a wee french cafe, with a cheese platter, meat platter, and quiche. Drew and I opted for more foreign food, kebabs. Yes, neither local, we are lame- but you can only eat fish and chips so man nights in a row! The next morning, after packing up, we headed for a quick stop at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. We toured through the massive castle and enjoyed the thatched roof cottages and smell of peat fires. Pushing our time, we headed to the Shannon Airport for our flight to London.
We arrived in London, early afternoon, hungry and a bit tired. We stopped in at my fav M&S simply food and got sandwiches for the train. We settled onto the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station, ate our lunch, and relaxed. The trip from Victoria Station to the hotel was a disaster- complete with lots of frustration, lack of reading maps, sweat, zero patience, and bad words. Remember how I said I'd never traveled with my parents... yep, its an interesting experience. And having a big group (5) doesn't make the stress level any better. BUT, we finally did make it to our hotel and settled in to chill for a bit, and leave the bad feelings and stress of the afternoon behind us so we could enjoy our time in London. We took a London by night bus tour, which was really good because it gave a good feel for the city and we saw things we wouldn't ever make it back to since London is so massive! We got a super late dinner (11.00) at a cute family Italian place. The atmosphere was brilliant and just what we needed to end a not so easy day.
The next morning, we got up and headed to the Tower of London, thankfully we had worked out the tube before hand to avoid another day of stressful traveling. We started our tour at the Tower with a Yeoman tour. It was brilliant, they are very funny and tell you a lot. We saw where Anne Berlin was beheaded and all those that preceded her on Henry the 8th's list. After the tour, we explored the white, central tower with its armoury and artillery. We stopped for lunch, fish and chips of course, then headed back in to see the crown jewels, the dungeon, and the torture chamber. The jewels were amazing! We took the moving sidewalk twice so we could get the best look! We spent basically all day there, and had a wee bit of a rest before heading to dinner at a Chinese. I made my family try prawn crackers- my favorite thing about Chinese here. They hated them, haha. More for me! We booked our tour for the next day before heading out to dinner- Warwick Castle, Stratford upon Avon, The Cotswold's, and Oxford.
We woke up SUPER early the next morning, to get our breakfast and get to Paddington Station to catch our tour bus for our full day. After a decent bus ride, we arrived at Warwick Castle. The castle was wonderful, with a great wax exhibit about getting ready for war, and famous beds and tables. Queen Anne's Bed and Chest were the sites to see, since she sent them for her trip then she herself never arrived. One of the best parts was being able to try on the armour! Talk about some funny pictures!
One of the highlights of Warwick is to see the catapult used, but unfortunately the area was flooded and so we didn't get to see it. But overall the castle was worth the trip.
The bus headed next to Stratford Upon Avon, where we toured Shakespeare's house and explored the town a wee bit. The house was cool, still set up and the same as when he would have lived there. The town itself also is home to Anne Hathaway's home and the church where Shakespeare is buried. We stopped for lunch in a pretty classy pub, then toured through the Cotswold's. The thatched roof cottages weren't quite as exciting as those in Ireland because they all had chicken wire over the top, changing the look. But, it was still a beautiful area.
Our next stop was Oxford, to see Christ Church. This was pretty exciting, even though I am not the biggest of Harry Potter fans. We climbed the stairs used in the first movie, and entered the hall that was rebuilt for the filming. It was really funny how everything was copied in the movie, the pictures on the walls and all. We took a wee tour around, and heard the story of how Alice in Wonderland was written by a student at Oxford and was based on the dean's daughter Alice and other members of staff at Christ Church. I always thought it was just some trippy movie based on some drug induced idea. Pretty funny to see where it really came from. The layout at Oxford is really interesting, there are 39 colleges within the university which all have their own private quad with dorms, chapels, meeting rooms, and a dining hall. Pretty interesting.
The next day, Saturday 16 June, we were just so lucky to be in London. This is the Queen's unofficial birthday, celebrating her years on the throne, which passes with the trooping of the colour. Mom came down with the flu or something, so she and dad took the morning to rest, while Deb, Drewski, and I headed to Westminster Abbey. The Abbey was massive and beautiful. My favorite parts were the knights chairs with the family crests from each past knight in them and the flags hanging over the current knights seats and the graves. It is amazing who all is buried in there, though I can't claim to really know all that much about them- minus The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer- which I need to read again...
After Westminster Abbey, we headed down to the mall, to catch the Queen on her way back to Buckingham Palace. We scored some second/third row places to stand and waiting, enjoying the royal guard. Then it started and we were maybe 20 feet from the Queen and Prince William! I am partial to Prince Harry... But it was still cool! The horses and bands were very cool and over all it was just a really fun thing we happened to be in town for! I mean, how many people, Americans at that, can say they've seen the Queen of England? Me! After the parade we mosied a wee bit then headed back towards the eye to meet mom and dad. The fly over started along with the ran on our walk up the mall. The fly over was brilliant, especially the last set, leaving streams of red, white, and blue. It almost felt like it was the 4th of July (which is coming up?!? WOAH). Overall, super experience.
We met mom and dad at the eye, after a wee dander down street act city! Now, you have to understand, I am a sucker for these people- although I kept a handful of 10p coins (.20cents) to keep my wallet safe. If you don't know this then you should forever remember it: Where there are street acts, there are pickpockets- they work together, they distract the other picks and they split it. BUT, it was brilliant. There is a full range of pictures on my Webshots, have no fear, but I will spare you here on the blog! The queue for the eye was massive, mom still wasn't feeling too hot, so we opted for Quiznos (AMAZING- we don't have that in Belfast!) and getting out of the rain. That night I also got to meet up with my friend Phil who had been working on a vineyard in France. It was great to catch up with him- especially since he is going to move to France before I come home.
That afternoon Dad, Deb, Drew, and I raced to the National Museum to see the Egypt exhibit briefly before it closed. I found it boring, having been in Egypt, and headed to the Africa exhibit. I did however, make a point to see the Rosetta stone since I couldn't see it in Egypt since, clearly, it is in London. In the Africa Exhibit, I saw some cool stuff to feed my obsession. Namely, The Christian Aid tree, made from recycled weapons. People who turned in weapons were given food, money, etc. in exchange for their weapon of choice. The tree was pretty cool, especially since my youth led the Christian Aid service this year at church, which was all themed around growing a tree.
Sunday we got the train to Edinburgh, which was a pretty interesting experience since apparently it was the perfect weekend for hen and stag parties (bachelor and bachelorette). We shared our train with many, including a groom dressed in a drink tutu and hot pink jump suit. Pretty dang funny. Edinburgh was nice, especially because I knew my way around. We stayed in a nice flat out near the university and right near a park. The family went to the castle, while I walked up to see my friend Mark. We went to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was pretty cool to see. We were all amazed at how tiny the queen's bed was, a simple twin and fascinated with the 53 person dining table that is set using rulers to measure out the cutlery placement! What a way to take a holiday! The best part though were the pictures of the royal family and the places the yacht had been. Another highlight of Edinburgh was going to both the 3 sisters pub and elephants and bagels- two places I loved on my last trip over during university to visit a friend studying abroad! I must say it was weird to be there without my Mols, but seeing mark at 3 sisters- after waiting alone for 45 min (I have always wanted to go to a bar alone... but I will say it wasn't as great as I hoped it would be... at least I had Beckhams last game with Madrid to watch...) was almost as good as being there with Molly herself!
We came home to Belfast on Tuesday, hung out for a bit, got lunch at my fav coffee shop and put Deb and Dad on the Belfast Bus Tour so they could get a feel for Belfast in the short time they spent here. Mom, Drewski, and I headed up to the Botanic Gardens and Queens University- the one part of town mom hadn't seen on her previous two trips over. We then piddled in town for a bit, did some Primark shopping (naturally...) and then met Dad and Deb. We came home to drop things and regroup, then headed up to Teresa's house to have wine and cheese with her and Joan, two of my favorite people in Belfast. If you are confused who they are, they work in the Day Centre with me on Tuesdays. Seeing as they are my parents peers, we collectively decided it would be fun for them to meet- and it was! We were intending just a stop in, predinner glass of wine and ended up there until 10.30, laughing and finishing numerable bottles of red and white. Brilliant! We got home, and that was us for the night. They left the next morning, and for the remainder of the week I have not known what to do with myself with out tons to fit into my day. Yet, I still haven't managed to get this post up until now. Funny how that works out.
So, Brilliant to see them and should be interesting to get home in August! I have 7 more weeks, which I prefer to say about 2 months.. because in reality it is 4 days shy of 8 weeks... CRAZY!
