There are two things everyone should bring when traveling to Europe
1) a washcloth
2) a flat sheet
Apparantly no one out here believes in washcloths. The smallest towel available in any hotel is about twice the size of a handtowel. Also, there are no flat sheets on the beds out here, just a fitted sheet and a duvet.
I am tired of traveling. The thing that sticks out most in my mind right now about the past two days is the bus.
Day 5 we woke up at 5:45 so we could catch the morning ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales. I am so glad I managed to sleep the whole time because almost all the students felt sick and one poor kid threw up like 3 times.
Our first stop in Wales was a town called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwryndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (not kidding, real name). The name means "the church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave". If the restaurant Marie Calendar's formed a country, it would resemble this town. I am sure everyone there was around 200. Nice town.
After the town, we went into Snowdonia National Park. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was where Sr. Edmund Hillary trained for his Everest ascent (he was the first man to summit Everest). We don't have many photos because you are not allowed to stop on the road. Kyle and I are already planning to go back and hike there someday.
After Snowdonia we went to some town (cannot remember the name) where we stayed the night.
Day 6 was another long travel day. We visited Anne Hathaway's cottage (not the actress, Shakespeare's wife) and then went into the town of Stratford upon Avon (we are in England at this point) to see the birthplace of Shakespeare. Next, we stopped in Oxford to get a quick tour of the town and the University. After that we drove into London. The trip has been a little frustrating because we have so little time at these stops and have to really rush through the sites. It's hard for our students to have time to get many pictures, and we are all tired of being on that d*mn bus. I am taking dramamine constantly to avoid getting sick and it makes me so tired that all I want to do is sleep.
Tomorrow we go sightseeing in London and then have free time to go shopping!!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
the city in Wales where we stayed last night
Winston enjoying a cool breezy morning
yum!
cool church in Wales
coffee shop in Wales
pretty tree in Snowdonia
water fall in Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Winston enjoying the scenery
Castle in Wales
picture of the sign of that ridiculously long-named town in Wales
view from the ferry
Monday, March 29, 2010
Day 4
We spent the day in Dublin. The morning started with a guided tour where we saw St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness factory, Trinity College, several government buildings, a hotel owned by U2 (the band), Phoenix Park and tons of statues and monuments that I do not remember (I need to pay better attention). At the end of the tour we went back to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells exibit.
The Book of Kells is a latin manuscript of the four gospels. It was transcribed by Celtic monks sometime during the 9th century in a monastery on the island of Iona. The book is lavishly decorated with intricate drawings and gold and other metal inlay (very pretty). It was given to Trinity College in the late 1600's.
We also took a visit to Kristina's heaven. Trinity College houses one of the world's best research libraries. It holds the largest collection of books and manuscripts in Ireland, and due to some old copyright law, has access to one free copy of everything published in Ireland and Britain. The library is housed in eight buildings and has nearly 3 million volumes. The area of particular interest is called the long room, which is the oldest part of the libary (circa 1700) and houses the library's oldest books. The room is amazing and looks like it did when it was built over 300 years ago. Kristina, it probably could make you cry :)
After Trinity College, we ate lunch and had about 6 hours of free time to explore the city. Dublin is pretty cool looking and the shopping is awesome. I got some pretty amazing stuff and Kyle bought wiskey (shocker). We had dinner at the hotel and I am going to try to get to bed early since we have to leave at 6:15 to catch the morning ferry to Holyhead, Wales. Might not have internet tomorrow, but will for sure have it on Wednesday in London.
The Book of Kells is a latin manuscript of the four gospels. It was transcribed by Celtic monks sometime during the 9th century in a monastery on the island of Iona. The book is lavishly decorated with intricate drawings and gold and other metal inlay (very pretty). It was given to Trinity College in the late 1600's.
We also took a visit to Kristina's heaven. Trinity College houses one of the world's best research libraries. It holds the largest collection of books and manuscripts in Ireland, and due to some old copyright law, has access to one free copy of everything published in Ireland and Britain. The library is housed in eight buildings and has nearly 3 million volumes. The area of particular interest is called the long room, which is the oldest part of the libary (circa 1700) and houses the library's oldest books. The room is amazing and looks like it did when it was built over 300 years ago. Kristina, it probably could make you cry :)
After Trinity College, we ate lunch and had about 6 hours of free time to explore the city. Dublin is pretty cool looking and the shopping is awesome. I got some pretty amazing stuff and Kyle bought wiskey (shocker). We had dinner at the hotel and I am going to try to get to bed early since we have to leave at 6:15 to catch the morning ferry to Holyhead, Wales. Might not have internet tomorrow, but will for sure have it on Wednesday in London.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Day 3
Thank the Lord for pizza...
Have you ever noticed that Irish food is rarely or never featured in cooking shows, food competitions or on travel channel type shows? It's because Irish food sucks. No one wants to see top chefs compete to make the best bangers and mash or Irish stew. People don't go to Ireland for the food. It's not good, it's expensive, and the portions are small. So far, I am not impressed with Ireland's culinary achievements. Thank goodness for the domino's pizza by our hotel or I would be starving right now. Also, the Irish don't put sugar in anything and the coke here tastes weird. I miss the US.
Today we went from Shannon to Dublin via Blarney so we could see Blarney castle. The castle contains half of the Blarney stone, which was given to the Irish from Robert the Bruce for their help in the war of Bannickburn (spelling?) (think of the movie Braveheart). The stone is located on the top of the castle, and if you kiss it, it is supposed to give to eloquence, or the gift of the gab. To kiss it you have to lay on your back and bend over backwards (it's a little awkward). The castle is beautiful and I would have preferred to spend the whole day there.
After the castle, we went to Dublin where we ate dinner (if you could call it that) and then went to the hotel for the night. I am looking forward to sleeping.
Have you ever noticed that Irish food is rarely or never featured in cooking shows, food competitions or on travel channel type shows? It's because Irish food sucks. No one wants to see top chefs compete to make the best bangers and mash or Irish stew. People don't go to Ireland for the food. It's not good, it's expensive, and the portions are small. So far, I am not impressed with Ireland's culinary achievements. Thank goodness for the domino's pizza by our hotel or I would be starving right now. Also, the Irish don't put sugar in anything and the coke here tastes weird. I miss the US.
Today we went from Shannon to Dublin via Blarney so we could see Blarney castle. The castle contains half of the Blarney stone, which was given to the Irish from Robert the Bruce for their help in the war of Bannickburn (spelling?) (think of the movie Braveheart). The stone is located on the top of the castle, and if you kiss it, it is supposed to give to eloquence, or the gift of the gab. To kiss it you have to lay on your back and bend over backwards (it's a little awkward). The castle is beautiful and I would have preferred to spend the whole day there.
After the castle, we went to Dublin where we ate dinner (if you could call it that) and then went to the hotel for the night. I am looking forward to sleeping.
Leah kissing castle rocks for the gift of gab (day 3)
Blarney castle (day 3)
Blarney castle, this was a bedroom for ladies (day 3)
The beginning of day 3 we were off to the Blarney castle and spent way too much time on the bus. This is the king of Ireland... or at least my suitcase.
The beach on day 2, on the Ring of Kerry
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