Ireland 22-25 June

Ahhh...the Emerald Isle.

This adventure brought me opportunity to meet some very special people. Leicester Uni offered a HOST program for its international students - all we had to do was to tell HOST where we wanted to visit and HOST would use its mighty resources to link us with a generous volunteer host in that area. Hosts volunteer not only to give room and board, but to show us the gems of their homeland. I think I ended up with the best host ever! I wanted to visit Northern Ireland and had the great blessing of being linked up with Henrietta. What a woman! The fact that she was willing to open her home to an international stranger already speaks volumes about her....I had the pleasure of staying with her son Christopher and his cute little son Finlay too. That's Henri, Chris, and Finlay in the bottom photo. We were at the Doagh Famine Village, enjoying some nice tea (juice) and scones after learning about life during the devastating Potato Famine in the 1840s. Very interesting!

Giant's Causeway

One of the ultimate highlights of our holiday was going to Giant's Causeway. It was incredible! In our man-made, genetically-altered world, I must reassure you that these octagon-shaped rocks are all-natural! There's all sorts of Irish mythology crowding about to explain the freakish natural phenomenon of such strange geology; one story involves two giants...one Scotch and one Irish...and some massive stone-throwing contests.... Henri and Marie are in the bottom photo. Lovely Marie is one of Henri's best friends and she joined us on some of our excursions. I LOVED Giant's Causeway. In Ireland, things are just THERE and its stunning. There's no loud fanfare or brash advertisements - its just there for you to experience and enjoy.

Fisherman selling their fresh catch straight from the dock.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

This little rope bridge joins two craggy cliffs as the ocean surges underneath. It was originally constructed by fishermen and is now a tourist attraction! I'd seen so many cool pictures of it...I can hardly believe I'VE actually been across it!

Henri and I went on the most AMAZING walk through a valley of seven springs, Irish woodland, and gorgeous waterfalls. In the last picture, if you look very hard, you can see Scotland on the horizon. Magical!

Jonny and Joe's

This is Henri and her amazing mum Mary at Jonny and Joe's Pub. It was the most awesome traditional pub I have ever been to...a rare gem from past generations and tragically a dying breed. It was so historic, so chill - locals brought their own instruments (Mary played her accordian) and they took turns playing and singing traditional Irish songs. It was bliss. It was then that the word 'pub', or public house, really made sense to me...it ws a house open to the public and the community gathered there. Unfortunately this picture is really blurry.

Belfast

Belfast has always held fascination for me - it's religious tension, civil upheaval...it's so foreign to my own experience that I find it intriguing - call it thanatos or curiosity. I didn't want to leave Northern Ireland without visiting it. So I hopped on a train and visited for a couple of hours. The only outright, superficial sign of relgious conflict I saw was a pipe which had grafitted 'No pope across this line' on it....is that a sign of progress? I hope so.

And, by the grace of God, I made my flight (I got there late) and then had to say a sad goodbye to Henri :( She is such a lovely person and I had SUCH a special, memorable time! I've decided that in the future I want to tour the Isle of Man, take a ferry to Belfast, and hike the Causeway Coastline. Want to join me? xx Goodbye for now, Ireland!

My Family Visits England!!!

To my great joy, my family came and visited England 28 May-11 June! It was bliss. Two heavenly weeks! We toured all over England (and even spent an exhausting day in Paris!). This is my favourite picture. We are at William Wordsworth's house in the Lake District.

London

Ted hosted us and was our amazing tourguide throughout our London travels. My family was absolutely smitten by him! He felt like a grandfather to us all by the end of our time together. We're in front of the Tower of London in this picture.

She's Squashing Me!! Two of the cutest girls in the world at Trafalgar Square, London.

We had SUCH a fantastic time in London. We saw many of the touristy sites that one must see when they visit London! The Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, museums, and a West Ender...Les Miserables! What a treat. Ted really did highlight our time there - it wouldn't have been half as special without him there.

Paris!!

Paris! We went to Paris! I have to keep reminding myself of that fact because a most unusual, fleeting trip it was! We rode the overnight coach (bus) to Paris and by the time we arrived, we were absolutely shattered. My predominate memory is how incredibly TIRED we all were (three hard-core days trampsing around London, jet-lag, and hardly a wink of good sleep on the coach created a deadly combination). We arrived in Paris at 6 am. I remember walking around this beautiful city in a haze. We managed to fall asleep in Notre Dame during noon mass and at the Eiffel Tower after taking in the views. We must have been a sight! We saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre and called it a day. We went back to the coach station four hours early (!) and fell asleep there! Sad but true....but we were there and made good memories! Boarded the overnight coach back to London at 10 pm. Would post more pictures but my laptop with all my pictures isn't working at the minute.

Oxford

Next stop: Oxford. We picked up our rental car there. Yes, dad was heroic and braved the streets of the UK -- not only did he drive on the opposite side of road, but he tackled an endless amount of round-abouts! We only feared for our lives when approaching those...well almost only. He did a really great job. Bravo dad. I was planted in the front seat next to him and designated navigator; I succeeded some of the time. Oxford was really awesome. Another magical place. Almost organic and hodge-podge in its creation while still maintaining its regal and stately distinction.

A hilarious restaurant we ate at in Oxford! Puccino's - I highly recommend it! They had humorous things written on the backs of their sugar packets (on everything, really). Carly is demonstrating how to use a sugar packet as 'a very small pillow'. Sweet Dreams!

Mom's 51st Birthday!!!

We celebrated mom's 51st birthday in Salisbury! After an evening walk along the River Avon, we bought a toffee cake at Tesco and headed back to our B&B. We filled our teacups with squash (a concentrated English drink) and ate the cake on our saucers! It was great! Happy Bday Mum.

The Lovely Salisbury Cathedral

Tallest spire in England! Absolutely gorgeous.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge surprised me! I was in no way interested to see it - what did I care for an overrated pile of stones? BUT when we saw it, I could sense the unusual, mythical fascination surrounding the place. It surprised me as it popped out on the skyline right next to the highway (see above left); it was unexpected and almost magical. We parked the car for about ten minutes and took a few photographs, and then we were off again! I was glad to have seen it.

Carly's 15th Birthday!

Carly's birthday was one of my favourite days! We spent it in the Lake District - the one place in England I feel my heart really lies. This is Windermere.