The weekend after I went to Newquay, I went to Galway, Ireland to visit my sorority sister Vanessa. She is there for grad school as well. I flew from London to Shannon, Ireland and then had to take a hour and a half bus ride to Galway. There is no other way there. Vanessa met me at the bus station and we walked through the town center towards her apartment. Let me point out that it is not really her apartment. She was living with three other girls in this small place which wasn't in the safest of neighborhoods, so they all eventually moved in with their boyfriends, who just so happened to all live in the same place. The boys' place was in a much nicer area. When I first got there we ended up ordering pizza and hanging out around her place. Later when he boyfriend got back from studying for his exams, we went to a pub and had a drink. The first night wasn't too exciting. I lucked out and the whole time I was there, there was a free bed for me to stay in.
The second day we went shopping and walked around Galway. Vanessa showed me her school and we met up with a few of her friends and talked with them for awhile. While we were heading to her school we stumbled upon a really cute cafe. It reminded me of a flower nursery. You could buy some flowers but also eat and drink tea. So we order a pot of tea for each of us. Her school is really pretty. There is a lot of grass and trees, and this really weird yellow sculpture that her and her boyfriend were making fun of. That night we tried to make plans to go out, got ready and everything, but ended up hanging out with Vanessa's roommates and never actually made it to the bar.
The next day Vanessa had to work, so I went to a place called Salthill. It was about a 10 minute bus ride. When I first got there, I found a cafe and had some tea and read a book. In Ireland, when you ask for tea, they don't give you just a small cup of it. They give you a huge pot. I managed to drink the whole pot I had, but had to pee so badly afterwards. That's what I get. After that I walked along the beach and sat on some rocks and read a little more. Then wondered the town and headed back to Galway. Once I got there, I walked around a bit then went back to Vanessa's apartment and hung out with her roommates until she got back from work.
The last day there, Vanessa had to work again, so I woke up a bit early, got ready and then headed into town stopping to get a few souvenirs for myself, my parents and Dan. I met up with Vanessa at her work for lunch and then headed to catch the bus back to Shannon Airport. This weekend was a lot of fun. I didn't do too much, but I really enjoyed my time there. I wish I had more time to go back again. Vanessa is coming to London again soon and then we are heading to Croatia for the weekend. This Tuesday I am heading to NY for two weeks. I won't have time to make it down to Maryland though, which makes me sad. While I am in NY I am going to try and pick up shifts at Ruby Tuesday where I worked when I lived up there. Dan's brother is graduating so we are going to that. We are also going to the Bronx Zoo and a Yankee's Baseball game. Plus my friend's wedding. So it will be busy. Love and miss you all xoxo
Galway, Ireland
Friday, May 21, 2010
Maryland/Newquay
I am really slacking on this blog thing. I guess this is why I never kept a diary as a kid. Anyways, most of the pictures I took while I was home in Maryland were at the wedding so I am not posting any of those up, but I will tell you a bit about home. The first thing I did when I landed was go to Ruby Tuesday with my dad. We didn't eat there but just got me some spring rolls that I had been craving for, for about FOREVER! He is such a nice daddy. The day after, Dan came down from NY. While he was there we went to Great Falls, My mom's house, saw the babies and kept pretty busy. I had two doctors appointments (check-ups, everything is fine) and an interview with Montgomery County Public Schools. Hopefully I get to work with them one day, along with a few other family members. :) Afterwards, I flew back to London. I had fun at home, and while relaxing, busy at the same time.
About a week after I got back from Maryland, I took the train to southern England to Newquay to visit the Grahams. All of the pictures that are from Newquay are located in the slide-show. I figured it was an easier way to upload the images on my end, and for you to look at them on yours. The first night I got there, we had dinner and went to see Iron Man 2. This movie came out a week earlier then it did in the States, so of course I had to see it so I could brag to Dan that I saw it before him (he goes to the midnight movies of everything). I really enjoyed it.
The next day we went to Plymouth. Yeah, it's that place that the Pilgrims set sail from on the Mayflower. We first went shopping for a bit and then headed over towards the water. It was beautiful. This small little beach town. Well not really small, but anyways. Elaine told me that they are fixing up a pool that is right by the ocean that they built forever ago. I guess the sea water comes in there during the day and then they drain it at night, like they do on cruise ships. There were all these little changing huts on the side of the hills for people to change and areas for them to relax. There were not that many people out when I was there since it was still a bit too chilly. We walked along the harbor and ended up near the stairs where the Mayflower set sail from. Not really all that exciting to look at. Apparently, about half of the dock/walkway is gone. There were booths set up with people selling food, jewelry and other stuff. It was pretty nice. Ashley finally found a watch. She had been hunting for one for forever. On the way back to Newquay from Plymouth, we stopped at an American diner. It was really nice for them to do, but I have to admit, it is weird having a British person serving you your food.
The next day we went to Boscastle. This tiny little town set in a small valley. The river that runs through the town flooded a few years ago, destroying half of the town. The river runs right into the ocean when it is high tide. We walked up the hill and once you were at the top it was just cliffs and the ocean from there, next stop would be America. It was so windy, to the point we couldn't stop laughing because our hair was flying around all over the place. Well the girl's hair, not David's. It was really pretty here. We also got to see a seal just swimming around and heading back into the ocean. It was so cool. I wish I could have gotten closer to it. Afterwards we headed to Tintagel. This is the location of the castle that King Arthur was born at. They wanted to charge us to walk around the castle, but it was so ruined, that all the stone was starting to look like it was part of nature and had been there forever. Well it had been there forever, King Arthur would be very old by now. All of the places we visited while I was there were right along the coast so everything was beautiful. We walked around here too. We ended up coming up to a church and there was a sign on the door saying it had been a holy ground since the 1400s. We were walking around the graveyard trying to find old stones, but we couldn't tell too many of them because the salt water in the air had made some of even the newest ones, look old and hard to read. That night I finally watched Avatar for the first time. Not too shabby.
My final day there we went to Bedruthan. That had to be my favorite place that we visited while I was down there. The water was so blue and so pretty. We had to climb down these steps to get to the water. It was scary! They were so steep. Might as well have been climbing down a ladder. When we first got there, the water was a lot higher up, but it was slowly becoming low tide as we were walking around and climbing on the rocks. There were these dogs that kept running into the water. It was really cute. Elaine said that when the tide is out, you can walk for miles around all the edges of the cliffs right along the water. We were not able to do that on this visit since I needed to get back to the train station. I had a lot of fun when I was down there. When I got back to London, my roommate, Jessie, saw my pictures and she liked them, so we both decided we are going to head back down again for a weekend at the end of July. I can't wait. :)
NEWQUAY!!!!
About a week after I got back from Maryland, I took the train to southern England to Newquay to visit the Grahams. All of the pictures that are from Newquay are located in the slide-show. I figured it was an easier way to upload the images on my end, and for you to look at them on yours. The first night I got there, we had dinner and went to see Iron Man 2. This movie came out a week earlier then it did in the States, so of course I had to see it so I could brag to Dan that I saw it before him (he goes to the midnight movies of everything). I really enjoyed it.
The next day we went to Plymouth. Yeah, it's that place that the Pilgrims set sail from on the Mayflower. We first went shopping for a bit and then headed over towards the water. It was beautiful. This small little beach town. Well not really small, but anyways. Elaine told me that they are fixing up a pool that is right by the ocean that they built forever ago. I guess the sea water comes in there during the day and then they drain it at night, like they do on cruise ships. There were all these little changing huts on the side of the hills for people to change and areas for them to relax. There were not that many people out when I was there since it was still a bit too chilly. We walked along the harbor and ended up near the stairs where the Mayflower set sail from. Not really all that exciting to look at. Apparently, about half of the dock/walkway is gone. There were booths set up with people selling food, jewelry and other stuff. It was pretty nice. Ashley finally found a watch. She had been hunting for one for forever. On the way back to Newquay from Plymouth, we stopped at an American diner. It was really nice for them to do, but I have to admit, it is weird having a British person serving you your food.
The next day we went to Boscastle. This tiny little town set in a small valley. The river that runs through the town flooded a few years ago, destroying half of the town. The river runs right into the ocean when it is high tide. We walked up the hill and once you were at the top it was just cliffs and the ocean from there, next stop would be America. It was so windy, to the point we couldn't stop laughing because our hair was flying around all over the place. Well the girl's hair, not David's. It was really pretty here. We also got to see a seal just swimming around and heading back into the ocean. It was so cool. I wish I could have gotten closer to it. Afterwards we headed to Tintagel. This is the location of the castle that King Arthur was born at. They wanted to charge us to walk around the castle, but it was so ruined, that all the stone was starting to look like it was part of nature and had been there forever. Well it had been there forever, King Arthur would be very old by now. All of the places we visited while I was there were right along the coast so everything was beautiful. We walked around here too. We ended up coming up to a church and there was a sign on the door saying it had been a holy ground since the 1400s. We were walking around the graveyard trying to find old stones, but we couldn't tell too many of them because the salt water in the air had made some of even the newest ones, look old and hard to read. That night I finally watched Avatar for the first time. Not too shabby.
My final day there we went to Bedruthan. That had to be my favorite place that we visited while I was down there. The water was so blue and so pretty. We had to climb down these steps to get to the water. It was scary! They were so steep. Might as well have been climbing down a ladder. When we first got there, the water was a lot higher up, but it was slowly becoming low tide as we were walking around and climbing on the rocks. There were these dogs that kept running into the water. It was really cute. Elaine said that when the tide is out, you can walk for miles around all the edges of the cliffs right along the water. We were not able to do that on this visit since I needed to get back to the train station. I had a lot of fun when I was down there. When I got back to London, my roommate, Jessie, saw my pictures and she liked them, so we both decided we are going to head back down again for a weekend at the end of July. I can't wait. :)
NEWQUAY!!!!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
No Good Very Bad Blog Updater
I know, I'm horrible. I hope one day you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for the lack of updates. I swear, half the time I am not doing anything fun and exciting. I promise promise that when I get back from Ireland on Monday (I leave Friday), that I will have some entries up for you. It will be about Maryland, Newquay and Ireland, with pretty pictures too!
If you want to look at some pictures now, here are two links:
Miss you all.
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