Emmy and Clyde-BELFAST

Ok, so the next leg of our journey took us on a two hour train ride along the eastern coast of Ireland and up into Northern Ireland. It was a beautiful ride through the countryside and we could see the Mourne Mountains once we got into Northern Ireland. We walked from the train station to Donegal Square in downtown Belfast. Couldn’t help, but compare things in Belfast to London landmarks. There was the gorgeous city hall that resembled St. Paul’s. Right next to that was a Ferris wheel that reminded us of the London Eye and a clock tower like Big Ben. Anyway, we walked around for a bit and after visiting the TI centre decided to do a hop on-hop off bus tour of the city that took us into the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods of Belfast, something we both really wanted to see. Around 4 we hoped on the bus after eating at Subway…yes we’re that cool. The tour was awesome! It took us out to the docks where the Titanic was built and the two biggest cranes in the world. It went around the city, explaining things along the way, then onto Shankill Road, a large Protestant neighborhood with lots of murals dealing with “the troubles” and unionist supporters. Then we went through the open peace wall, it’s locked after 7pm every night, but only a few years ago it was a checkpoint and guarded day and night. Then we went to Falls Road which is a heavily Catholic area with its own murals and memorials to those lost in the fighting. It was hard to believe what went on there not too long ago and that gunmen were snipping from apartment buildings and gun battles were going on across the very roads we were traveling on. They told us that it wasn’t until recently that the buses could go into those neighborhoods safely and that before, tourist weren’t safe because if they didn’t recognize you they thought you could be a terrorist planting a bomb. It was a fantastic tour and we were both glad that we decided to do it. We had a hotel booked in Antrim, not far from Belfast airport and the TI people told us that there was a bus that went directly to the airport from just outside the centre. It was suppose to come like every 20min or something, but we (along with some other very annoyed people) waited for almost an hour. When it finally did come though we got a free ride! So in a way it was worth it, I warmed up eventually. We had a really nice dinner in Antrim near the hotel at a place called Moe’s Grill. It was sort of American-ish, but pretty nice. We got Kopparberg, my favorite drink I’ve found here in the UK. It’s an alcoholic cider (all cider here is alcoholic, not the kind you get from apple orchards in the states) and it comes in apple, pear or mixed fruit. Dave got apple and I had pear and it was wonderful! We’re now both big fans! :) We had got a rental car at the airport so we could drive up to the Antrim coast on Saturday.

Emmy and Clyde-DUBLIN

Wow, where to begin? Well, I guess the beginning would be a very good place to start. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of fun and new experiences, but it feels like I haven’t posted in forever. I’ll break it up again to make it easy to read. So, my lovely David came on Tuesday the 28th and I was the happiest girl in the world. It had been almost two months since I had left him at O’Hare, but to see him after all that time was the best feeling in the world. We both didn’t want to let the other go, but we eventually got his stuff in and settled. We decided to walk down to High St. and give him a quick tour around, even swept through the cathedral quickly. Wednesday I decided to skip my British History class because I was tired and have heard enough about Henry VIII to last me a lifetime. Dave audited my Modern Britain class and enjoyed hearing the discussions during the seminar. We left that night around 8:30pm out of Gatwick airport for Dublin. It was a really quick flight and once we got to the airport we had to figure out how to get to the hotel. Thankfully there was a shuttle from the terminal to the hotel, so that was pretty hassle free. The next morning we grabbed some breakfast at the hotel and went back to the airport to get a bus into the city centre. We ended up getting this Dublin pass thing that gets you into a lot of tourist sites in Dublin, as well as gets you on a bus down to the centre. It ended up not paying for itself as we thought, but we weren’t that worried about it. It was pretty chilly and rainy, but the rain sort of went away later in the day. The bus let us off near Trinity College and we decided to go see the Book of Kells that is kept there. The college itself is really cool and so was the Book of Kells, it’s so old and detailed, simply amazing! I actually enjoyed the library in that same building more that the book. The library was really old and massive! It reminded me of the library from Beauty and the Beast with ladders the roll along the shelves and just row after row of really old books. I wish I could have taken pictures of it because as a book nerd, it was thrilling! After a stop into the tourism information centre, we made our way down Grafton St. which is a big shopping area in Dublin. Had to take a picture of Molly Malone, or “the tart with the cart”- the picture should explain it. :) At the end of Grafton St. was an entrance into St. Stephen’s Green, a beautiful park in the city with lots of ponds, beautiful trees and some interesting memorials. Dave and I both really enjoyed walking around the green and taking pictures. We decided to try to find Dublin Castle on the way to the Guinness Storehouse. Well, we found it and it was really disappointing, especially after the castles I’ve seen in Europe. So we kept going and found the Guinness Storehouse in sort of a shady area. The exhibition they have there is really cool because the building is shaped like a huge pint glass. At the very top is the gravity bar where you can get the pint that comes with your admission. Since I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast I decided to just share with Dave. It was honestly the best Guinness I’ve ever had, considering the stuff I’ve had before was awful. We walked through the exhibits and went to find the Jameson Distillery that wasn’t supposed to be too far…yes we’re such boozers, I know, but what else are you suppose to do in Dublin or Ireland for that matter? ;)

Well, to make a long story short, we found it, but we didn’t realize it so we did go…I know that doesn’t make sense, but there are better things to explain. I really, really wanted to see the General Post Office in Dublin where the Easter Rising in 1916 had taken place. I couldn’t believe that I was actually seeing the building that I had read so much about. The inside was really cool and old looking and the outside you could see some of the bullet holes still. Pretty cool. We were both pretty hungry…by now it was late afternoon so we grabbed some quick eats at a place called Munchies…not the greatest and we were still hungry, but we wanted to get to our hotel so we had some time before the concert. We asked at the TI what bus would get us close to the Ardmore Hotel and there was a bus that stopped right in front of it, but we had to walk a ways down O’Connell St. to get to it. Some people were smoking on t he bus which wasn’t pleasant, especially since we were stuck in traffic. We were both really tired because we had walked all day with our packs on and not a whole lot to eat. It felt great when we got to the hotel and were able to relax for a bit. Both of us were really excited to get to see the High Kings that night. We took a taxi from the Helix and had a really nice driver that made us laugh..a lot. To put it mildly, the concert was amazing! I was obsessed with them before and to see them, in Dublin, with a mostly Irish crowd, with the one I love was a dream come true. Dave and I had a great time singing along with the songs and listening to the conversations going around near us. These little old Irish ladies were so funny. They are all so agreeable with each other it just made us laugh. After the concert was over we got to meet them and get our tickets signed by them. My sister, who has fallen pretty hard for the High Kings at only 10 years old, is extremely jealous and now wants to see them live too. After another ride with an awesome Irish taxi driver we crashed for the night and took the train to Belfast for Halloween!

Oxford, the Cotswolds, Bath, Lacock and Stonehenge tour

Hi everyone!
It's been a busy weekend traveling around the western part of England, but I was able to see so much! The tour was poorly managed with timing, but it was enjoyable none the less. We took a bus Saturday morning from Canterbury up to Oxford. We got stuck in traffic on the M25 (the main motorway that circles London...very busy all the time) for about on hour, so our schedule for the rest of the day was sort of messed up. We had an hour walking tour of Oxford with a really great guide who happened to be our guide for the entire trip. There was a lot of interesting buildings to see at Oxford University. I never realized that so many colleges made up that huge university! So many famous people have gone to Oxford including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and they re also buried nearby. A lot of the Harry Potter films were also filmed in various locations aroudn Oxford. I got near some of them, but didn't want to pay the money to go in to see them...yep, I'm cheap. The one place we were going to pay to go into was Christ Church were the Great Hall from the movie was filmed, but when we got there, there was a sign that said it didn't open until 2:15pm and we had to be back by 2pm. O well, it was still pretty building to take pictures. After Oxford, we drove into the Cotswolds and visited a few of the villages there. I loved the Cotswolds, everything was so quiant and beautiful. I can't believe people actually get to live in these beautiful little villages! We got about 45min or so in each village, which was not enough time, but we were able to take a lot of pictures and enjoy walking around. We stayed in Bristol for the night and after so much time on the bus we were ready to be off and relax. Beth, Amy, Laura and I shared a room and we literally ran to Sainsbury's to get food because we just needed to release some energy. In Burford, one of the Cotswold villages, we bought an apple pie in a little bakery to have later that night. We completely demolished that pie...and a lot of the ice cream we bought at Sainsbury's. It was really, really good, but not quite like an American apple pie, but we weren't complaining...pie is pie. Everyone had a rough night of sleep, but we were off again in the morning after setting our clocks back a hour in to GMT. Our first stop was Bath for another walking tour of the Royal Crecent and down to the old Roman baths. I didn't actually go into were you could see the baths, but I saw it from the ourside. There was a really pretty abbey right next to the baths and I spent most of the time on my own just walking around the city, taking in all of the beautiful views, even though it was raining. Next stop was Lacock, another village in the Cotswolds and another filming location for Harry Potter. Amy, Laura and I decided to have a little lunch in this cute tea room we found. It was so yummy and the soup we had was perfect for such a cold, rainy day. After Lacock we drove to Stonehenge, we were really getting tired of the bus by now. Stonehenge was cool to see, but I probably wouldn't go back again. It is one of those things to see once, just to say you've been there. We didn't have much time there, but I was ok with that since I really only needed about 10 minutes to see what I needed to see. We got back to Canters at about 7pm, after a nearly 3 hour bus ride. I'd be ok if don't get on a charter bus for a while now. Today I have a paper to write and get ready for Dave to come tomorrow! I can't believe he's actually going to be here, but I'm so exited. The plan now is to leave for Dublin on Wednesday night, go to Belfast on Friday, Antrim coast on Saturday and Sunday leave for Scotland. We'll see how that all plays out, especially if there is trouble in Northern Ireland...I hope not. It will probably be after we get back from Ireland and Scotland before I write again. Take care!
e

D-Day Beaches and the end of Dad's visit

After my 5pm class on Thursday we took the rental car down to Portsmouth, about a 2 ½ hour drive from Canterbury. Our ferry left at 11:45pm and got into Ouistreham, France at about 7:30am. It was less than a good night’s sleep…”reclining seats” don’t really live up to their name on these ferries. After we got off the ferry it was a quick drive to Caen and we attempted to find a bakery for breakfast…not a hard task in France, or any European country (except England for whatever reason). I had my first real French baguette that was heavenly. Dad got some pastries that were equally as yummy. My baguette became my lunch as well that day, but it was so good I didn’t mind one bit. There is a road that runs from Ouistreham all the way along the northern French coast. Along the way there are loads of places to stop and see the D-Day beaches or memorials to the men who fought on them. The first beach we came to was the Canadian beach, Juno (not Sword, which is actually the first one you would come to if you started in Ouistreham). We stopped at two points along the beach to take pictures, walk and look at the memorials. It was sort of surreal to think what had taken place on those beaches over sixty years ago. It was also fulfilling one of my life goals to visit the beaches. Gold was the next beach where we stopped once up on a cliff above the beach. There was theatre there that had some movie, but we decided to keep moving because Omaha beach was next. Driving to the beaches takes you through all of these cute and very beautiful French towns and countryside. I couldn’t believe how much the towns look like what is recreated in a lot of the D-Day movies. Omaha beach and the American cemetery there in Colleville was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. It was such a beautiful day for us and it made the beauty and the peacefulness of that area so much more. We went through the visitor center that has a small, but very interesting museum in the bottom. When you come out of the museum, the beach is in front of you and the cemetery is to the left. We walked a bit toward the beach then turned in toward the cemetery. The rows upon rows of crosses I had seen before, but only in pictures. You really have to go there yourself to understand the feeling that you get there. I won’t even try to explain it, but I know that it really got to me. We walked down the hill to the beach and spent some time walking and taking it all in. Dad made a comment on the way down about how chaotic it must have been all those years ago. It is hard to imagine that because of how peaceful and calm it is there now. But it got me thinking that the way it is now, the peace, serenity and beauty of that area are part of what those men were fighting for. We drove down and around to Utah beach and spend some more time walking and observing. Carentan is not far from there and we drove through, just so I could say I’d been there (for all of you Band of Brothers fans out there you’ll know what I mean). Around 5pm we headed back to Ouistreham to see Sword beach. It was the most unremarkable off all the beaches there, but the sun was setting and made it really beautiful. We decided to go back to Caen to find a place for dinner. When we did it was an Italian/French place with a waiter that really didn’t like the fact that we couldn’t speak French. Oh, well, his problem, not ours. However, it did vindicate the stereotype that the French don’t like Americans. Since we had a bit of time before we had to get on the ferry we just killed the time in the ferry terminal, because there was really nothing left to do and it was dark. Thankfully we had a cabin on the way back, so we got a decent night’s sleep this time. On Saturday I took Dad to the Canterbury cathedral and we walked around High St. We had a really nice dinner…cooked by moi…see I do know some French! :) Dad left for the airport early Sunday morning. I was sad to see him go, but we had a great time together. I’ve spent the rest of this week writing papers in preparation for when Dave comes on Tuesday! (! for Dave coming, not the papers) Tomorrow I have to be at the university by 7:45am to get on the tour bus for our two day trip to Oxford, Bath, the Cotswolds, Lacock and Stonehenge. Should be a great trip and I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully I will get and update up sooner rather than later and get some pictures up too. Hope everyone is doing well back home. I miss you all!
Cheers!
e

I'm back!...from Germany that is..

Well, I guess it was high time that I update y’all about what has been going on here. There is simply so much to do and so little time to do it in….and having this annoying cold for the past week hasn’t helped much either in getting motivated to post. Anyway here I am, alive, if not completely well at the moment. I’m going to break this post in two just to make it easier to follow. Dad and I got back from Germany with no problems, except my new awesome boots I got in Stuttgart set off the security thing…darn buckles. I was pretty tired from our 10 days away, but there was still more to do with Dad here. The day we got back we decided to check out Dover in the late afternoon after resting up a bit. We were thinking about going to the castle, but decided to just sort of roam around. Our roaming took us to a the White Cliffs Nature park where we had great time walking along the top of the cliffs. There are trails that go for miles along the top through some really pretty fields. The day was sort of cloudy, but that did not take away from how stunning those cliffs are. We took lots of pictures (some I’ll post) and both agreed that it was a great time getting to hike. I recommend it to anyone going to Dover who loves to be outdoors and enjoys a good (at times steep) hike. Tuesday took us up to the northern coast of Kent (my third time…do you think I might enjoy it up there? :) ). We started in Margate which is the farthest city you can get to on the northeast part of Kent. We walked along the beach, but didn’t find anything too interesting. So on to Herne Bay we went for more beach walking and of course….a Chelsea bun from Dunn’s bakery. Dad seemed to enjoy his, I of course devoured mine. Whitstable was our next and last stop on our trip to the coast. More beach walking and eating, this time at Zizzi, a great little Italian restaurant that I had wanted to eat at the last time I was there. Great pizza and Dad had some yummy looking pasta that he really liked. Since I had class on Wednesday, Dad decided he would venture up to London for the day on the train. He had a great time and the only hang up seemed to be coming back he ran into some problems with the trains being late and having to switch trains. He got back around 9:30pm to find my housemates and I having a little impromptu party in our kitchen and watching this really weird British t.v. show. Thursday we booked last minute overnight ferry tickets to France…

Köln

Well, Dad and I made it to Dirk's house in Siegburg on Thursday evening after a long, but beautiful drive from Stutgartt. I slept part of the way because all the time in the car makes me tired, even though I feel bad when there is so much beautiful things to see. When we got to Dirk's we met his family and then Dirk took us to downtown Siegburg at night and gave us a little tour of the town. There are a lot of really nice shops, for a town the size of Normal. There is a store here that is like North Face called Jack Wolfskin that Dad and I really like, but it's really expensive outdoor clothing. Yesterday (Friday) we went to Köln (Cologne) which is just north of Siegburg. There is a really large cathedral there called Köln Dom that was really fun to see. After seeing Canterbury's cathedral, I was able to compare this one. The Köln Dom is much bigger and older, with beautiful windows. In the main area there is this big gold box that they say holds the bones or relics of the three Magi. It was a place a lot of people came hundreds of years ago to see these relics. It was sort of cool. We walked around the city and down to the Rhine. It was funny because to me the Rhine looked like I could have been the Illinois river, except for the fact we were in Germany and if you turned around you could see a centries old cathedral. Not something you normally come across on the Illinois. We walked along the river to this really cool chocolate museum right along the river. We met up with Dirk's wife and kids and toured...or rather ate our way through the museum. One day a year the have all these different booths set up to taste different kinds of chocolate. We just happened to be there one that day. It was really good, but we were all sick of chocolate when we left! :) All of us were really tired when we left, but it had been a fun day. Today we are going to Soest were Dirk is from. Soest is also were the Kuchen Meister bakery is located! It won't be open according to Dirk, but we can at least take pictures of it! We leave to go back to England early Monday morning. Even though I love Germany and wouldn't mind staying, I'm looking forward to going back to my home away from home, Canterberries! :)
Tchüss!
e

München & Dachau

Today we left Salzburg in the morning and drove about 1 1/2 hours to downtown Munich. So far Munich has been my favorite city I've visited, so full of history and interesting things to see. After we got ourselves oriented to where we were after parking we walked around to Marianplatz...a famous plaza area and saw the Fraulenkirche (think that's how you spell it) which is the symbol of Munich. Walked around a large park/garden area by the opera house and were able to listen to a man playing cello in a little gazebo area in the park. It was so beautiful and really added to the experience. I had some really good pizza (yes, yes I know it's not German...but still very good) at a place called Riva. Dad got a sandwich of sorts from a vendor in this big market area. As we left the downtown area we drove along Ludwigstraße that was lined with this cool buildings and shops. Dachau concentration camp was our next stop north of Munich. Going to Dachau was something that I really wanted to do, especially with my interest in studying the Holocaust and WWII. It was my first experience visting a place like that. The reality of being there hit me when I walked through the front gate that said "Abreit Micht Frei" (work sets you free). I had seen it in pictures and read about it in books, but to actually be there and see those words and the camp itself was undescribable. We walked through the big roll call area and then through the museum set up in some of the buildings. Saw the remained of the barbed wire fence and guard towers surrounding the camp. Only two of the barracks were reconstructed that you could going into, the rest are gone except for the concrete foundations that are lined up row on row...erie. We only had about an hour before they closed and didn't get to see everything, but it was still something I was glad that I saw. Instead of going southwest of Munich for the night we headed back to Stuttgart. Tomorrow we are going to head up towards the Mosel Valley towards Köln. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I didn't bring my cord to transfer pictures to the computer, so pictures will have to wait until I get back to England. More to come from Germany asap!
Tchüss!