I need to wrap up my vacation story, so I can move on to what's going on now!

Here's what else we did on our vacation in pictures:

Good bye Ireland! I'll miss you so much!


Hello Holyhead, Wales!


My dream house on the sea cliffs in Holyhead.


Caernarfon Castle


Beautiful Bath


And the Roman Baths of Bath


Abbey where Harry Potter was filmed!


A friendly robin at tea time.


Sheep among monolithic stones in Avebury. (I was just happy to walk around sheep, finally)


More stones


Stonehenge. Eh... small


Jane Austen's House! Oh goodness!


Arundel Castle. Mom used to work in Arundel and we visited her old flat.

I don't have the pictures of Briton for some odd reason, but we went there, too.


We got to London just in time for ANOTHER gay pride parade. What's going on?!


Eleanor on the Tube (I later found out that you're strictly not allowed to take pictures in the stations or on the trains - oops)


Our first fire alarm at about 3 in the morning. The next came at 5. Ugh.


The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum (sorry it's sideways, but I could figure out how to flip it on this computer)


The beginning of "Love's Labour's Lost" at Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Awesome show!


Moving in! My dorm room at the University College of London (it was actually right down the street from our hotel). The floor is slanted but not this much (I'll get this figured out soon enough!)


There is a big iron burn in the middle of my carpet.


The other side of my room.


Saying goodbye to Mom and Eleanor at their hotel room the day before they left.


Eleanor was very tired. It's been a long, exhausting trip. But it's also been such a blessing.

I'm so grateful for this trip with Mom and Eleanor. It's something we hadn't done in a long time and it was a really special thing that we could come here. Part of me still can't believe that we did it all. And now that I'm here, studying in London, it's so strange to know that Mom and Eleanor are actually an ocean away from me. Miss them desperately already (and I miss you, too!). To all who help us get here and who helped me my month in London, thank you so much. This experience has changed my life so much for the better. And I still have another four weeks to go!

Dublin Part Two ... and everything else!

I'm sorry I haven't updated this blog in so long, but a lot has been going on and none of it has involved much wireless internet access (plus, I've been to exhausted to type).

To start, I'm going to jump ahead of where I left off and tell you that we are in London and we're doing fine. The night before we left for London vua the train, we were in Brighton. It's so strange to have watched BBC News report on the close-call at the TigerTiger night club in Piccadilly Circus and then walk right by it the next day. But, it can't stop me from loving London.

Now, I'll come back to what we've been up to since I last updated. Considering my study abroad program finally starts tomorrow morning, I'm going to make this fast. I'll add pictures in when I finally get them uploaded on to the computer!

We had our needed extra day in Dublin with which we walked a great deal and saw more of the city. The next day, our ferry wasn't scheduled to leave until 8 that night, so realy we got another day towards Dublin. With the time we had, we walked to the Art Museum, which really didn't consist of much art. We mostly found ourselves in exhibits for the Easter Rebellion, Irish soldiers in WWI & II, and the history of Irish .... furniture. The exhibits that actually displayed art were interesting and I was a sucker for the "The Way We Wore" exhibit on the history of Irish dress. After that, we took the train back into the city and returned to the hotel, which called us a cab to the docks.

The ferry ride to Ireland was sad for me. I really didn't want to leave it behind, not knowing when I'd get the opportunity to see it again. And I got further, more uncomfortable culture shock from Great Britain. When we arrived in Holyhead (as in "Hollyhead"), Wales, it was pitch black outside, so our cab ride to the hotel left me completely unaware of what the place really looked like.

To my surprise, when I woke up the next morning (in our huge, posh room) it was to a panoramic view of the rocky ocean bay of Holyhead. It was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that my mom splurged a little and booked us another night at the hotel (otherwise we would have left that morning. This way we could fully appreciate the gorgeous view). I loved the houses around the bay, especially the biggest on set on top of a cliff. I;ve decided that when I'm rich and famous, I'm going to buy that house.

OUr first day in Holyhead we took a rode trip (afer mom rented another car - this time a compact automatic, thank God) to Carenarfon Castle, where the Princes of Wales are crowned. Eleanor and I enjoyed running around the long, stone corridors, hiding from mom around bends and in small, empty rooms, and climbing up to the steep turret steps. Of course, it rained.

The next day we left our lovey hotel room in Holyhead and drove toward . . . . actually, no. I'm really tired. I have to stop. I'll jump ahead to where I am now to better explain why I have to stop typing. Our hotel in London - the Royal National - is pretty horrible. The service is cold and the rooms are something less than desired. Outside the my room on the sixth floor (I have a single, here), there is a beer garden in the courtyard, open late into the night, echoing the sounds of many drunk parties off the bricked aread surrounding it. Even with the windows closed in my room the sound is incredible. It worse than even the concerts that would take place just outside my dorm room window last year on West Circle field. On top of all that, I could sleep because the fire alarm was pulled not once but twice, last night. Once at 2:30 something in the morning and again at almost 5 am. Both times, worrying that an actually terrorist attack had occured (or was going to occur once we all fled the building), Mom, Eleanor, and I always evacuated with the other guests, standing in the cold, wet morning. Both times nothing happened, there was no fire. All that happened was I lost so needed sleep. Therefore, I will fill in the rest of my trip later on. Right now, my mind is't functioning well enough for me to even rightly remember what happened this past week.

Cheers!