From Wimbley Stadium to Buckingham Palace….

LONDON….capital of England. The morning started at around 9 A.M. the latest of the trip, with a bus tour of London…it was rather boring. We got to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace-the Queen was not there though-Big Ben, the Tower of London, London Bridge, the Crown Jewels (in the Tower of London). Also, we saw The Eye, double decker busses of course, Piccadilly Circus- we shopped there- and other London sights. It was fun. Yesterday though, as I have not told you about that, we awoke in Wales and headed off for Stratford, England- the Birthplace of William Shakespeare. We went into the great writer’s house after the 2 ½ hour bus ride, walked around a bit before lunch, and then saw Anne Hathaway’s house (Shakespeare’s wife, not the actress on Princess Diaries.). We then hopped back on the bus for Oxford. We of course saw Oxford University-which is actually 38 different Colleges-, the two pubs where C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien met and discussed Narnia and Hobbits in their little group called the “inkling”- Lee of course got a picture of one of them; we also saw the monument to those who died for their faith under Bloody Mary I believe, and the place where an two bishops and an archbishop were hanged. Now Oxford is about 1 to 1 ½ hours from London…on a good day, I believe it took us a bit over that to get there due to traffic. And that…is a short version of the past two days.

 

Candi Michelle

Pictures

Here are pictures I will tell about today later.

The second one...sorry they're not in the order of the days.

The third...St. Patrick's Cathedral and the airports

The fourth slideshow....

Wales……

Sorry I haven’t updated in a few days…the hotel in Dublin-the capital of Ireland- had Wi-Fi but it didn’t work; but the two “country” hotels we have stayed in have worked just fine. Soooooo Saturday we got up and left Killarney heading towards Dublin. The first stop was Blarney Castle two hours away from Killarney, and yes I “kissed” the Blarney stone and it was somewhat scary because half of my body was off of the ground wall as I was leaning over backwards to touch the stone at the top of the castle. I am currently uploading my pictures to photobucket; it will take a while since I have a lot. Anyway, after Blarney Castle and lunch we headed out again for another hour and a half and stopped at Rock of Cashel I believe was the name, Cashel Castle was above the rock. We only stayed there for about 45 minutes, Lee and I just roamed around outside because it was about…6 or so Euro’s to go in and look around, so we just took pictures of the outside. We ended up in Dublin after another two more hours- at a very modern hotel- like a Irish Days Inn. We went to dinner inside the city and me and two girls from VA went back tot he hotel while the rest of the group went to an Irish dance thingy that was 25 Euros.
Yesterday we had a bus tour of Dublin in the morning then had the rest of the afternoon free. We saw the Book of Kells- the Latin New testament in Trinity College. Our “NC group” went to the National Museum of History before going shopping. I finally found something for my brothers and daddy- though it wasn’t really hard…I’ll wait and let them get them. I hope everyone likes what I have gotten them. I led the others around-they learned I walked fast- cause I have a good memory and Dublin was kind of like New York…kinda.
Todaaaay we got up at 5:30/6 A.M and left Dublin at 6:30 for the Ferry to go to Wales- a 3 ½ hour ferry ride- and we stayed up LATE the night before so we were tired…I slept on two chairs curled up in a ball; ‘cause I’m that small. Once in Wales we stopped at a town whose name is 57 letters long in Welsh…shopped and ate lunch then headed to a castle. It was awesome. Lee got pictures for me today because both my camera and phone were dead, and I don’t think I brought my camera charger…LAME. I also didn’t think about the plug converter/adapters…so I had to borrow someone's adapter to charge my laptop. I will probably be getting one when I get home…for the next time I travel out of country. So I have no pictures of today…I will be using my phone for the rest of the trip…whoo. After the first Castle…whose name I have forgotten at the moment, we rode another 1ish to an unfinished castle of Kind Edwards I, and it was GORGEOUS…a city was built inside of it. Our bus barely fit through the archways it was SCARY. We made it to our hotel where I am currently at at around 6 and had dinner at 7. I was going to go walking with Lee and Casey but they left me while I was trying to get into the room we accidentally locked ourselves out of…oh well. Sooo Oxford and London tomorrow…cheerio!

Candi Michelle


MOM LOOOOOK TURKISH DELIGHT!!! It's pretty good too...................I'll post more pics later

 

Finally in Ireland

We arrived in Ireland at 9:25 A.M this morning, and after getting through customs and finding our baggage we got on the bus and headed to Killarney- three hours away. Once we got to Killarney we took our stuff to our rooms, and then got back on the bus with the rest of our group- well the only part of our group that arrived on time-and headed to the Ring of Kerry (ROK), dinner was at 6- some kind of soup that resembled chicken noodle without the noodles, turkey, veggies, potato roll things, and raspberry ripple ice cream. And now I am going to take a shower, and finish talking to Jeff…before GOING TO SLEEP!!!

Newark to Shannon

After getting up at 5:30 A.M this morning, arriving at GSO at 7, going past security at 9, and flying to Newark at 10:15 I am now in Newark at 4:40 P.M- have been here since noon. The flight was fine, I sat by Casey, I started feeling a little sick on the landing but thankfully nothing happened. We are now just chilling in the airport until we depart tonight at 10 P.M. Lee, Katie, Casey, and I talked in one of the “restaurants” in GSO and walked around when we got to Newark where me and Casey ate some Chinese- it was REALLY good. I just woke up from a long nap before typing this and I’m hoping I can sleep on the long plane ride. So I’m going to try to post some pictures soon if I can find my adapter to my phone card. Later.

Candi

Another loooooong day in GSO....

Ooooooooooook soooo we are NOT in Ireland right now-or anywhere near it. Our flight from GSO(Greensboro)to DCA (Washington DC) was delayed and we would've missed our connection flight to London, and from London to Shannon. Sooooo after a day of sitting in the airport all day we are flying out tomorrow morning at 10 for Newark, NJ, and will be heading from Newark to Shannon tomorrow night at 10; arriving in Shannon at 9:20ish Friday morning (Ireland Time which I guess is EET??)...ugh! But the United/Continental Airlines were super awesome it wasn't there fault it was the weather. So now I'm just chillin' at Lee's. Updates later.

Candi

One more day!

Well due to lack of internet and my slacker self I am posting my first post for this blog today, one day before we leave for the trip. I am waiting in the Albany International Airport to fly home for the night and then I will meet up with the group at the airport tomorrow at noon. And I am EXCITED! I just need to make sure I have everything- most importantly my passport-and get some sleep. This week has been SUPER long, Jeff and I got to WOLBI last Tuesday at 6:55 and our meeting started at 7 P.M so we barely made it. But this last week- as today is Tuesday- has been soooo long, it’s seemed like two or three weeks and it has only been one. Well, I will be here at ALB for another hour and  a half- it was a looong drive here from the Island. I will keep you all updated when I can. :D

Hejdå, (goodbye)

Candi