We arrived in Derry one week ago. (I'm really horrible about updating this these days... whoops :) ). We got picked up at the airport by one of my absolutely charming and hospitable relatives with possibly the best hair in the family. We stayed at my mom's cousin's (Patti) home in Derry, which is in Northern Ireland. Everyone was so nice to us, even though I hadn't visited in seven? years. On Sunday, we went on a small tour around the walls of Derry, and then we drove to the beaches around Greencastle. And Elise and I met almost all the relatives on my mom's side of the family. It was absolutely crazy. It was 10 at night and we were still visiting people and having cups of tea. But I LOVVVVVEEEE tea, so it was all good fun.
On Monday we took a train to Port Stewart to visit another of my mom's cousins (Schira). I got to meet 7 of her 8 children, and countless other relations. She drove us up to Giant's Causeway (a cool rock formation thing) but Elise and I opted out of getting out of the car. It was really cold, and really windy, and somewhat rainy. Then we drove past Bushmill's distillery. It was closed, otherwise I would have totally earned my "official whiskey taster" certificate. Then I'd have just as many bragging rights as my father. However, that did not work out, so he's still the family's whiskey consultant. We went back to Patti's house pretty late that night.
Tuesday Patti drove us down to Sligo, so we could meet up with another cousin, Terri. On the way down, we stopped at a few cool churches, including one that was built to look like a ship. We stopped at a cute little beach town for lunch. And when we finally got to Sligo, we went and vistied WB Yeats' grave, which is apparently on the list of 1000 things to do before you die. CHECKED THAT OFF. Tuesday night we had a lovely dinner with Terri, and she told me lots of good stories about my mom and grandma's younger days. All good fun! That night, Elise and I stayed in a hotel that was converted from an old psych ward. A little unsettling, but probably the best night's sleep I've had in a while. I think they might still put something in the water to calm people down.
On Wednesday we took the bus to Ennis. We stopped in for the lunchtime Irish music concert, which was excellent. It was very similar to Scottish music, except instead of bagpipes, they just had a regular pipe, but it sounded almost the same. We went back to the hostel and cooked dinner. Then we headed out to a local pub for the Irish set dancing class. It was like a mix between the Ceilidh we went to in Scotland, and good old fashioned line dancing from Billy Bob's. Downside: Elise and I got separated, so I ended up paired with some guy from Alabama who was like 40, but was still reliving his glory years. AKA he was wearing way too much Abercrombie cologne and probably should have worn pants that weren't so snug. But other than that, it was great to learn how to dance. I can now feign being Irish.
On Thursday we arrived in Dublin. We checked into the hostel, bought the "hop on hop off" bus tour pass, and then headed to the Guinness Storehouse for the grand tour. It was really cool seeing how the beer was made. The storehouse was put together really well, and you definitely learned a lot when you went around. And then we arrived in the sampling room. We got about a fourth of a pint of Guinness Draught. AND HOLY CRAP THAT STUFF IS SICK NASTY. "Guinness is Good For You" ?? Lies. Absolute Lies. Lies. Lies. Lies. So then we go upstairs to discover that our tickets also included a free pint at the Gravity Bar. A whole pint of gross? No thank you. So we found some charming college aged boys to drink ours for us. It was a win-win situation. Anyway, after that great disappointment, we finished the bus tour and then called it a day.
Friday we shopped our way through Dublin. As girls tend to do :) . We visited Trinity College, and then made our way to St. Stephen's gardens. We went to Temple Bar, the outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral (they were charging too much for us to care to go inside-- besides, we had just been in Rome. We've seen gorgeous churches). And then we shopped shopped shopped. :) Except I didn't buy too much. I got the cutest shot glass ever. Ask me to see it next semester!
Saturday we flew back into London and were greeted at a train station by my Uncle Rob and my little cousins (and my big cousin Tom!). We went to Crystal Park and saw some really legitimate dinosaur sculptures. Then we went back to their house and Elise and I played games with the kids. I think that's the first time I've been in the same room with all of my Eastaway cousins. And we're clearly all an intelligent bunch, because the London Underground game we were playing took some serious strategy. That night, we went to the park and walked past the kid's school. It was a good little tour of the area.
And today is SUNDAY. This morning we just played with the cousins and failed at repacking our bags. How did we get all our stuff on a ryanair flight? One of those unanswerable questions. But anyway, I've currently got multicolored sparkly nails, courtesy of my 8 year old cousin Jenna. Super adorable. And now we're back at Maggie's house, and just had more food than I know what to do with. Three weeks in the UK has been nearly as detrimental to my waistline as four months in Italy eating nothing but pasta.
Elise and I leave tomorrow! My five month tour of Europe is finally (almost) over.
Travel Log:
Rome (ITALY)
Subiaco
Assisi
Lisbon (PORTUGAL)
Fatima
Bern (SWITZERLAND)
Olympia (GREECE)
Delphi
Athens
Corinth
Napflion
Mycenae
Patras
Vienna (AUSTRIA)
Krakow (POLAND)
Prague (CZECH REPUBLIC)
Munich (GERMANY)
Paris (FRANCE)
Florence
Venice
London (ENGLAND)
Edinburgh (SCOTLAND)
Pitlochry
Inverness
Kyleakin
Oban
Glasgow
Derry (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Port Stewart
Sligo (IRELAND)
Ennis
Dublin
....Busy semester. I haven't left, but I can't wait to come back :) there's still so much to see!!
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