We boarded the plane to St. Petersburg (May 8th) and were both nervous and excited. We were not sure what to expect, we only knew that we had both always wanted to go to Russia. We had heard all these horror stories about the Russian police and tourist getting harassed, so that made us a bit nervous.
We had a transfer in Berlin, which turned out to be the quickest transfer in history. For some reason, while we were flying from London to Berlin, the Berlin airport decided to change the time of our flight from Berlin to St. Petersburg. So, instead of delaying it, like most normal airports, they scheduled it to leave an hour ahead of time. Shane, myself and one of other lady were the only people transferring from the London flight. When we arrived in Berlin, we had to go through passport control as soon as we stepped off the plane, which is a bit unusual, but we went with the flow, because the passport control officers were super nice. At this point, we had no idea our flight time had been changed, so we thought we had plenty of time for the transfer. It was right after passport control that we heard the intercom start spouting out German, and somewhere in the midst of it, we heard Stephens. That got us a bit worried, so we quickened our pace. To make a long story short, we made it through the next passport control point, and security and they hurried us onto a bus that was taking us to our plane. We got a few dirty looks from the bus passengers, but luckily, we hid ourselves among them as we boarded the plane, so no one ever knew we were the culprits that were holding up the plane:)
When we landed in St. Petersburg, we realized how poorly we´d actually planned this part of the journey. Sure, we had been faithful in getting the directions to our guest house (all in English..and this is important!), but there was SO MUCH more that we should have researched. For example, problem No. 1: we just assumed, that being an international airport, there would be plenty of ATMS and exchange booths...WRONG! So, there we were in Russian, with no Russian money (Rubles) and we kinda needed it to pay for the bus we were supposed to take from the airport into the city to the metro station we had directions from. This leads us to problem No. 2: We also assumed, rather stupidly, that being an international airport, that there would be signs, labels, tags, SOMETHING in English to direct us to which bus we were supposed to take...WRONG AGAIN! So, this was just the beginning of the problems we were to encounter in Russia...all based on the fact that we should have learned Russian before we went!
However, at this point, we had a bit of luck, we found something better than English signs. We found a guy from Boston and his 100% Russian girlfriend. Now let me tell you, the one thing you need more than anything in Russia if you don´t speak Russian, is someone who does. So, we had hit the jackpot! Matt and Irina (the couple) showed us which bus to take (the same one they were taking). When the bus arrived, the price on the door said that a single/one way ticket was 70 RUB (about $2.70) per person. This was pretty exciting, because it was so cheap and we had just spent a month in the UK where you can´t even use the toilets for that amount! So, Shane went to give the bus driver 140RUB. (oh, by the way, we did eventually solve problem No. 1 and get some cash) However, the driver kept insisting that Shane give him 280RUB. We were a little confused, as you can imagine, because Matt and Irina only paid 140RUB. So, we gave Irina our money, and she bought the tickets for us. Turns out, in Russia, there are prices for Russians, and then prices for everyone else.
So, now we had our tickets, we were on the correct bus, we´d made 2 new friends who had invited us to meet up with them the following day for some sightseeing, and we were feeling pretty confident. Well, what´s the old saying, "Don´t count your chickens before they hatch"...words to live by, really! Matt and Irina got off the bus at the first stop, assuring us that our stop was the next one. There was a little doubt, but they were fairly confident. Turns out, our stop wasn´t the next one, and of course we didn´t figure this out until we had already gotten off the bus. So there we were, loaded down with our backpacks, on a random street in St. Petersburg, Shane was getting stared at by everyone who passed (side note: I don´t think I have brought up this fact yet. We are by far the 2 most stared at backpackers on the face of the earth. Shane´s hair is a bit of a phenomenon!! EVERYWHERE we go, people point and stare, with no shame at all to try to hide it. I think his beard being so black really sets off his gray hair, but man! I actually think he is going to go bonkers by the end of the trip!!! He is SO SICK of being stared at.) Back on the street where we are standing and being stared at, we were looking around trying to get some idea of which way we needed to be going. There was no English on any street signs, buildings, posters, anything. We quickly realized just how useless our directions to the guesthouse actually were, seeing as how they were only in English. English and Russian don´t even look similar. Speaking for myself, it was in that moment, that I felt a bit hopeless and was finding it quite difficult to stay positive. I think maybe Shane was more angry. But, chin up, we had to do something. We started walking in a direction that looked promising (that is a total lie, cause at that point, nothing looked promising) and as we turned the next corner, we saw a metro station. Without going into details, we managed to figure out that we were only one metro station away from the one that we needed to be. You see, the directions we had to find our guest house started at a metro station.
When we finally got to the correct station, we were much like we always are on this trip, hot and sweaty. Another thing we have discovered on this trip is that directions that hostels/guest houses give you are NOT the best, most accurate, or in enough detail! This case was no exception. We actually did follow the directions as best we could, even though all the street signs were in Russian and our directions where in English (told you that would be important). We ended up standing in front of this massive door that had the correct number on it, but we had no idea if we were on the correct street. Also, there was no sign to verify that we were, in fact, standing in front of Andrew´s Guest house. So, we backtracked, called the owner of the guest house, Andre, and he came to find us. Turned out, we had actually been in front of the correct door, but there was no sign. Also, we had to walk through a gate, into a courtyard area, where there were dozens of doors to choose from. In other words, even if we had known we were at the correct address, we still couldn´t have found the actual apartment we were to be staying in.
Here was where our story gets a bit more uplifting and nice. Andre turned out to be quite a character. Picture the typical math professor who spends the majority of this time researching and studying math theory, and you will picture Andre. He was a very awkward, nerdy man who was carrying an old worn out leather briefcase and walked with his shoulders slumped. He took us into this building and as we started walking up the stairs, Shane and I discovered later that we were thinking the exact same thing; "You´ve got to be kidding me...what have we gotten ourselves into?" The staircase was so old and dirty and falling apart. We were sure we were about to spend the next 4 nights in a rathole. We had chosen this particular guest house, because we read that Rasputin lived in this building way back when. We didn´t know, however, that they had never remodeled it.
We walked up to the top floor (lots of stairs), and there we saw an old, big, red door. After a 2 min. explanation of how to unlock this door with the giant key and then making Shane demonstrate to make sure he could, in fact, unlock the door correctly, Andre opened the door to reveal another door. This door was modern and nice, which lifted our spirits a bit. Then, of course another 2 min. explanation an demonstration was required on this door and when he opened it, it revealed a beautiful little entryway and, yes, another door! As you might have guessed, there was another explanation/demonstration here and then, he finally opened the final door to reveal a gorgeous apartment that was totally remodeled, clean and full of food for Shane and I. It was a 2 bedroom apt. with a full kitchen, bathroom, washing machine and detergent (which is truly a find!), a living room with 2 sofas, and he had stocked the fridge and cabnits with food for us. Shane and I were more than excited. Of course, there was another explanation and demonstration on the bedroom door lock, and then he gave us tons of useful information about the city, including maps.
Our first night here was not too exciting. We did our usual wander around the city and attempted to find food. Sadly, we ended up at MacDonalds that night, just out of pure exhaustion really. We slept very well that night though and woke up the next day (May 9th) to a nice breakfast and were ready to start the day. Now, let me give you a little history about May 9th. During WWII (I think), the Nazi surrounded St. Petersburg and stopped all shipments of food and supplies from going into and out of the city. For 900 days the Nazi did this, trying to starve everyone and basically wipe the city off the map forever. They almost succeeded. However, after 900 days, with the help of various Allies, the Nazis were defeated. This day, in Russia, is known as Victory Day and it is one of the largest national holidays they celebrate. There is usually a parade, fireworks, and loads of ceremonies. So, Shane and I were lucky enough to be there on that day. Unfortunately, when we woke up, it was raining and the weather was pretty bad. But, we went out into the city anyway, saw a few sites, and waited for the parade to begin. We were supposed to meet up with our new helpful friends from the bus, Matt and Irina, but after 3 phone calls and attempts to meet, we gave up.
Because of the rain, the parade did not start until 5pm, but it was well worth the wait. While we were walking around that day, we noticed that everyone was collecting flowers, and we wondered why. Well, during the parade, when the various war vets would walked by, all decked out in their military uniforms and medals, children and young adults from the crowds on the street would run up to them and give them the flowers. They usually kissed them or said, what I can assume was "Thank you," or something along those lines. I have to admit that I am not a parade person, but I was overwhelmed. It was obviously a horrible time during their history, but the looks on the faces of the vets and the older people in the crowds told the story of the happiness they felt when everything was over. One old lady, probably about 85 years old, actually danced across the street and did a jig, giggling like a little girl the entire time. It was one of the most touching things I have ever watched. I did not even realize it, but I started to cry while I was watching the old vets pass by with their huge smiles and armfuls of flowers. Shane and I were really glad that we got to be there on that day.
Later that night, from our 5th floor window, we sat and watched the fireworks explode over the city. This was, of course, after we had cooked the worst meal on earth. We went to the supermarket that night with the intention of buying food to cook to 1. save money, and 2. avoid trying to read menus. So, we picked out tortellini, marinara, cheese, and a can of peas and corn. Well, turns out the marinara had cloves in it, so it tasted like Christmas candles, and the tortellini was some kind of sausage...not so good. However, we added the peas and corn on top and some cheese (cause cheese makes EVERYTHING taste better...except this) and we ate away. yuck! But, it was really pretty, so I took a photo and will most it for all to see:)
The next 2 days, we visited all the sites in St. Petersburg...the Hermitage, Nevsky Prospect, St. Isaacs Cathedral.....etc. The buildings where gorgeous and so so so big!!! The Hermitage was my favorite, of course, with all the wonderful artwork (Shane was less impressed by the work, but really impressed with the building.) This was Peter the Great's Winter palace. It is said that if you just GLANCE at every piece of art in there, it would take 9 years!! Wow!
Okay, I will post this for now, but the rest of Russia is to be continued....
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Ireland (May 2nd-7th)
On May 2nd, we arrived in Dublin, Ireland and picked up our rental car at the airport. I was actually pretty nervous about Shane driving in Ireland. Don`t get me wrong, I have always thought of him as an excellent driver, but this is on the opposite side of the car, the road, AND he would be shifting with the opposite hand. It didn`t help that Shane admitted to being nervous as well. But, we hopped in our little car and took off. We were pretty excited to have the freedom of our own car after weeks of buses and planes and guided tours.
For the next 5 days, we would spend A LOT of time in that car.We spent our first night (May 2nd) in Dublin and had a bit of a look around. But, early the next morning (May 3rd), we jumped back in the car to head south to start our roadtrip around Ireland. We were determined to make it all the way around Ireland.Our first stop was Waterford, Ireland, where Waterford crystal is made. However, I don`t think we saw one piece of crystal in the entire town. We only spent a couple hours there and then, we were on the road again.
We drove through a lot of little towns and villages, and some big ones, like Cork, also.We saw a sign for the Jameson Whiskey Distillery and decided we could use a break from driving and a tour sounded pretty interesting. We also liked the idea that we could just stop whereever we wanted, whenever we wanted. This distillery was in Middleton, and it is one of the oldest and biggest distilleries of Irish Whiskey. It is no longer in use, because they built another, more modern one right next to it a few years ago. It was a pretty informative tour, and at the end, I got chosen to do a whiskey tasting. I had to try Irish, Scottish and American whiskey and then choose my favorite. Of course, my choice was Irish!
We continued on our roadtrip, driving southwest and got to the town of Kerry. Now, we have heard about the Ring of Kerry our entire lives, but in all honesty, when we arrived in Kerry, we both realized that we had absolutely NO idea what it actually was. We just knew that we had to see it. Well, it turns out that it is this road in the shape of a U that is about 180 km long (if I remember correctly), and it goes along a sort of peninsula on the south coast. We decided to drive the entire length of it, and it took about 2 1/2 or 3 hours. It was a stunning drive...quite long...but well worth it. Just wait til I post the pictures...it was just gorgeous.
After leaving Kerry, we decided to try to find a hostel near Blarney, our next destination, so we could stay the night and wake up the next morning, and go to Blarney castel to kiss the Blarney Stone. Well, finding a hostel turned out to be a huge challenge. Shane and I have not had the best of luck on this trip when it comes to finding things we need (like food, hostels, streets...) It was in Ireland that we learned the value of booking hostels ahead. So, after looking for what seemed like forever, we decided to just give in and pay a little more for a bed and breakfast. So, we stayed in a lovely little B&B in Blarney, had our own room with a bathroom, coffee and tea in our rooms, a huge breakfast and we were pretty happy as long as we didn`t discuss the money. I tried to justify the extra cost of the room saying that we had breakfast included, and since Shane eats so much, and is hungry 30 min. later, it was worth it.
The next morning (May 4th) we got up and went to Blarney Castle. This is one of the first tourist attractions that we actually paid to get into, because we wanted a photo kissing the Blarney Stone. (We usually just take photos of the outside of important buildings, but never actually go inside, to save money...cheapskates I know) The castle was lovely and soon you will see the photos to verify it:) (Just on a side note, the photos of us actually kissing the stone were taken by Shane´s camera, and 3 weeks after we left Ireland, Shane´s camera was stolen on a train. So, in other words, we have no proof to show, but we really did kiss it!)
After leaving Blarney, we kept driving west and started going up the west coast. Our destination was a little town called Ennis that Shane had visited 3 years before, when he was in Ireland. We went to a place called Bunratty to see the castle there as well. Shane had already been there too, so this was more for my benefit. Of course, we made the same mistake of not booking a hostel ahead of time, and once again searched fruitlessly for a hostel, and once again, ended up in a B&B. This one was nicer than the first, but the woman who owned it seemed terribly strict. I think we refered to her as "the Nazi" at one point. We were a bit scared to come back past 11pm. But, she was actually pretty nice and this B&B had the best shower we had had up until this point in the trip (you can see where our priorities lie...we are constantly comparing showers, beds, and communal rooms in different hostels) This night, we ventured into the town of Ennis to try to find a place where Shane had heard traditional Irish music the last time he was there. We found the place, and there was a band, but not a traditional one. We were a bit bummed about that, but it allowed us to get back to the B&B pretty early, so the Nazi woman wouldn´t be mad.
The next morning (May 5th), we awoke and went to a place not far from Ennis called the Cliffs of Moer. Now, these cliffs were massive and so so beautiful. I know I say that a lot of things are beautiful, but WOW...you can´t really find words to describe this place. So, this is how our day started...and it was to be a very very long day. If you get a chance to look at a map of Ireland, you will understand why I say this. We started driving from Ennis (on the western side of Ireland and kind of in the middle) and decided to drive up towards Northern Ireland and find a hostel somewhere on the way to Belfast. Well, as you probably have already guessed, there were no hostels to be found. So, we drove for about 13 hours that day, into the night and arrived in Belfast around 11pm. We finally found one hostel, but they didn´t have any rooms, and the guy told us that no one in town would. Then, he called a hostel a little north of Belfast to see if they had rooms for us, and when they heard we were American, they said they had nothing. It was not a good day.
So, we made the decision to just sleep in the car and wake up and drive to Dublin the next morning and find a hostel there.We found a tourist info center, parked and wrapped up in coats and went to sleep. It was about 5 degrees Centigrade that night, which is quite cold in case you don´t know. I think my feet almost froze off. (Just for a little background...from May 2nd to the 5th, we spent A LOT of time in that car. We stopped and bought loaves of bread, cheese, meat, etc. and would eat while driving down the road. I was the cook, Shane was the driver. So, sleeping in the car was almost poetic. I actually filmed a little video on May 5th while driving through Northern Ireland, so hopefully I will find a way to post that soon. I give an entire tour of our car)
In the wee hours of the morning on May 6th (and I do mean wee hours, cause the sun rises at about 3:45 or 4:00), we started driving back to Dublin. We found hostel, (the 4 Courts Hostel) but we couldn`t check in until 1pm, so we went in search of a laundry mat to clean some clothes. However, being Sunday, nothing was allowed to open before 12, so we just walked around in the cold misty weather for awhile. We were pretty exhausted at this point. It was while walking around that we ran into the Australian lady, Karen, that we had met in Edinburg. We found out she was going to the airport early the next morning, and since we were also, we offered to pick her up and give her a ride.We saw a movie theatre and thought it would be warm, so we decided that Spiderman 3 would help us make it through until 1pm. We finally checked into the hostel, found a laundry mat and did laundry, and then went back to the hostel, showered and went to sleep. It was about 7pm and we slept until 3am.
On May 7th, we left the hostel at 3:30am, picked up Karen on a street corner, and drove to the airport. Our destination was London once more, where we were supposed to catch a flight to St. Petersburg, Russia. The only problem here was that we bought tickets from Dublin to London Heathrow, and we actually needed to fly to Russia from another airport, London Stansted. NO worries though, we had a 24 hour layover in London, so we had plenty of time to get to Stansted.
So, I will leave you here. My next post will be about May 8th, the day we arrived in Russia...better known is the day we realized that we would be completely lost for the next 8 days!!!
For the next 5 days, we would spend A LOT of time in that car.We spent our first night (May 2nd) in Dublin and had a bit of a look around. But, early the next morning (May 3rd), we jumped back in the car to head south to start our roadtrip around Ireland. We were determined to make it all the way around Ireland.Our first stop was Waterford, Ireland, where Waterford crystal is made. However, I don`t think we saw one piece of crystal in the entire town. We only spent a couple hours there and then, we were on the road again.
We drove through a lot of little towns and villages, and some big ones, like Cork, also.We saw a sign for the Jameson Whiskey Distillery and decided we could use a break from driving and a tour sounded pretty interesting. We also liked the idea that we could just stop whereever we wanted, whenever we wanted. This distillery was in Middleton, and it is one of the oldest and biggest distilleries of Irish Whiskey. It is no longer in use, because they built another, more modern one right next to it a few years ago. It was a pretty informative tour, and at the end, I got chosen to do a whiskey tasting. I had to try Irish, Scottish and American whiskey and then choose my favorite. Of course, my choice was Irish!
We continued on our roadtrip, driving southwest and got to the town of Kerry. Now, we have heard about the Ring of Kerry our entire lives, but in all honesty, when we arrived in Kerry, we both realized that we had absolutely NO idea what it actually was. We just knew that we had to see it. Well, it turns out that it is this road in the shape of a U that is about 180 km long (if I remember correctly), and it goes along a sort of peninsula on the south coast. We decided to drive the entire length of it, and it took about 2 1/2 or 3 hours. It was a stunning drive...quite long...but well worth it. Just wait til I post the pictures...it was just gorgeous.
After leaving Kerry, we decided to try to find a hostel near Blarney, our next destination, so we could stay the night and wake up the next morning, and go to Blarney castel to kiss the Blarney Stone. Well, finding a hostel turned out to be a huge challenge. Shane and I have not had the best of luck on this trip when it comes to finding things we need (like food, hostels, streets...) It was in Ireland that we learned the value of booking hostels ahead. So, after looking for what seemed like forever, we decided to just give in and pay a little more for a bed and breakfast. So, we stayed in a lovely little B&B in Blarney, had our own room with a bathroom, coffee and tea in our rooms, a huge breakfast and we were pretty happy as long as we didn`t discuss the money. I tried to justify the extra cost of the room saying that we had breakfast included, and since Shane eats so much, and is hungry 30 min. later, it was worth it.
The next morning (May 4th) we got up and went to Blarney Castle. This is one of the first tourist attractions that we actually paid to get into, because we wanted a photo kissing the Blarney Stone. (We usually just take photos of the outside of important buildings, but never actually go inside, to save money...cheapskates I know) The castle was lovely and soon you will see the photos to verify it:) (Just on a side note, the photos of us actually kissing the stone were taken by Shane´s camera, and 3 weeks after we left Ireland, Shane´s camera was stolen on a train. So, in other words, we have no proof to show, but we really did kiss it!)
After leaving Blarney, we kept driving west and started going up the west coast. Our destination was a little town called Ennis that Shane had visited 3 years before, when he was in Ireland. We went to a place called Bunratty to see the castle there as well. Shane had already been there too, so this was more for my benefit. Of course, we made the same mistake of not booking a hostel ahead of time, and once again searched fruitlessly for a hostel, and once again, ended up in a B&B. This one was nicer than the first, but the woman who owned it seemed terribly strict. I think we refered to her as "the Nazi" at one point. We were a bit scared to come back past 11pm. But, she was actually pretty nice and this B&B had the best shower we had had up until this point in the trip (you can see where our priorities lie...we are constantly comparing showers, beds, and communal rooms in different hostels) This night, we ventured into the town of Ennis to try to find a place where Shane had heard traditional Irish music the last time he was there. We found the place, and there was a band, but not a traditional one. We were a bit bummed about that, but it allowed us to get back to the B&B pretty early, so the Nazi woman wouldn´t be mad.
The next morning (May 5th), we awoke and went to a place not far from Ennis called the Cliffs of Moer. Now, these cliffs were massive and so so beautiful. I know I say that a lot of things are beautiful, but WOW...you can´t really find words to describe this place. So, this is how our day started...and it was to be a very very long day. If you get a chance to look at a map of Ireland, you will understand why I say this. We started driving from Ennis (on the western side of Ireland and kind of in the middle) and decided to drive up towards Northern Ireland and find a hostel somewhere on the way to Belfast. Well, as you probably have already guessed, there were no hostels to be found. So, we drove for about 13 hours that day, into the night and arrived in Belfast around 11pm. We finally found one hostel, but they didn´t have any rooms, and the guy told us that no one in town would. Then, he called a hostel a little north of Belfast to see if they had rooms for us, and when they heard we were American, they said they had nothing. It was not a good day.
So, we made the decision to just sleep in the car and wake up and drive to Dublin the next morning and find a hostel there.We found a tourist info center, parked and wrapped up in coats and went to sleep. It was about 5 degrees Centigrade that night, which is quite cold in case you don´t know. I think my feet almost froze off. (Just for a little background...from May 2nd to the 5th, we spent A LOT of time in that car. We stopped and bought loaves of bread, cheese, meat, etc. and would eat while driving down the road. I was the cook, Shane was the driver. So, sleeping in the car was almost poetic. I actually filmed a little video on May 5th while driving through Northern Ireland, so hopefully I will find a way to post that soon. I give an entire tour of our car)
In the wee hours of the morning on May 6th (and I do mean wee hours, cause the sun rises at about 3:45 or 4:00), we started driving back to Dublin. We found hostel, (the 4 Courts Hostel) but we couldn`t check in until 1pm, so we went in search of a laundry mat to clean some clothes. However, being Sunday, nothing was allowed to open before 12, so we just walked around in the cold misty weather for awhile. We were pretty exhausted at this point. It was while walking around that we ran into the Australian lady, Karen, that we had met in Edinburg. We found out she was going to the airport early the next morning, and since we were also, we offered to pick her up and give her a ride.We saw a movie theatre and thought it would be warm, so we decided that Spiderman 3 would help us make it through until 1pm. We finally checked into the hostel, found a laundry mat and did laundry, and then went back to the hostel, showered and went to sleep. It was about 7pm and we slept until 3am.
On May 7th, we left the hostel at 3:30am, picked up Karen on a street corner, and drove to the airport. Our destination was London once more, where we were supposed to catch a flight to St. Petersburg, Russia. The only problem here was that we bought tickets from Dublin to London Heathrow, and we actually needed to fly to Russia from another airport, London Stansted. NO worries though, we had a 24 hour layover in London, so we had plenty of time to get to Stansted.
So, I will leave you here. My next post will be about May 8th, the day we arrived in Russia...better known is the day we realized that we would be completely lost for the next 8 days!!!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Back to England
April 26th, we left Aberdeen to return to England once again. This was the point in the trip that you have all been asking about...when Shane and I ALMOST had our first fight...well disagreement. You see, up until this point, I had not been allowed to keep the phone on me cause I have a nasty habit of losing things. So, as I was in my friend, Steve's car saying goodbye, I leaned over to hug him, and opps...the phone slipped out of my pocket. This was the absolute first time I had had the phone in my possession. Steve drove away and we were about to board the ever so lovely Megabus again, and Shane asked for the phone back. That was a tense moment. I realized what had happened and I could've punched myself. Not a good beginning to the 16 hour bus ride we were facing!! However, I knew where the phone was and that Steve could mail it to us. And that is exactly what my lovely friend did. He overnighted it to us in England 3 days later, so crisis averted, and there was no first fight!
From Aberdeen, we took a 12 1/2 hour bus ride to London overnight. One of the hottest bus rides in the history of bus rides. We arrived in London on April 27th in the early morning. Then from London, we took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Bristol. From Bristol, we took a train to a little Welsh town called Lydney where we had planned to take a taxi about 10 mins. to Susie's dad, John's, house. However, upon arriving in Lydney, we couldn' find a pay phone and realized this was the one point in the trip where our mobile would have REALLY come in handy...I was pretty quiet at this point. So, being the brillant travelers that we are, we decided to start walking. Wow..that was not a good idea. We walked along a main hwy for awhile, ended up walking right through the middle of a golf course, and then finally ended up lost in a neighborhood. Luckily a man who was out washing is car took pity on the 2 lost, sweaty, smelly, hopeless looking backpackers and let us use his phone. We had a number for a taxi already because we had used him when we left John's house a few weeks before. So, he came and picked us up, remembered us, and took us right to John's front door.
We were, of course, exhausted and smelly and no one was home, because we were supposed to arrive a few hours later than we did. (we had caught an earlier train in Bristol) So, Shane napped on the sidewalk outside John's door while I read a book on the lawn to pass the time. Eventually, Susie and her friend Lydia found us and took us to Lyd's house where we showered!! It felt so good to be clean. (Most people believe that backpackers are smelly by choice, but we can strongly disagree with that from multiple experiences!)
Some of you might be wondering why we returned to the beautiful Forrest of Dean after leaving a few weeks before to go to London and then to go all the way up into Scotland. Well, 5 of the most wonderful people that I worked with my first year in Korea are now back in the UK. So, Susie decided it was the perfect time to host a reunion/BBQ at her dad's house for all of us to get together and see each other again. So, Christian came from Bristol, Sarah and Steve from London, Greg all the way from Dundee, Scotland, and Susie and myself were in attendance.
After Susie and Lyd rescued us and let us shower, we went shopping for all the food and supplies for the BBQ. Then, that evening we prepared everything at Lydia and Jason's house. I made more potato salad than could feed an army. Shane was in charge of coleslaw, but somehow that never got made. Susie's sister ended up making it the next morning.
After preparing the food and eating dinner, we had a jawdropping display of karoke in Lyd and Jas's living room. When we woke up the next morning, Lydia fixed a delicious breakfast of bacon sandwiches with brown sauce and then we packed the car and were off to John's to set up for the BBQ. The weather was stunning. (I don't know if I have mentioned this yet, but the entire time we were in the UK, the weather was FANTASTIC!! We heard that it was the warmest and dryest April since weather had started being documented.)
When we arrived at John's, his fiance, Jackie, was busy decorating, moving furniture, gardening and anything else you can imagine to make the garden perfect for the BBQ. John, like the rest of us, just followed her instructions, and under her supervision, we got everything ready for the big event. Slowly folks started to arrive and what a day it turned out to be! There were guitars strumming, people singing along, good food, great people, a bit of dancing and lots and lots of great conversation. It was so nice to see everyone again and meet so many other really wonderful people. Susie and her family were there along with lots of their friends. Shane and I really enjoyed ourselves.
The next morning we all woke up, ate more bacon sandwiches (we have been eating really really badly on this trip!) and piled into two cars and went off into the beautiful Forrest to see the bluebells. We had arrived in the perfect week when all the bluebells were blooming, so we went to see them. Then we stopped by Susie's mom's place for a cup of coffee/tea, and to say our farewells to her and Al, and Susie's sister.
Now, this was on April 29th and Shane and I joined Christian to drive back to Bristol to stay with him for a few days. It was in Bristol that some really fantastic things happened. 1. We got the phone back!! YAH!! I was out of the doghouse. 2. We got to hear Christian`s band practice one night and they were amazing! Shane and I quickly decided that we wanted first dibs on their first album. 3. We got to meet Christian`s family who were absolutely lovely and so kind to us. I especially fell in love with his gran who sported my sunglasses one afternoon when we were sitting in the garden and chatting. and 4. We got to go to the town of Bath. We stayed in Bristol until May 2nd, and then we were off to Ireland. It was very appropriate that we spent out last few days before going to Ireland with Christian`s family, because they are Irish and gave us some helpful hints.
I have some photos from this part of our trip, and I will add them to the bottom of this post soon.
From Aberdeen, we took a 12 1/2 hour bus ride to London overnight. One of the hottest bus rides in the history of bus rides. We arrived in London on April 27th in the early morning. Then from London, we took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Bristol. From Bristol, we took a train to a little Welsh town called Lydney where we had planned to take a taxi about 10 mins. to Susie's dad, John's, house. However, upon arriving in Lydney, we couldn' find a pay phone and realized this was the one point in the trip where our mobile would have REALLY come in handy...I was pretty quiet at this point. So, being the brillant travelers that we are, we decided to start walking. Wow..that was not a good idea. We walked along a main hwy for awhile, ended up walking right through the middle of a golf course, and then finally ended up lost in a neighborhood. Luckily a man who was out washing is car took pity on the 2 lost, sweaty, smelly, hopeless looking backpackers and let us use his phone. We had a number for a taxi already because we had used him when we left John's house a few weeks before. So, he came and picked us up, remembered us, and took us right to John's front door.
We were, of course, exhausted and smelly and no one was home, because we were supposed to arrive a few hours later than we did. (we had caught an earlier train in Bristol) So, Shane napped on the sidewalk outside John's door while I read a book on the lawn to pass the time. Eventually, Susie and her friend Lydia found us and took us to Lyd's house where we showered!! It felt so good to be clean. (Most people believe that backpackers are smelly by choice, but we can strongly disagree with that from multiple experiences!)
Some of you might be wondering why we returned to the beautiful Forrest of Dean after leaving a few weeks before to go to London and then to go all the way up into Scotland. Well, 5 of the most wonderful people that I worked with my first year in Korea are now back in the UK. So, Susie decided it was the perfect time to host a reunion/BBQ at her dad's house for all of us to get together and see each other again. So, Christian came from Bristol, Sarah and Steve from London, Greg all the way from Dundee, Scotland, and Susie and myself were in attendance.
After Susie and Lyd rescued us and let us shower, we went shopping for all the food and supplies for the BBQ. Then, that evening we prepared everything at Lydia and Jason's house. I made more potato salad than could feed an army. Shane was in charge of coleslaw, but somehow that never got made. Susie's sister ended up making it the next morning.
After preparing the food and eating dinner, we had a jawdropping display of karoke in Lyd and Jas's living room. When we woke up the next morning, Lydia fixed a delicious breakfast of bacon sandwiches with brown sauce and then we packed the car and were off to John's to set up for the BBQ. The weather was stunning. (I don't know if I have mentioned this yet, but the entire time we were in the UK, the weather was FANTASTIC!! We heard that it was the warmest and dryest April since weather had started being documented.)
When we arrived at John's, his fiance, Jackie, was busy decorating, moving furniture, gardening and anything else you can imagine to make the garden perfect for the BBQ. John, like the rest of us, just followed her instructions, and under her supervision, we got everything ready for the big event. Slowly folks started to arrive and what a day it turned out to be! There were guitars strumming, people singing along, good food, great people, a bit of dancing and lots and lots of great conversation. It was so nice to see everyone again and meet so many other really wonderful people. Susie and her family were there along with lots of their friends. Shane and I really enjoyed ourselves.
The next morning we all woke up, ate more bacon sandwiches (we have been eating really really badly on this trip!) and piled into two cars and went off into the beautiful Forrest to see the bluebells. We had arrived in the perfect week when all the bluebells were blooming, so we went to see them. Then we stopped by Susie's mom's place for a cup of coffee/tea, and to say our farewells to her and Al, and Susie's sister.
Now, this was on April 29th and Shane and I joined Christian to drive back to Bristol to stay with him for a few days. It was in Bristol that some really fantastic things happened. 1. We got the phone back!! YAH!! I was out of the doghouse. 2. We got to hear Christian`s band practice one night and they were amazing! Shane and I quickly decided that we wanted first dibs on their first album. 3. We got to meet Christian`s family who were absolutely lovely and so kind to us. I especially fell in love with his gran who sported my sunglasses one afternoon when we were sitting in the garden and chatting. and 4. We got to go to the town of Bath. We stayed in Bristol until May 2nd, and then we were off to Ireland. It was very appropriate that we spent out last few days before going to Ireland with Christian`s family, because they are Irish and gave us some helpful hints.
I have some photos from this part of our trip, and I will add them to the bottom of this post soon.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Twenty's Plenty and Pics from Scotland
We were in Edinburg from April 19th to the 22nd...We went to the highlands on the 21st...and then we went to Aberdeen from the 22nd to the 26th
This round of photos are of the beautiful country of Scotland. We went to Aberdeen from Edinburg and my friend, Steve, picked us up at the bus station and we stay with him for a few days.
If you are wondering about the title of this post, it comes from one of our favorite street signs we saw in Aberdeen, Scotland. In the rural areas, there were speed limit signs stating that the limit was 20 mph and then below it, it read "Twenty's Plenty." Also in Aberdeen there was a "part time" traffic signal (it doesn't work full time, only part time) and on the small bridges, instead of putting the weight limits on the bridges, they put signs that say "weak bridge." That just doesn't give you a lot of confidence to continue across the bridge. So, we were in Aberdeen for 4 days and we spent a lot of the time just relaxing at Steve's house, eating, doing laundry and doing a bit of sightseeing also.
This is not all the photos from Scotland, but I will add the rest later. Somehow the computer I am on now erased the rest. So, These photos start in Aberdeen with a wonderful photo of the statue of Rob Roy. Then, we have some photos from one of the most beautiful places we visited in Scotland, Slain's Castle. This is located about 30 min. outside of Aberdeen and it is where the author of Dracula wrote the book. It was, evidently, a hotel at one point in it's history. The view here was breathtaking. The castle sat on these cliffs that were about a 200ft. drop straight down into the North Sea. After the castle photos, there are photos of the highlands, Loch Ness and Fort Augustus. Towards the bottom, there are a few pictures from Edinburgh and Shane and I doing a little light climbing on the place I mentioned in the earlier post called Arthur's Seat. We were inspired from our day of Going Ape and decided to try climbing without the ropes.
More pictures to come shortly'
Here is Rob Roy in all his glory. This stature is in Aberdeen next to the bridge that he is said ot have jumped off of.
Here is a view of Slain's Castle.
These are some of the cliffs right before you get to the castle ruins.
I climbed up one of the towers and took a photo of Steve and Shane.
Me hanging out in one of the windows of the castle. I wish the camera could have captured what was behind me out the window! It was stunning!!
Shane taking a stroll.
Here are some of the cliffs that were directly below the castle.
This the adorable little town of Fort Augustus where Loch Ness is located.
A random church that was next to Loch Ness.
Here are some more of my efforts to get the ultimate postcard shot.
Shane and I in the same exact pose on the shore of Loch Ness. Look closely, and you might just see Ole Nessy.
More views of Fort Augustus and the Loch.
This is Glen Coe. This valley is famous because of an event that happened between 2 clans, the McDonalds and the Campbells, many years ago. The Campbells betrayed the McDonalds so everyone in the highlands hates Campbells and they are not allowed to go into a lot of establishments even now.
Here is a photo of me on Arthur`s Seat above the city of Edinburgh.
As you can see, we were inspired by our Go Ape experience and decided to do some light climbing. (For those of you who have been to Arthur`s seat...don`t comment!)
This is the city of Edinburgh looking down from Arthur`s Seat.
This is a view of the main street, the Royal Mile, in Edinbugh that leads up to the famous Edinburgh Castle.
Beautiful Edinburg...some different views of the areas surrounding the city.
This round of photos are of the beautiful country of Scotland. We went to Aberdeen from Edinburg and my friend, Steve, picked us up at the bus station and we stay with him for a few days.
If you are wondering about the title of this post, it comes from one of our favorite street signs we saw in Aberdeen, Scotland. In the rural areas, there were speed limit signs stating that the limit was 20 mph and then below it, it read "Twenty's Plenty." Also in Aberdeen there was a "part time" traffic signal (it doesn't work full time, only part time) and on the small bridges, instead of putting the weight limits on the bridges, they put signs that say "weak bridge." That just doesn't give you a lot of confidence to continue across the bridge. So, we were in Aberdeen for 4 days and we spent a lot of the time just relaxing at Steve's house, eating, doing laundry and doing a bit of sightseeing also.
This is not all the photos from Scotland, but I will add the rest later. Somehow the computer I am on now erased the rest. So, These photos start in Aberdeen with a wonderful photo of the statue of Rob Roy. Then, we have some photos from one of the most beautiful places we visited in Scotland, Slain's Castle. This is located about 30 min. outside of Aberdeen and it is where the author of Dracula wrote the book. It was, evidently, a hotel at one point in it's history. The view here was breathtaking. The castle sat on these cliffs that were about a 200ft. drop straight down into the North Sea. After the castle photos, there are photos of the highlands, Loch Ness and Fort Augustus. Towards the bottom, there are a few pictures from Edinburgh and Shane and I doing a little light climbing on the place I mentioned in the earlier post called Arthur's Seat. We were inspired from our day of Going Ape and decided to try climbing without the ropes.
More pictures to come shortly'
Here is Rob Roy in all his glory. This stature is in Aberdeen next to the bridge that he is said ot have jumped off of.
Here is a view of Slain's Castle.
These are some of the cliffs right before you get to the castle ruins.
I climbed up one of the towers and took a photo of Steve and Shane.
Me hanging out in one of the windows of the castle. I wish the camera could have captured what was behind me out the window! It was stunning!!
Shane taking a stroll.
Here are some of the cliffs that were directly below the castle.
This the adorable little town of Fort Augustus where Loch Ness is located.
A random church that was next to Loch Ness.
Here are some more of my efforts to get the ultimate postcard shot.
Shane and I in the same exact pose on the shore of Loch Ness. Look closely, and you might just see Ole Nessy.
More views of Fort Augustus and the Loch.
This is Glen Coe. This valley is famous because of an event that happened between 2 clans, the McDonalds and the Campbells, many years ago. The Campbells betrayed the McDonalds so everyone in the highlands hates Campbells and they are not allowed to go into a lot of establishments even now.
Here is a photo of me on Arthur`s Seat above the city of Edinburgh.
As you can see, we were inspired by our Go Ape experience and decided to do some light climbing. (For those of you who have been to Arthur`s seat...don`t comment!)
This is the city of Edinburgh looking down from Arthur`s Seat.
This is a view of the main street, the Royal Mile, in Edinbugh that leads up to the famous Edinburgh Castle.
Beautiful Edinburg...some different views of the areas surrounding the city.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
London Pictures...and other info
In London from April 12th to the 17th
Okay, so it has come to my attention that perhaps folks are a little confused about the time line of our website. You see, we are about 3 weeks behind with each post, so even though I write in the present tense, each post actually happened a few weeks before. Currently, we are in the Czech Republic for our last night before taking a train to Krakow, Poland tomorrow. So, you see, I am just now (today being May 21st) posting a set of pictures from London that we actually took in April. So, maybe tomorrow, or in the next few days, I will go back and post the dates that we were actually in each place so it will be easier to follow. I will also try much harder to keep this thing up-to-date, so that all confusion can be avoided. We are having much better luck finding computers these days, so hopefully, the website will stay a bit more current...after I catch up, that is!
So, here are some photos from London. I posted some dialogue about London a while back, so now you have some pictures to look at also.
Shane and I stayed near a huge park called Hyde Park while we were in London. The next 4 photos are of a monument that was in the park. I can't remember now who this was made for and dedicated to, but when I do, I will be sure to enlighten everyone. Of course, if someone knows, please post a comment and share with us.
This is a view of the front of the top portion of the monument.
This is a view of the back of the same portion.
Each corner of the monument was dedicated to a continent. There was one for America, Asia, Europe and Africa. I can't remember if this was the Asia or Africa corner.
This is another view of the monument.
And here is Shane standing in front of a war memorial dedicated to all the Australians who fought for queen and country.
A London city street scene. I thought it was quite appropriate with the double decker bus and all.
And can you guess what building this is even though you can't see the Beefeaters and the royal family pulling out of the gates in a big fancy car??
The fountain across from the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Here we have proud ole' Big Ben in all his glory!
This is my favorite photo from London. I rather think I would make a darn good postcard photographer! The London Eye looked rather spendid on that day, or in this shot anyway.
Shane takin a little break so I could snap a classic tourist photo of him.
Another London Street scene.
Another shot of ole' Ben...looking a bit more sepia now instead of black and white.
The houses of Parliment from across the river.
Looking straight up at Big Ben. It was taller than I had imagined it to be.
The buildings directly next to Big Ben.
Westminister Abbey.
The Abbey again.
Another view of the Abbey from the side. These photos really don't do it justice. It was stunning!
A scene with some of the big landmarks in it.
Shane posing for another "tourist" shot. He hasn't even complained when I ask him to stand and let me snap a photo.
This is something really cool that we came across one day. This couple and their little girl where down on the beach of the river making these really great relief sculptures in the sand. They had posted their myspace page as "dirty beaches"...we looked them up and they've done some really cool stuff. So, we stood and watched them for awhile.
And another cool thing that we saw in the Tate Modern museum. An artist had done an installation piece that consisted of all these rad slides that went from the 5th floor and down. There were loads of slides...at least one from each floor. FUN!
Here we have Shakespeare's famous Globe Theatre.
And for those of you out there that were told as a child that "London Bridge is falling down"...never fear! It was all a lie!
And just in case you thought I might have bought the last photo and posted it on here to fool you...here is me with London bridge. So, all is well, London Bridge is indeed, not falling down, but safe and sound and all it's pieces are where they should be.
And to top our trip to London, and what made it super special for me, was getting to meet up with some of my pals from Korea. Here is Jaewon and I with one of her English pals. We got to see Jaewon a couple times while we were there which was great!
We also met up with my ex-student and good friend, June. He is living in London now and attending London Business School. Shane pulling out the classic Korean peace pose!
Here's a great photo of the three of us.
I spent a lot of time helping June prepare for his interview and his essays when he was applying to London Business School, so it was only appropriate that we took a picture in front of the sign:)
And last, but not least...me in front of the Spamolot theatre. We didn't actually see a show, but the front of the theatre was too great not to take a photo.
Okay, so it has come to my attention that perhaps folks are a little confused about the time line of our website. You see, we are about 3 weeks behind with each post, so even though I write in the present tense, each post actually happened a few weeks before. Currently, we are in the Czech Republic for our last night before taking a train to Krakow, Poland tomorrow. So, you see, I am just now (today being May 21st) posting a set of pictures from London that we actually took in April. So, maybe tomorrow, or in the next few days, I will go back and post the dates that we were actually in each place so it will be easier to follow. I will also try much harder to keep this thing up-to-date, so that all confusion can be avoided. We are having much better luck finding computers these days, so hopefully, the website will stay a bit more current...after I catch up, that is!
So, here are some photos from London. I posted some dialogue about London a while back, so now you have some pictures to look at also.
Shane and I stayed near a huge park called Hyde Park while we were in London. The next 4 photos are of a monument that was in the park. I can't remember now who this was made for and dedicated to, but when I do, I will be sure to enlighten everyone. Of course, if someone knows, please post a comment and share with us.
This is a view of the front of the top portion of the monument.
This is a view of the back of the same portion.
Each corner of the monument was dedicated to a continent. There was one for America, Asia, Europe and Africa. I can't remember if this was the Asia or Africa corner.
This is another view of the monument.
And here is Shane standing in front of a war memorial dedicated to all the Australians who fought for queen and country.
A London city street scene. I thought it was quite appropriate with the double decker bus and all.
And can you guess what building this is even though you can't see the Beefeaters and the royal family pulling out of the gates in a big fancy car??
The fountain across from the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Here we have proud ole' Big Ben in all his glory!
This is my favorite photo from London. I rather think I would make a darn good postcard photographer! The London Eye looked rather spendid on that day, or in this shot anyway.
Shane takin a little break so I could snap a classic tourist photo of him.
Another London Street scene.
Another shot of ole' Ben...looking a bit more sepia now instead of black and white.
The houses of Parliment from across the river.
Looking straight up at Big Ben. It was taller than I had imagined it to be.
The buildings directly next to Big Ben.
Westminister Abbey.
The Abbey again.
Another view of the Abbey from the side. These photos really don't do it justice. It was stunning!
A scene with some of the big landmarks in it.
Shane posing for another "tourist" shot. He hasn't even complained when I ask him to stand and let me snap a photo.
This is something really cool that we came across one day. This couple and their little girl where down on the beach of the river making these really great relief sculptures in the sand. They had posted their myspace page as "dirty beaches"...we looked them up and they've done some really cool stuff. So, we stood and watched them for awhile.
And another cool thing that we saw in the Tate Modern museum. An artist had done an installation piece that consisted of all these rad slides that went from the 5th floor and down. There were loads of slides...at least one from each floor. FUN!
Here we have Shakespeare's famous Globe Theatre.
And for those of you out there that were told as a child that "London Bridge is falling down"...never fear! It was all a lie!
And just in case you thought I might have bought the last photo and posted it on here to fool you...here is me with London bridge. So, all is well, London Bridge is indeed, not falling down, but safe and sound and all it's pieces are where they should be.
And to top our trip to London, and what made it super special for me, was getting to meet up with some of my pals from Korea. Here is Jaewon and I with one of her English pals. We got to see Jaewon a couple times while we were there which was great!
We also met up with my ex-student and good friend, June. He is living in London now and attending London Business School. Shane pulling out the classic Korean peace pose!
Here's a great photo of the three of us.
I spent a lot of time helping June prepare for his interview and his essays when he was applying to London Business School, so it was only appropriate that we took a picture in front of the sign:)
And last, but not least...me in front of the Spamolot theatre. We didn't actually see a show, but the front of the theatre was too great not to take a photo.
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