Well I successfully made it to Manchester! I didn't sleep at all, except for maybe a half hour on the plane from Dublin to Manchester. Meghan was skyping with me while I was attempting to pack. My flight to Philly leaves in an hour and I want to go buy EVERYTHING in the WHSmith shop. I already raided it and bought 6 bottles of Ribena and a UK flag sticker that also says London. The lady at the check out called me love and I am going to miss that. I bought myself a tomato, mozzarella and basil panini in honor of the first thing that I ate when the train to Sheffield went disastrously wrong! But good memories :-) I can't believe that its already been almost 12 weeks and I'm really leaving. I still feel like I only just got here. The hardest thing is that I don't know when I'm going to come back, and that is probably what is bugging me the most. I know I will live here someday, probably in London. But for now, thanks England for a great term (even if I didn't learn that much academically :-P). It's been a great adventure and I couldn't have asked for better friends that I met along the way. This experience has been everything I thought it would be and so much more. But for now, I must say farewell and thanks for the memories, but I will definitely be back :) Cheers!
Love,
Carolyn
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Luck of the Irish!!!
Well I woke up at 8:30am this morning and had breakfast in the hotel. I had a delicious veggie omelet and some delicious granola with yogurt. The coach picked me up and then picked up some other people too! YAY! About 12 people and they were all American. Today was more driving around and seeing the scenery rather than exploring and such, so it'll be a short post.
But the highlight and the title of this blog post came from when we had our first stop. We could have tea or browse the gift shop. I was looking around the gift shop and found a great present for my dad for Christmas. I went to go pay for it, but their credit card machine ended up being broken. I ran out of cash yesterday and was never able to find an ATM so I was SOL. I gave the lady back the item and headed outside to look at the scenery. One of the ladies on the trip came outside and just as she was asking me if she could lend me the 10 euros, I looked down and what did I see? 10 EUROS LAYING ON THE GROUND (soaking wet in a puddle!) The gift was 9.95 so that gave me just enough cash to buy it! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED! The Irish luck came out of me today :D
After that we drove around some more, took a few photo stops, and saw the Atlantic Ocean. In one of the towns we past through, I saw a sign for a store that read "Bubbles Fishing Tackle!" It was a laundromat, dry cleaning service, and also sold fishing rods and tackle. Also in that gift shop and a few other ones I was in, I saw a few different key chains and other gift items that had the Irish flag intertwined with the American flag. I also saw both an Irish and an American flag flying outside of one business along the way (two separate flag poles). I still don't know why this is.
Later on, we stopped at a pub for lunch and I had a half pint of Guinness and fish 'n' chips! It was delicious :) Also along the way, the driver/tour guide was playing different Irish music, including Lord of the Dance!! I don't really know what else to say other than the fact that it was a great tour and I saw some amazingly beautiful scenery, especially when the sun was setting over the mountains.
I was actually on the same train back to Dublin with the lady who had come out to lend me some money and another lady she was traveling with. They were from Alabama and so nice!! They bought me a cup of tea and we talked the entire 4 hour train back to Dublin. It was nice to really talk to someone. I enjoyed traveling around by myself, but I will always enjoy the company of other people :)
I think I'm more nervous about going home than I was about going to England. It's definitely going to be weird and strange. I can't wait to finally read the book that Meghan gave to me for Christmas on the plane home!! But before that I have to repack all of my bags and then catch the shuttle to the airport at 4am (it's 1am now). I think I'll grab another cup of tea. I really enjoyed my time here in Ireland! The people here are some of the friendliest people I've ever met, and I will definitely be coming back. Leaving England is going to be so hard tomorrow, even though I really left it on Saturday. I can't explain how I came to love that country, or really why I do, but I know I will live there some day. Time to sign off for now! <3
~Carolyn
But the highlight and the title of this blog post came from when we had our first stop. We could have tea or browse the gift shop. I was looking around the gift shop and found a great present for my dad for Christmas. I went to go pay for it, but their credit card machine ended up being broken. I ran out of cash yesterday and was never able to find an ATM so I was SOL. I gave the lady back the item and headed outside to look at the scenery. One of the ladies on the trip came outside and just as she was asking me if she could lend me the 10 euros, I looked down and what did I see? 10 EUROS LAYING ON THE GROUND (soaking wet in a puddle!) The gift was 9.95 so that gave me just enough cash to buy it! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED! The Irish luck came out of me today :D
After that we drove around some more, took a few photo stops, and saw the Atlantic Ocean. In one of the towns we past through, I saw a sign for a store that read "Bubbles Fishing Tackle!" It was a laundromat, dry cleaning service, and also sold fishing rods and tackle. Also in that gift shop and a few other ones I was in, I saw a few different key chains and other gift items that had the Irish flag intertwined with the American flag. I also saw both an Irish and an American flag flying outside of one business along the way (two separate flag poles). I still don't know why this is.
Later on, we stopped at a pub for lunch and I had a half pint of Guinness and fish 'n' chips! It was delicious :) Also along the way, the driver/tour guide was playing different Irish music, including Lord of the Dance!! I don't really know what else to say other than the fact that it was a great tour and I saw some amazingly beautiful scenery, especially when the sun was setting over the mountains.
I was actually on the same train back to Dublin with the lady who had come out to lend me some money and another lady she was traveling with. They were from Alabama and so nice!! They bought me a cup of tea and we talked the entire 4 hour train back to Dublin. It was nice to really talk to someone. I enjoyed traveling around by myself, but I will always enjoy the company of other people :)
I think I'm more nervous about going home than I was about going to England. It's definitely going to be weird and strange. I can't wait to finally read the book that Meghan gave to me for Christmas on the plane home!! But before that I have to repack all of my bags and then catch the shuttle to the airport at 4am (it's 1am now). I think I'll grab another cup of tea. I really enjoyed my time here in Ireland! The people here are some of the friendliest people I've ever met, and I will definitely be coming back. Leaving England is going to be so hard tomorrow, even though I really left it on Saturday. I can't explain how I came to love that country, or really why I do, but I know I will live there some day. Time to sign off for now! <3
~Carolyn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)