Day 11

We are in a pretty craptastic hostel at the moment. Its small, it's super hot for some reason and the only internet is for pay and only in the lobby. The window opens onto a busy street and there are also the bells of saint Paul's, just around the corner. The bells are lovely but they make it kind of impossible to sleep past 7. Even if I could the loading and unloading of the trucks starting at 8 wouldn't let us sleep much later. The one thing it does have going for it is location. As I mentioned, right around the corner from beautiful St Paul's. Close to two subway lines, although my favorite one is closed at the moment.

Luckily for us my dad's cousin lives just outside of London in Surrey (like Harry Potter) and has offered to let us stay with her. I'm not sure how we'll get back and forth to the city from there but we'll work something out. I don't think we can stay in this room for 5 more nights. Even though the thought of staying in the same place for 6 nights in a row does seem kind of fantastic.

Yesterday was a harsh travel day. We left for the airport at 2pm and didn't get to the hostel till a little before 10. That's just going from Edinburgh to London! We missed the train into town by seconds and had to wait half an hour for the next one. It seemed so hot here and I thought I might explode on the subway. I had a hard time buying our subway tickets and a bit of a panic when I found out the tube stop I'm familiar with is closed. But eventually we made it. After we checked in and cooled down we went out for just a bit. I got some food from the grocery store (fruit and a bagel, Hannah had burger king at the train station) and the view of St Paul's was stunning. We walked down to the millennium bridge to look at the river and the tower bridge, and then Hannah was chilly so we came back and talked awhile until we fell asleep late and then woke up bright and early this morning.

As soon as we get ourselves together we are venturing out. I'm nit sure where we're going but there's a tourist info right around the corner (the desk staff don't seem too friendly/helpful). We're thinking the British Museum or the Tower of London, both might be really crowded since it's a Saturday but that's when we're here. However first on the agenda is some breakfast. This is not a hostel that serves free breakfast so we'll have to find something along the way. Oh and maybe we'll go see the Parliament buildings and all that as well. Who knows. Oh and definitely a pharmacy somewhere along the way.

We miss Scotland but it seems like the weather might be much better here. We hope anyway. Scotland was cold and rainy, at least while we were there. We're dreaming of clean laundry, proper showers and the lovely sites of London.

Day 10

<p>&lt;p&gt;I wish it weren't 4am in America. I feel like calling home. I'm a little homsick this morning, and a little worried about how things will go in a couple days on 9/11. It will be hard to be away if anything happens, so I will just hope for the best.</p>
<p>In happier news, my cousin (technically my dad's cousin) has offered to have Hannah and I stay with us at her place outside London when we're in town and honestly the thought of a real house with non public bathrooms and actual family seems dreamy right now. I'm not sure how we'd get back and forth to the city but I'm sure we'll figure that all out. They have people staying with them through the weekend so we'll still head for the hostel first but then that will be a great get away.</p>
<p>We have to check out of here at noon, and then we'll wander the streets for a couple hours until we head for the airport where I hope it will go more smoothly than it did in Dublin. Its a short flight into London and then a train followed by a tube trip and a short walk to our hostel near St Paul's.
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I don't know what we'll do tonight. Maybe walk along the river and see some sites. Tomorrow might be the tower of London. Or maybe the museum of London. It'll be the weekend so I'm guessing places will be crowded.

It will be sad to leave Edinburgh and Scotland behind. Its been great here. But I'll also be happy to move on to England and cities there. Of course then sunny Rome, and afterwards beloved home. We're a third of the way through the trip already. So far so good.

Day 7

<p>We have 30 minutes still till we can go to our gate. There's plenty of wifi but its all for pay. Drag. Its been a harsh morning. Our hostel room last night was about the size of a jail cell and neither of us wanted to get up this morning. I tried to rush h along still we missed our bus by about a minute. We waited about 20 minutes for the next one. We got here a little more than 3 hours til our flight which is what they say for an international flight, but when the flight itself if only an hour long it seems like a really long time to wait.

We had some trouble with security here. They unpacked Hannah's entire suitcase because we had a pair of scissors that were 1 cm too long. Seriously. And in the rush to repack the entire thing I thought I lost my precious tablet. Then it took me so long checking with the lost and found h kind of freaked as was really upset by the time I made it back to her. Of course I found the tablet in my bag right where it was supposed to be and felt like a nut job for freaking about it. Travel days are my least favorite for sure.

You know we packed really light. A carry on each. That meant I had two long slleved shirts for the 3 weeks of cold weather. And already I left one (my favorite of course) behind on the aran islands. Geez. I'm doubtful I'll find something else and don't really want to spend any time clothes shopping. It seems like were always rushing and out of time and not sleeping enough the way it is. Maybe when were in London and have a little more time. I wish there were better shops here at the airport where we have plenty of time to kill but there are only fancy shopd s for skinny posh girls. And Irish t-shirts of course.

So I wish I could post some pictures. Again maybe in London. I think were there for 6 days maybe. Edinburgh is only 4 days/3 nights. The western part of Ireland was so beautiful. We saw ancient ruins and tiny cottages and the sea. We went on a big climb to a 3000 year old Celtic fort on the edge of the cliffs that was incredible. We saw the cliffs of moher (aka the cliffs if insanity in the princess bride) and some 4000+ burial sites (maybe my favorite bit). And plenty of other fascinating bits as well. I hope I can type about them soon.

Ten minutes till the gates supposed to open. Yesterday was a super boring travel day and today is turning out to be the same. I hope Edinburgh is great and we love Scotland but you know I'm anxious to get to England and Rome. Hopefully I'll get to post this and maybe some photos from our hostel tonight. Wait and see I guess. You people are not texting me enough though. Or emailing or whatever. So get on that.

Xoxo.

Day 5. 9pm

Its dark out. We are in our beds, in our room at our B&B on the Irish island of Inis Mor. We got back here to our room around 5 I think and haven't found the will (or the warmth) to head back out, although our friend Gene headed back to town to find a warm dinner and some Irish speakers a few hours ago. When he left Hannah was fast asleep and I was still to damp and worn out to think about going anywhere.

As usual when its tome to update you, my thoughts feel too scattered and unorganized.

So day 2 must have been Thursday. That day Hannah and I took a day tripbtonthe mountains of Wicklow and the ancient monastic site at Glendalough. It was beautiful and our tour guide/bus driver Stephen was great. We had a pub lunch where Hannah had her first beer. She didn't really like it at all. No, it wasn't a Guiness. That night we went out to find a pub with some traditional music with zero luck which definitely bummed me out. We went to bed too late and too tired.

Morning of day 3 we had to wake up and pack our bags to check out of our hostel. We rented a locker and wandered a few blocks away to the Dublin Archaeology Museum where we saw some fascinating things found in the Irish bogs -- including the perfectly preserved bodies of 3 ancient men. Fascinating and creepy. We both felt kind of sick after looking at them. We decided to go back for our bags and head on over to the train station to grab lunch and wait for our train to Galway.

We had a train situation and had to get off in a town called At Henry (I think) and take a bus the rest of the way to Galway. It was raining pretty seriously when we got there and I was kinda freaking out over several things. Our friend Gene met us at the station and we took a cab to our b&B. At first I was a bit disappointed with it but it later grew on me. I wasn't digging life that night so Gene and his friends invited us out to dinner with them. It was still super rainy. We had a ki d of lovely posh dinner. I had a Risotto and h tried a pork belly she really loved. We got back way too late. Maybe around midnight. I had a bit if a brakedown and had to call home for a bit. Eventually we got to bed around 1am.

We were both much better in the morning. Day 4. Which was what? Yesterday? Wow seems so long ago but yes. Saturday. We had a full Irish breakfast (or Hannah did. I skipped the meat of course) and rode off to catch the coach for our full day trip to the burren and the cliffs of mother and many other fabulous places. It was a fantastic trip, even though our guide wasn't nearly as great as Stephen. We got back around dinner time and stopped by the grocery store on our walk home for a dinner of bread, cheese and candy bars. We packed all up and watched comedy central til we crashed out (which for me was at about 10pm).

Which leads to this morning. We had breakfast early and headed downtown to catch to the bus to Rosavel to catch the ferry to The A ran Islands. The weather was on and off all day but lovely when we got here. We met a wonderful man named Patrick who brought us to our B&B with hid horse Grace and his cart. Then he gave us a ride around the island, stopping at the ancient (1000 Bc) fort of Dun Aengus, which you should look up on Wikipedia because its fascinating, but I'm too tired to actually tell you all about it.

I wish we could have stayed up there a long time but Patrick and Grace were waiting for us so we had to head back. It just started to sprinkle when we were headed back. We had some lunch in a cafe. I had some delicious beef guiness stew. Very yum. Just when we were headed back to our ride it started poring rain with crazy winds. The rain was horizontal and even the locals were saying it was unusually bad. Eventually we headed back anyway, in the freezinf rain and wind. We got soaked. But it was with it. Beautiful and amazing. I only wish we would have had the energy to head back to the village tonight with Gene. In the morning Patrick will pick us up and take us back to town if we want but I kind of hope we head in earlier to check stuff out. We take the noon ferry back to the big island and then its a rush to catch the train back to Dublin where well finally do some laundry and get ready to fly to Scotland the next day!

So love you you all. Having a great time. Don't know when I'll be able to check back in but I promise I will when I can!

Xoxo

Day 2 unfinished

Tired again. Hannah is napping. I am meant to be as well but I can't seem to rest. I am thinking about what to do tomorrow, how to arrange it, and how/when to get to the train station for our train to Galway. It seems soon to be leaving Dublin tomorrow, but we will be back for almost 24 hours on Monday. I wish I could talk over plans with the girl but as I said she is fast asleep.

Today was a busy day. We were up and downstairs eating breakfast by 7am. We walked to the tourist info center, which is inside a lovely old church to meet our tour bus, but we were way too early. We walked around a bit and saw the outside of Trinity College as well as the statue of Molly Malone, aka the Tart with the Cart and many other names I can't remember right now. We walked up and down Grafton St which is a fancy shopping district closed off to traffic. It was interesting watching everyone hurt off to work. Hannah admired the many shoe stores. I noticed a Pizza Hut, Burger King and a very fancy McDonalds.

1 day

Oh I so meant to write a two week out post, and then a one week out post. But I didn't.
Today is one day away. 24 hours from now we'll be at the airport, waiting to board the plane to Atlanta that will take us to the plane to Dublin and then 8 hours later we'll be in Ireland. I've been dreaming of Ireland since I was in 6th grade, and trust me that was a really long time ago.

Hannah is packed. I'm very close to packed but not zipped up because there are a few last minute things we'll toss in tomorrow. Hannah still needs to switch purses and load music onto her iPod touch. We've said goodbye to our boyfriends and we're giving the dogs extra snuggles all day long.

I'm so very excited. I hope I've remembered everything and sorted it well. I've tried really hard to be super organized, but you never know. I keep remembering things that are packed in my suitcase that need to go in my shoulder bag.

In about an hour I'll be able to check in online for our long flight with Air France. About an hour after that I'll be able to check in online for the flight to Delta. That's super exciting. It's all so very real, and so very close. It's bout at the point that there's no more sense in worrying (as if there ever is) and to just surrender to the adventure.

I'll keep in touch.