It's been a while since my last post, so I'll do my best to catch you all up as briefly as possible. Which we all know is pretty hard for me!!! :)
For the last 20 days, I have been traveling through the United Kingdom with 40 high school kids and three other teacher chaperones on a People to People Student Ambassadors trip. We had a marvelous time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, although it was a looooooong 20 days, and we were all pretty wiped out by the end. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity, though, as it was such a neat experience to be in the UK and have a bit of a trial run at things before the big move in August. On our trip we visited Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Wales and England. I, of course, took a kazillion pictures, which I've posted on my facebook account. Rather than bore you all the details of the trip, I thought I'd just go through a few highlights for each country and post some of my favorite pics from each place we visited.
Scotland:
We arrived in Scotland after the longest 24 hours of traveling ever! We landed at 8 a.m. and started our program right away, and surprisingly, the kids were pretty good about fighting through the jet lag and fatigue. During our six days in Scotland we saw SO much, but among the highlights were learning some new golf skills at a driving range, a visit to St. Andrews, a really cool demonstration from a highland re-enactor, a trip on Loch Ness to hunt for Nessie, the coolest afternoon spent at a sheep farm learning about the sheep dogs, and a fabulous day in Edinburgh spent on the Royal Mile and at the castle. I loved Scotland--the accents, the friendly people, the beautiful countryside and the sheep!
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| Practicing my new golf skills at Drumoig Golf Course |
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| The dorm where Prince William lived when he studied at St. Andrews University |
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| Self portrait in front of his dorm! I was excited, as I love all things Royal Family! |
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| Alan, our Scottish Highlander |
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| Loch Ness--we hunted for Nessie! |
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| Cool castle in the background off the shores of Loch Ness |
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| We found Nessie! Finally! |
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| Isn't he the cutest sheep dog ever? |
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| We learned about raising sheep and sheep dogs from this sheep farmer. |
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| It was really interesting to see how well he controlled his dogs with just simple commands and whistles. |
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| Self portrait in Edinburgh |
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| Looking down the Royal Mile, the one-mile road that leads up to Edinburgh Castle |
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| The view from the top of Edinburgh Castle |
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| Inside the square at the castle. We even got to see the Scottish crown jewels! SO sparkly! |
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Edinburgh Castle
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Northern Ireland:
Then we took a really nice ferry over to Belfast to visit Northern Ireland. During our stay in Belfast we learned about The Troubles and how the people of Belfast are trying to continue moving forward into peace. The people we spoke with were all very candid about Belfast's troubled past and the struggles between the Catholic Nationalists of West Belfast and the Protestant Unionists of East Belfast. And always they would insist that the violence of The Troubles is Belfast's past, not its future. I found the whole experience of being in Belfast moving and fascinating. We also had some time to enjoy the beautiful countryside when we explored Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
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| The Peace Wall separating East and West Belfast |
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| Belfast is covered in political murals like these |
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| Bobby Sands, famous for the hunger strikes |
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| Another view of the Peace Wall |
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| Such a gorgeous view! |
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| The view on the walk down to Giant's Causeway. Breathtaking. |
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| Climbing on the causeway |
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| The basalt columns at Giant's Causeway are so amazing!The legend is that the giant Finn McCool built the causeway as a path to Scotland to go take on another giant. |
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| Giant's Causeway |
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| View from the top of the hill at the causeway |
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| So green! |
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| View of the area near Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge |
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| Irish meadow :) |
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| Right before I crossed over the Carrick-a-Rede (Rock in the Road) rope bridge. The bridge, which leads out to a small rocky island, was used by salmon fisherman for 350 years. |
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| Pretty view from the Carrick-a-Rede area |
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On the island after crossing the bridge
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Ireland:
Next, headed down into Ireland where we spent a lot of time visiting some small communities and learning about the history of the Emerald Isle. I really enjoyed our visit to Bunratty Castle, a cool little castle that was restored in the 1950s. The castle is on the same grounds as Folk Park, which is a recreated village from the 1700s. The grounds were gorgeous, and the shopping was fabulous! I also loved the day we spent in Killarney--taking an hour-long boat ride in the drizzly rain through a couple lakes and rivers, stopping for lunch at Lord Brandon's Cottage, and then taking a seven-mile horse-drawn jaunty car ride back. The country was absolutely gorgeous, and I loved the randomness of the day. At first we didn't really understand why we were taking this long boat ride or really what was going on at all. But we all sort of just did what they told us to do and went with it. Such a fun day! Another highlight was our day spent in Cahersiveen. We explored the town, cut peat out of a bog, hung out with local kids and attended a ceili--a night of traditional Irish dance and song. What a day! We also got to visit Croke Park--where they hold the Gaelic football championships, and explore Trinity College and Dublin for a few hours. I'm already planning my trip back to Dublin! I loved all of Ireland, and this city in particular. In Dublin we also had a homestay, where the kids broke into small groups and stayed with different families. The four of us leaders all stayed with a very kind woman Mandy and her family in their lovely home. It was so nice to enjoy the comforts of a home after so many days moving hotel to hotel. It was a lovely break for us all!
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| Bunratty Castle |
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| Folk Park |
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| About to board the boat for a tour of the lakes and rivers |
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| Another leader Melissa and I about to go on the boat tour |
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| It's grey, raining and I had to wear a ridiculous life jacket...BUT it was SO fun! |
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| It's so pretty here! This is part of Killarney, famous for it's gorgeous landscapes. |
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| More views from the boat |
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| Lord Brandon's Cottage, where we stopped for lunch |
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| Taking off in our horse-drawn jaunty car for the seven-mile trip back |
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| Here's what the jaunty cars looked like |
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| We had the most amazing views on our jaunty drive |
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| Our journey took us through The Gap, which was basically down and up a valley and small mountain |
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| We all got out of our jaunty cars and walked up the big hills to give the horses a break |
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| Our horse's name was Bingey |
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| The next day we visited the small town of Cahersiveen and spent the day interacting with commuity members. It was so fun! |
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| Digging peat out of the bog! The locals burn peat for heat in the winter. The peat we cut will be used this winter by community members in need. |
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| We loved the peat bog! |
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| Piles of peat drying. The owners will come back to pick it up when it's properly dried. Peat is made up of decomposed plants and animals, and when it is dried, it's an excellent source of heat. |
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| View from the top Cahersiveen. We hiked up to this view point on our tour of the town. |
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| Me with a Mr. Whippy sign. We loved this tasty ice cream treat and ate them all over the UK! |
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| We also got to walk around some cool old ruins. This is an ancient stone structure that several families would have lived in together. There would have been a thatched roof over this structure. |
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| Group shot of the whole gang! |
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| The town of Cahersiveen. I love brightly all the adorable buildings are painted! |
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| At our ceili listening to some traditional Irish folk music. We also saw some Irish dancing and had a chance to learn a few dances ourselves. It was such a fun night! |
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| We also visited Glendaloch, a monastery retreat established in the 6th century. It was so beautiful and peaceful. |
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| View from Glendaloch |
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| Croke Park. We learned about Gaelic football when we visited the stadium and how important the sport is to the people. This is where the Gaelic football championships are held. The coolest thing about this is that the athletes are not professionals. They are just normal men--bankers, teachers, businessmen--who play on teams for their county. But when the teams make it to the championships, the players get to be heroes for the day. |
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| Posing in front of a mural, but doesn't it look like we're at a real game? :) |
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| Ahhh, Guiness. The Power to Lift Us All. Classic. |
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| We checked out Trinity College in Dublin |
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| Pretending to be a student on campus |
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| And of course we needed to get some shopping done in Dublin. It was so fun to explore the city a bit! |
Wales:
Next we took a ferry over to Wales, but we only got to stay in Wales for two days. It's definitely somewhere I'd like to visit again. We visited Anglesey Island for a picnic lunch. The island is where Prince William and Princess Cate live. YAY! We also spent a whole day doing a Full On program, which is a high-energy program designed to help you overcome your own mindsets. The point of the day is to inspire the kids to "make it happen" in their lives, whatever "it" may be. Some really fun college kids work for Full On, and they led us through several mind over matter activities, which culminated in repelling down a castle way (eek!) and breaking a board with our hands! I'm proud to say I accomplished both challenges! Woo hoo!
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| The beach at Anglesey Island |
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| On the beach at Anglesey Island |
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| Leaders Leanne and Melissa and I enjoying our favorite treat! |
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| Taking a quiet moment on the beach |
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| The castle we repelled down |
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| That's the tower we conquered! |
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| OMG! I cannot believe I repelled down that castle tower!!! |
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| There's the board I broke with my hand! |
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| The cool old (haunted) hotel we stayed at in Wales--The Legacy Royal Victoria Hotel in Snowden |
England:
We ended our fabulous trip in England, first visiting Chester and Warwick Castle and then heading to London. Chester is such a cool town with gorgeous Tudor-style architecture, ancient roman ruins and fabulous shopping. I definitely want to go back for another visit when I can properly explore. Unfortunately we got stuck in major traffic and missed out on our tour of Warwick Castle, but we did have dinner there and learn how to be English soldiers from some re-enactors. I even did some sword fighting with our delegation manager Alicia. It was great fun! Warwick is another place I definitely plan on visiting again when I live in England this year. Then it was off to London for a quick tour of the city. We were able to check out some highlights like the Tower of London and took a neat little boat tour up the Thames. We also rode the London Eye and got some amazing views of the city, and we even got to see a musical in the city! We saw "Dreamboats and Petticoats," a super fun musical set in the 1950's with tons of famous songs from the era. But the best part about visiting London was that I got to meet my exchange partner Katja! We only had about 20 minutes together, but it was really wonderful to meet in person even if only for a little while. Then just by chance our coach (bus) drove us through the Brixton neighborhood where I'll be living in Katja's house, and I even got to see her street! I feel so lucky to have met Katja and caught a quick glimpse of my new neighborhood. It made me so excited for this adventure!!!
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| Checking out Chester |
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| Don't you love the Tudor buildings?!? |
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| Warwick Castle |
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| The world's largest trebuchet, at Warwick Castle. We got to see it check something on fire a really long ways! |
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| Peacocks roam freely throughout the grounds |
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| Isn't the castle pretty? |
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| While the kids played with weapons with this guy... |
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| The leaders danced behind the tree! :) There was a Jessie J concert at Warwick that night and we could hear the music loud and clear. It was so fun! |
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| Checking out Buckingham Palace |
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| Where Prince Will and Cate had their public kiss after the wedding! :) |
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| The band playing for the changing of the guard |
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| Waiting for the changing of the guard |
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| London is all decked out with cool Olympics banners |
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| In front of the Tower of London |
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| Cool view from the boat tour |
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| Ahhh, London, I'm going to love you! |
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| Our last night in London at the musical! Such a great way to end the trip. We had seats in the first three rows, and we loved the music. The actors even had us all get up and dance at the end. It reminded me a lot of Mama Mia! |
Now I'm home, unpacked, and mostly recovered. But I'm also gearing up big time for the big move a week from Monday. When I think about it, my stomach does little flips and turns of nervousness and excitement mixed together. The next week is going to be tough, I think, with lots of packing, sorting, cleaning and really tough goodbyes. My sister and my mom are throwing me a lovely going away party next weekend, though, so that is giving me something fun to look forward to. I just keep trying to remind myself that it's not goodbye forever, but just a little while. Needless to say, my emotions are running pretty strong these days.
