London Is Calling...

Saturday - December 17th (I think...) We hopped on our hour long (such a blessing compared to 6 hrs) flight to London, Heathrow and jumped on the tube to Earls Court!  My excitement was bursting out of my exhausted seams.  Our YHA hostel was just down the road - but the Hostel Karma Gods decided to take another laugh at Maja B, as our room was on the 4th floor.  No lift.  And 4th floor in London means 3 sets of narrow staircases for each floor.  Plus that lovely 22.5 Kilo bag I helped her with once again.  Fabulous.  We had a 6-person (no heat until the 3rd night) room - thought this was a private??  Oh well.

After settling in, we took a long stroll up and around South Kensington, right passed the museums - particularly the National History Museum, where the ice skating rink was at its best with lights and music.  

We grabbed some dinner at The Giraffe, where I got a yummy roasted pumpkin and beet rocket salad.  Mom got a chicken club with chips.  On our stroll home, we passed through my old stomping grounds on St. Alban's Grove and Young Street - it was a ghost town, but beautiful at night time.  Some of the windows has Christmas trees twinkling.  We stopped into Sainsbury's for some groceries to get us through the morning and headed back down the street to our hostel for bed!

x Kabes

Galway Bay

Day Three and we're half-way through our exploration.  It already feels like we're such a family of misfits.  Sean took through county Clare - Tempest One Burial Ground, the stones were such a cool thing to look at - The Cliffs of Moher were even better the second time around.  Check them out in HP - I believe that you can see a peak in number 6.  We grabbed a bit of lunch in the surfer town of Linish(?) Picture Newport in February, a desolate Ghost town now, but HOPPIN' in the summer time.  The Corkscrew Hill was as twisted as ever.  Still love it.  And then we were welcomed into  Galway with a wonderful glow of Christmas lights warming the streets.  We stopped at The Burren, checked into the Kinlay House Galway.  12 Pubs of Christmas crawl, clad with the boys from Scottland in their ugly Christmas jumpers and kilts.  LOVE IT.  Best and worst idea ever.  Grabbed a pint of Hennsey at one of the pubs, and caught a footbal game on one of the tvs.  A girl asked what the deal was with the Guinness Toucan...why?  Simple.  The same reason for the pair of Tony the Tiger and Frosted Flakes.  A match made in heaven.
Day Four and we were out the door at 8:30 prompt and out on the road again.
Feeling not so fabulous :/  Who would have thought a single cider would do me in.  Irish coffees at a cute little pub on our way to the mountainside.  Mom got a Bailey's and unfortunately I passed.  Can't hold my alcohol.  Warmed us up to take on St. Patrick's Mountain (Caugh Mountain - Paramount Pictures logo ring a bell??) - breath taking - can't believe thousands hike it annually, and barefoot! took a few snap shots at the famine statue.  So sad.  We took off to take a gander at Kannaugh Abbey - so gorgeous.  We also took a drive through Westport, Ireland.  Such a quaint little town, and they are so lovely.  We stopped off for a group photo at Connemara - the statue with no purpose.  Kinda gave everyone a laugh, and made our way back to Galway for a spot of dinner and to take on the remaining pubs.  There was a pretty awesome dou at one of the pubs - a bit of rockabilly - but a fun catchy pair of boys witha  guitar and a banjo.  The King's Head was our last stop, and although nice and Christmasy from the outside - I walked into a bar full of sticky floors and girls in shorts and heels far too short for freezing temperatures.  Live rock band that wasn't so bad, but the day had worn on me so I took in my last bit of music and headed home for the night.

Oh, how could I have forgotten to mention the wonderful Christmas Markets we visited on Wednesday night.  MULLED WINE!  Score.  Oh how I missed your delicious warmth and spices.  Mom of course mingled with more of the stall sellers - and stumbled across a couple from Jersey/Boston selling Jewelry.  Of course, the States always seem to track us down.

Friday, and our final day of the tour kicked off with a bright and shiny morning walk.  We found a bead shoppe off the beaten path and picked up a few tokens to take home.  We then headed back to the hostel to meet up with the crew for a bit of a stroll around town.  No sooner did we head out the door and make it a half mile down the road then it started to rain on us all.  Ah well - so it goes. We dried off, packed up and back on the bus for Dublin.  Saying our goodbyes to new friends and our driver, Peter.  A bit depressing leaving such a grand time behind us...but looking forward to adventures in London and the day when I come back to Ireland once again :)  Jodie - get your things together!  Let's go see the Dublin you once (sorta) loved.

Off to Heathrow - and my second home...LONDON BOUND!

xx KB

My Pilgrimage to Dingle... 40 years (or 4) and back again!

Today we woke up in Neptunes hostel to a down pour of hail which then turned to rain. Many of the Aussie's had never seen hail before. A bit fun to see their reactions and excitement. Then we were off to a quick stop at the National park - beautiful sites, but as I ran back, in true Krista fashion, I took a total digger into the muddy snow - Just like Wells and Scott in when we went to Scotland years back. However, at least I had a pair of pants that fit properly to change into if need be. It's all good. I huddled by the bus heater and dried off a bit, just in time to get to Dingle!! My favorite place ever. We got hit with a bit of hail again, crazy...We drove around the Dingle Peninsula, where we stopped at the Western coast beach! Of course in 15 degrees I ran down barefoot to play in the water again. There wasn't a question in my mind. We hopped back on the bus, and drove back to the town of Dingle (the town without a name) and basically all decided to have lunch at the Marina bar. One bartender and probably only one chef...poor guy...I felt so bad for him. So what do I do? Of course I hopped behind the bar to help. I told him that if I ever do come back, I want a full time job. We finished the afternoon in Dingle with an ice cream - Christmas Pudding? Honeycomb? yum.

Off to Adhare then County Clare. The Nicest Hostel - went to a pub with music - danced a bit or rather was grabbed and was swung quite a bit...Mom was leaving early and I didn't want to have her walk home alone, so off to bed!

x Kabes

The 2 Day Haze and Kick Start to the Celtic Rocker

Well, I finally am able to have a bit of a sit down to write about the past amazing week I spent in my green, gorgeous hop over the pond - Ireland.  As I am now perched in the common room with a wide open bay window, a cup of tea sitting next to me, and I am gazing out onto Bolton Gardens from our Earl's Court Hostel, I can't help but think how lucky I am to be back again.

Our travel last Saturday consisted of an on-again-off-again relationship with cars, buses and planes.  Mrs. G took us to Springfield to catch the bus to South Station in Boston around 10:30 am.  Of course Mom had thought our flight was 3 hours earlier than it actually was...therefore when we arrived at Logan we had a plethora of 6 hrs waiting to board our first flight to London.  I think I was able to take about 45 laps of mindless wandering and Burberry perfume sampling by the time I decided to settle and try to take in some light reading.  Couldn't sleep on the plane at all.  I think I caught 1 hr of shut eye before the flight attendent came round with dinner... (at 11pm?! no thanks...)  However BA and Aer Lingus, I do commend you on having several adorable attendents I would gladly fly with again.  I digress...  Gordon Ramsey kept me company with a holiday Christmas special, which had me laughing outloud.  Then I finally got a chance to watch Crazy, Stupid, Love - another LOL'er.  Great flick.  Finally landed.  Flying into London was such an incredible view - saw the entire city from a birds eye for the first time - remarkable.  It was like a movie, seeing all of the "main sights" look like a miniature playset below me.

Upon arriving at Heathrow, it felt strange and familiar all at the same time.  I saw the WH Smith (basically a Hudson News) and immediately went in to see how much they would rob me for an Innocent fruit juice.  Sadly too much, and I moved along to the cafe for a coffee and a Life Water.  Wonderful comfy chairs in the corner called my name and I passed out cold for an hour - several hours later (yes, another 4 hour + layover) we were back on the plane to Ireland, finally slept. Coming into Ireland, my anticipation grew to a huge smile that swept all over my face.  I had just enough sense of direction once we got off the shuttle bus to make our way to the front of Kinlay House, where we hung our hats for the night.  I don't think I had eaten something relatively enough to call a meal in 48 hours...The girl at the desk suggested this awesome cafe called Cornucopia.  Laura Genese - you would love it.  Raw, Vegan, Veg, Gluten Free, Fresh, Local, Organic, Cheap.  AMAZING.  Mom and I shared a delicious 2 salads with sprouted beans and chickpeas rocket and vegs. Sweet potato soup and walnut bread.  (i did sneak a bite of bread here and there...when in Ireland you CANNOT pass up delicious brown bread, especially if it has walnuts in it!)  My stomach can hate me later.

We pathetically passed out by 7:30 and woke several times before midnight.  We looked at the clock that read 9:15pm thinking it had to have been 6:00am already.  Ugh.  In the am we brightly woke ourselves with a freezing cold shower - woke me up for sure next to a cup o' coffee and muesli!!! Definitely not gluten free, but I've missed unlimited muesli so much - cest la vie.

After breakfast, the group (soon to be known as the "Sexual Harrassmentt on Sesame Street - 12 Pubs of Christmas and Not Enough Sleep Tour") were kindly greeted by our adventure leader for the next week - Sean.  Looked slightly familiar - but much shorter hair, and didn't think it could possibly have been the same guy.  Carrying on - we all checked in, and on the bus we went!  Sean had us all do a round about in "the hot seat" introducing ourselves.  Mom was of course the most 'mature' (or you could just say oldest) on the trip.  But she stuck it out well and good with the best of them.  All you need is a desire for fun and you're welcome on the Shamrocker tour.  When it came my turn, I said hello to the crew and mentioned I'd been on a shorter Shamrocker 4 years ago...And then the connection was made - Yes indeed kids, Sean was my guide round 1 and now for my pilgrimage back - Awesome to be in his group again!  The rest of the gang consisted of mostly Australians, two boys from Scottland, a girl from Canada, England and another from New Zealand.  They were all so much fun.
We adventured to Cashel and then Blarney, where it poured and poured all over us.  But Mom and her ankle battled their way to the top of the castle to kiss the stone.  Obviously we all know how she already has the gift of gab - why not increase her capabilities with a hearty snog with the stone.  We shopped a bit, but Mom realized that despite her love for the wool sweaters on sale, there was no way in hell they would fit in her ridiculous stuffed bag.  Note: I will have to post a photo of this sucker...and I thought I overpacked.  Please.  Seriously over the top.  Our final destination for Day 1 would be Killarney, what I remember as the place to party.  Mom and I stumbled upon The Smokehouse, where we grabbed some coffee and shared a ciabatta app.  It was very Bob Marley inside, and really cool.  That night we went to go pay Pa a visit.  As I wrote in my previous entry of Ireland 4 years ago, Pa is an expert story teller and drinker extrodinaire.  The legend still stands and is just so fun to watch.  Both extremely awkward to have Mom sitting beside me when he's making dirty jokes, but hilarious all at the same time.  As one of the Scottish boys in our group said to me as we all left, "well-endured" and worth bringing her for sure.  Decided to pass up the Grand Hotel dancing this time around.  Been there, done that, and was swooped up by a sweaty boy I was not too fond of.  I'll pass this time around :)

Cheers kids
KB

London Is Calling...And Eire and Scotland are on the line!

The time has come, the walrus said... And I can hardly wait.

I decided to bring back the blog - I know, you can hardly contain yourself after I dropped this baby off the radar in 2007....tsk tsk.  However, Tomorrow I finally begin the journey back to my foreign affair with a city I desperately miss on a daily basis. Part of that is due to the incredible family of 12 I so luckily shared 5 months of my life with. Although they won't be with me this time around, the warmth of the memories we had will rush back walking down Gloucester Road or hopping on the circle line and teaching my sister how to tube surf. (Maja B might be hesitant to try and toss disproving glances our way)

I can't begin to describe the excitement I have to travel back to Ireland with my mom for a week. I can't imagine how much fun the two of us will have. She already has the gift of the gab, so the Irish will probably take her right under their wing! Then it's off to London, my love. I promise you, I will cry stepping out of Heathrow. I get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. I can't wait to create new memories in the city I love so much, with my family being able to share them. Our final adventure begins and ends in Edinburgh for Christmas. Talk about amazing. You've seen Harry Potter....just think of all the beautiful scenery covered in a light, non-overwhelming, blanket of snow set against a white lighted castle on the hillside.

I promise to do my best at updating, picture posting and happy Christmas wishing - but for now, it is back to that same feud long suitcase packing I dreaded 4 years ago...

x Krista