Wednesday, November 2, 2011

MIND THE GAP

Top o' the morning to you back home! [Though I have to say here in Ireland, it looks more like late evening, even though I think it's only like 2 o'clock]. 

I am currently en route from Dublin to Cork, riding through the Irish countryside on the train.  I apologize for my lack of blogging in the past few weeks.  Though, to be honest, the reason was that not too terribly much was happening in my life.  Nothing really blog-worthy, per se.  Everyday I come to the realization that I will be gone from Sweden in just a few short weeks.  Everyday I try to push this out of my mind.  It's not that I don't want to come home and see everybody's smiling faces (trust me, I do~ of course I miss you all back at home!)  It's just that, I'm not quite ready to leave Jönköping (or more accurately Tenhult) either.  It will be such a change.  Enough about that happy/sad subject. 

I will update you all--but mainly on the past few days!  I'll begin with our Tenhult Halloween celebration :) We had a Halloween party at the Tenhult residence this past Friday night!  Now, with limited resources (Halloween isn't quite as big in Sweden, AT ALL), we all had to get a little creative with our costumes.  I have to say, most people did better than I did...we had a dark angel, a few zombies, a vampire, a ghostbuster, the grim reaper, rosie the riveter (yes, there was another American there), a few nurses, a dark angel, etc. etc. etc. I was an 80's girl.  Not my best Halloween work, but I did what I could.  It was a lot of fun and nice to have something to do in Tenhult for a change :) 

My favorite picture of the night...with my housemate (ghostbusters!)




The day after the Halloween party, Gary and I were headed out for our European adventure--PART I.  PART II will occur after our Sweden experience is over (so, we shall commence part II traveling at the start of December).  On the itinerary: London, Cork, Dublin, Amsterdam.  Thus far, we've done London (in a big way), and as I mentioned earlier, we are en route to Cork for a day or so and then back to Dublin for a day or two, then Amsterdam for the final leg of the trip.  We are becoming pro travelers.  We mastered the London underground, haven't missed any of our flights, or our trains....YET....obviously, there is still plenty of time for that.  This is the first trip I've every really planned by myself (well not totally by myself, but without the help of the family--or let's be honest, without Sam or my dad's planning...I never plan the trips :)

So, LONDON.  A few things I learned about London:
1. MIND THE GAP (It was my favorite saying in London when I was 8, it still is 13 years later...never gets old.  And yes, the 21 year old me made up for the regret of the 8 year old me at not buying this---a MIND THE GAP T-SHIRT...SUCCESS!)
2. There are a lot of stairs in London and a lot of underground mazes (for the tube).  Nevertheless, it is surprisingly easy to find your way through them.
3. London has some great plays (we saw a show each night)...while in London, we saw Stomp, something called 39 steps, and We Will Rock You (musical by Queen).  Stomp and We Will Rock You were especially exceptional, in my opinion.  I still have Queen stuck in my head from the play last night!
4. I spent WAY too much money.  In my mind, when I see the pound sign and the price, I think dollars...even though I am fully aware this is not the case = too much money spent in London (hopefully Ireland and the Netherlands will be kinder to me). 
5. Hamley's Toy Store is paradise. Even the 21 year old me could spend hours there (we gave it about 45 minutes). 
6. As touristy as it sounds, I think we did a good job of seeing a majority of London's tourist attractions in the 3 days we were there.  Though we didn't necessarily go in them all, we at least went to every location.  Ready for the list?  Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, National Gallery, British Museum, Chinatown, Leicester Square, Southwark Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, the London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe, the Tate Modern, Diana's Memorial Fountain, Tower bridge, London Bridge, Millenium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Occupy London...and that's just off the top of my head.
6.5. Watching Parliament in action is surprisingly entertaining! We even went back a second time!
7. Yes, I had fish and chips.  Yes, it was delicious.
8. We spent most of our days out from 8:30 in the morning til like 11:00 at night. Long days. Very full. 

More details to come later. That was just the brief jist of our trip. Basic idea--we did most of London and walked ALLLLLL over the city. It was great, but exhausting.  We are hoping for a bit of a more relaxing time in Ireland...I guess though, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.  After all, as mentioned, we've planned our own trip :)  Well, my computer is dying..hope this gives you a brief idea of my week-long holiday...more blogging to come! Love you all! Sending you some Irish love and luck :)


[Sorry all, the rest of the pictures wouldn't load...next time! Bye from rainy (surprise, surprise) Ireland.]

1 comment:

  1. Hi Ally, Loved your post. I am so jealous! London sounds fabulous. I bet you sleep well at night. Have a great time in Ireland. Luck of the Irish to you! From your "Irish" Mum, Peggy Flanigan Rager

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