Sligo is beautiful

Lots of rain on and off throughout the day unfortunately, but the clouds have parted enough for me to see how pretty it is here. No luck tracking down any info on my ancestors so far. Staying at the Sligo City Hotel tonight. Very nice, but pretty cheap. I decided to try to find affordable hotels or B&Bs here since I didn't end up spending money on Edinburgh and Paris as I had planned. So maybe I won't need to stay in a hostel on this trip. Yay! The driving thing is actually going pretty well. Only once did I naturally head to the right side of the road upon turning a corner and luckily there wasn't an oncoming car there. I did manage to drive all the way through Dublin, including stoplights, exclusively in 3rd gear...I was so focused on staying on the correct side of the road and finding the signs for N4 that I forgot I was driving a standard instead of an automatic. Oops! Hopefully I won't have to parallel park - I'm not even doing the pull-in parking very well. I haven't quite got a feel for the right front of my car yet...which is a red Hyundai, I think. Mo and I watched the funniest parallel parking saga ever while waiting for a bus on the southern coast of England the other day. Honestly, I cried I was laughing so hard. Mo took a picture but we should have got video - priceless. Oh, something was being filmed outside my Dublin hotel this morning when I left, but I was too excited to get on the road to bother stopping to find out what it was - the hotel appeared in "The Commitments" and has a movie theme (I was in the Maureen O'Hara room) so it could have been something real, but probably not. Off to the Cliffs of Mohr and other exciting adventures tomorrow. I wish I could stay here a lot longer. It's raining again. :(

I'm in Dublin!

I wandered around town for a couple hours after I arrived (still with full backpacks - stupid), so I've seen a bit and I'm beat. No big night in old Dublin town for me. Going to sleep early. A little more wandering around first thing in the morning, then I pick up my rental car at 10 a.m. I'll head straight to Sligo from here. Sligo is allegedly where my grandfather was born so I'm off to see where he came from and maybe find some proof that my brother has tracked down the right Carney in the vast family tree. Maybe there will even be some distant relatives around town! If I get there early enough and see everything I want to see before dark (I'm not ready to drive on the wrong side of the road in a strange place in the DARK!), I may try to make some progress toward Galway before finding a place to crash. So I don't know where I'll be or if I'll have internet access. I'm so excited!!!!!

IRELAND!

Ok, not yet, but I'll be there by the time y'all are eating lunch back home. No time for a real update cuz I gotta get to my train (rush hour commuters are gonna LOVE me and my backpack!). I don't know what my internet situation will be for the next week because I'm kinda making this trip up as I go along. If I can't send updates, you'll get a comprehensive update and edited photos when I get back. I'm back in London Saturday night and then fly home Monday morning. :(

The pic is from one of our castle adventures this weekend.

Almost week 4 - it's going by too fast! :(

Short update - gotta run. Mo and I went to Canterbury, Deal & Walmer yesterday and off to Windsor Castle today. Did I update you on Friday? Can't remember - oh, oh, oh that was Hampton Court Palace! Awesome gardens. I'll have pics up maybe later today. Here's a preview.

I'M GOING TO IRELAND!!!!!!

It's official. I bought my ticket yesterday and I am super excited! I'm going over via train and ferry so I can see a lot of the country along the way. I haven't been able to do nearly as much as I wanted to in the UK during these 3 weeks, so I'm devoting the days over and back to train sightseeing. Get ready for lots of drive-by photos! :) I guess I didn't fully appreciate the exhaustion/soreness factor and the travel time when I was imagining all the things I would do over here. Oh, and the rain. A lot of things I want to see are only good (to me) with a blue sky backdrop (especially the gardens at Hampton Court Palace), so I keep putting off going there till a sunny day. Of course we get sun every day, but it comes along too early or too late in the day to make a day plan. I was really, really lucky my first week here weatherwise. But the rain does allow me to get to museums I really want to see and would otherwise skip in favor of cute buildings and pretty flowers. I hit the British Museum yesterday and will likely go back today as it is supposed to start raining again soon. It's an amazing and huge museum so I'm glad I'm getting a chance to go. But I really, really want to get pics of Hampton Court! Maybe tomorrow. I'm also really sad about not getting to Edinburgh, Wales or Paris. I just couldn't fit it all in and it made sense to see everything I wanted near my free place to stay before I started seeing things farther away. Oh well, I'll just have to keep coming back till I see it all! Sorry Nancy. ;)

Bumps-a-daisy!

In the immortal words of some old lady on my bus, "Our coach had a bumps-a-daisy with another coach and we can't go on." Yep, my first coach accident. As my couch was backing up to leave our stop at Heathrow on the way to the Cotswolds, another coach arrived and banged into us (I blame the other coach because he was going forward - he should have seen us backing up and stopped). The impact with our coach drove the rear view mirror of the other coach into its windshield resulting in the damage you see here. Its ironical that before we left London I took a picture of this sign because I thought it was funny - wiser words were never posted in a coach station. After about an hour, they brought us a replacement coach and we were back on our way. It was a gorgeous day in Cirencester (Cotswolds) and well worth the trip. It had to be 75 degrees yesterday - I was down to a short-sleeve t-shirt while walking about the town. Sorry if the slideshows are boring, but I'm kinda into photography so I take as many shots of whatever I like as I can and will see what I can do with them later when I get them on the computer. Obviously I like buildings and flowers, not people, and especially love those yellow fields! I know some of you would like to see pics that include me and Mo but generally I'm on my own (Mo is working) and I really hate pictures of myself so it's probably not gonna happen. Took a great self-photo of me and Mo and the stinky bus to Bletchley (she made a funny face I didn't know about till I saw the pic), but she won't let me post it. She has her own camera and web page with which to retaliate so I am respecting her wishes.

Start of Week 3!

The time is going by too fast! I have a million things I want to do...without branching out into Europe-proper, never mind all the European things. There just isn't enough time. Gotta get out there to make the most of it though so this will be brief. Mo and I went to her office and Bletchley Park on Saturday and Greenwich on Sunday. Weather was crappy but pretty cool sights. Not many pics but I have a few I'll put up later. For now you can enjoy this pic of Mo's London desk. Gonna try to hit the rest of the things on my London list today and do day trips the rest of the week. Weekend - unknown. Next week - Ireland!!! Glad to see Ireland has pulled even with Paris in the poll - I'm not sure I'm gonna make it to Paris this time . . .

I hope you're all doing well and not missing me too much. :p

Shakespeare!

On Wednesday I went to the Old Globe theatre in London and on Thursday I hopped on the coach to Willie's hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. A two day Shakespeare extravaganza! Really made me wish I read all those plays...and payed (paid?) attention to the ones I did read. Must remedy that on return to States. Anyway, not many pics from another day in London and the road trip pics are mostly cute houses and pretty flowers. Stuff I like but may become quite tedious to you. You may have noticed from Cambridge and these pics that I am actively engaged in pursuing my avant-garde art form - drive-by photography. Sure, most shots are rubbish (UK term!), but every once in a while you get a gem. So if you notice really squiggly, blurry or crooked shots, that's most likely what I call art...not the result of my pint with lunch. The coach was an adventure yesterday as the driver threatened to abandon me and 4 Wisconsin gals in Coventry because he thought he had reservations for all the seats - that trumps those of us traveling on BritXplorer passes. Luckily, (1) I was in line ahead of the 4 so if just one seat became available I'd be fine and Wisconsin would get screwed, and (2) there were enough seats for all of us when we got to Coventry. Hurray! Today I am waiting for the plumber to come round the flat because we have no heat or hot water. Poor Mo had to get ready for work this morning with ice cold water! I am embracing a morning in my PJs; full-time touristing is quite exhausting. Not that I'm complaining - I'd do this forever!!!! If I weren't poor.

Mr. Right!

He's a little camera shy (like me!), but there are a few pics of my future husband in the slide show. No good ones because I didn't realize I was in love with him when I took these. I had the seat facing him so it was very hard to take pics of the bridges without either getting him in them or turning around to shoot around the Japanese guy behind me (you'll see a number of random pics of parts of buildings and bridges as a result of this technique). When I shot toward him I was looking past him toward the bridge - he was just a servant to me then. By the time I realized he was my future husband, it seemed weird to blatantly take his picture. Oh well, you'll all see him at the wedding if you can make it to Cambridge next spring.

Catching up . . .

Sorry, I've been a little delinquent on the posting. The poll closed with a clear victory for within minutes of my arrival. I know Mo voted for that a few times herself but I'm pretty sure she wasn't truly annoyed with me until at least Tuesday. Day 5 was more London stuff - Kensington Palace, etc. (really can't remember right now, but the pics will tell the tale). Day 6 was Dover Castle - awesome! It was great to be by the water and the castle was really pretty. The Castle is where I finally found the inner Bailey - it's pretty much what those of you who know Todd think it would be (see pics). As usual there were showers on and off throughout both days but I managed to be indoors each time it rained - the sky really opened up just as Mo and I got back to the Dover Priory train station. I tried to take pics of the rain. Oh, it was actually hailing while I was in KP! The weather here really is nuts! Day 7 was a day of rest (my feet are feeling much better after a day off!) and Day 8 was more London sightseeing, most of which was spent in the Victoria & Albert Museum so there won't be many pics from that day (Sarah, I'm trying to carry on the A(rg)H tradition). I took a ridiculous number of pics today - Day 9 - Cambridge. Stay tuned for pics of my soon-to-be husband...I'm in love with my punter (is that what they're called?) and plan to move to Cambridge to start a punting business with him - maybe I can also get an adjunct teaching job at one of the colleges. I don't know his name and he's not aware of the plan so it's not set in stone yet, but I think one more trip up to Cambridge is all it will take. :p

Day 4

Went to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge . . . and then my camera battery died. :( So nothing particularly interesting here (if the slideshow works - is yesterday's working? it works on my computer). I did get a little juice out of the batteries for a couple quick shots of the flags and crown toppers they have along on of the streets to Buckingham Palace. Big marathon Sunday so they're making things pretty . . . and I won't be going downtown that day. Maybe Dover? Mo and I had super yummy dinner at a pub just off Trafalgar Square last night (Silver Cross?). Still haven't tried my first European Guinness - I'm working up to it. I have enjoyed a couple of Kronenberg's though. Probably much more my (watery-beer) style. Oh, gotta remember to tell y'all about the Benjamin Franklin house but I have to run. Last day of the London Pass so I need to see as many things as possible to get my money's worth!

Slideshow working?

Time for today's daily attempt to get the slideshow going. If it works, FYI-I took lots of pics of the same things so if you think you are back to the beginning pretty quickly, you're wrong. There should be 60 pics-mostly from Day 2, Day 3 is pending. Standard stuff plus a shot of Mo and her flat. More later . . .

Still having technical difficulties

I'll get a slideshow up soon. God knows nobody can see too many pics of Big Ben and Parliament (can't get left!). Off for more fun . . .

Day 2 - 1st Day out and about

What a gorgeous day! Apparently I brought good weather with me from the States. Just did a bit of a wander-about today, nothing too hard core. The train system appears somewhat challenging, the people are pretty much as rude as Mo said and everything is expensive, but it's pretty awesome anyway. I haven't had time to touch up any of the pics and I'm working with a new camera so the slideshow isn't quite stunning at this point but it's time to get rid of St. Patrick's Day. I didn't miss work at all today!! Um, P.S. - slideshow coming soon . . .

Top of the mornin' to ya!

I'm here! Heading out to see the sights. Update later... (Randy, my mom has survived the lives (and potty mouths) of me and my sisters so I'm sure she can handle whatever comments you post.)

I'M IN ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers! :)

Almost there . . .

Ok not really, but making it to NYC in time for my London flight is a critical step in the right direction. This is my first time at JFK. It's obviously huge, but my gates weren't too, too far apart. Gorgeous sunrise on the way up here - only viewable above the clouds. Still doesn't seem real. I guess it will when I try to buy a Heathrow Express ticket in a strange currency. So sleepy . . .

I'm going to London!!!!

Sweet Jesus it's early! Not quite 5 am yet and I am already sitting at my gate watching them gas up my first plane (that's a good sign). The good people at Dunkin Donuts aren't even working yet here at the airport. The AA employee at check-in was surly, but I guess you can't blame a guy working at 4:30 in the morning for being slightly less than pleasant. I took a picture of the time on my cell phone to "prove" I was up and about so early (yes annoying lawyer-types, I know that doesn't prove a thing but go with it). I'm more likely to be getting home than heading out at this time of day at least from my own apartment (ha ha, just kidding Mom!), but sacrifices must be made if you want to take a month long vacation. Mo is already at work in merry old England and still excited about my visit. I think I'll add a poll to the blog - how long before Mo remembers that she finds me really annoying? I hope the correct answer will be one month, but I'm guessing more like 2 hours . . .

Less than 24 hours to go . . .

My last day in America . . . I'm almost packed and ready to go. A couple more wardrobe decisions, a run to the pharmacy and a few hours at work and I should be ready to go. I'm totally stressed about work, that I won't have done everything I should do before I leave (good news - I remembered to pay both April and May rent already!!) or have packed appropriately, and that I will miss my flight (cab is picking me up at 4 am!), but I am gradually reaching a state of resignation. I can take care of just about everything back here via internet, I can buy stuff I need there and the Bureau will survive without me. I just can't wait to be locked on that plane and have no reason to worry because there will be nothing I can do about anything at that point. Sweet lack of responsibility!! I haven't had much time or energy to think about missing all of you, but that's starting to creep in too. Don't hesitate to post or email me (mcarney11@aol.com or mcarney11@gmail.com) anytime. My sister's apartment has internet access so I'll be able to check in every day that I'm staying in London - which will be most of the days I'm gone. I can't wait to get out of here!!!!!!! :)

Test

Hi everyone, I'm just trying out the Google blogspot for my big trip. I'm looking for the easiest way to share some of my favorite pics with you while I'm still traveling around and this might be it. Hopefully, this will also make it easy for you guys to comment and make suggestions as I go. I'm testing this with a pic from St. Patrick's Day, but I promise the pics will be a lot more exciting once I get to London (no offense to Christine, Deuce and Mel - y'all are lovely, but you're much smaller than a castle and slightly less spectacular than the Cliffs of Mohr). Let me know what you think about the blog concept. Thanks!