Thursday, October 14, 2010

Together We Can See What We Can Find

Currently unable to sleep due to hacking up my lung, so decided to write. Caught a cold, like everyone else here last week and have yet been able to get the sleep needed to recover. But on a more positive note, my week long trip with Maggie couldn't have gone better.

Here is a brief summary. We started the weekend out in Manchester and on Saturday night saw Mumford & Sons perform at a theater here. Everything about this trip was made up of last minute decisions except for that. Hostels, our B&B, airfare and some public transportation were booked less than a week in advance. And packing was done just the night before. But Maggie and I agreed we couldn't have imagined our trip going any other way. Leaving some of our plans open ended was definitely the right decision.

Maggie and I were gone from Sunday to that next Monday. We traveled by bus, train and air around parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. They led us to York in England, Ediburgh and St. Andrews in Scotland and Dublin and Galway in Ireland. It was nice taking the train and bus as it allowed us to see some of the countryside. Our nights were spent in hostels except in Galway where we treated ourselves to a B&B - best decision we could have made! Mary and Charlie, the owners, provided us with useful information about tours, let us use their personal computer, fed us traditional irish breakfast and Mary even did our laundry! It was our saving grace after some exhausting days and lack of sleep while staying in hostels.

Can't say enough about the places our eyes were blessed to see. Each so uniquely beautiful and filled with fascinating history. Getting to know other travelers and some locals in the town were highlights.

Some of our best days were spent at seaside towns. On Tuesday we took a bus from Ediburgh to St.Andrews- the home of golf. It is a small village located on the North Sea. Maggie and I ate our breakfast on a beach there. We had no timelines and were able to leisurely visit the Abbey ruins, university, beaches and quaint shops. When in Dublin, we decided to extend our stay in Galway, another seaside town. We canceled one of our hostel nights there and contacted Mary and booked another night at the B&B. Dublin seems like it has a lot to offer, as it is a large international city but we wanted to have a more authentic Irish experience. It turns out Galway couldn't have been a better place for that. We were able to visit parts of the Atlantic coast by tour bus, one of the stops being the Cliffs of Moher. Galway has a beautiful spirit. The town is filled with street vendors, music and a people during the day. And at night completely transforms into another kind of lively town. We enjoyed hanging out with locals both nights. Some of the funniest people I have ever met.

I feel like there are so many stories I could try and share. But my patience while writing is not the best and Im sure anyone reading would get rather bored anyways. So In short, I feel completely blessed to have gotten a week long break from reality to travel with my good friend from back home. We turned out to be quite the team. So many memories made and travel lessons learned. Glad I can say she is now safely back in America and officially chalk this trip up as a success.

Here is a short video, lacking in quality, but non-the-less a video, hopefully more interesting than my words. A very condensed summary of our trip.

Follow this link for better quality. Cheers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXOvB_ZiXCc



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