Ayr

Since I've been in Scotland, I have been to Glasgow for a day, wandered around Ayr town, been to Burns Cottage and the Tam O'Shanter Experience, and yesterday, Pat and I drove up to Stirling Castle and Argyll House. And then last night we went to The Eagle (a pub) to see a boy, Robbie, play in his two man band called 50/50. He's the son of a friend of John's. It was good music, all covers, which is good since we all knew the words and I have had a most excellent time so far. This morning I am hopping onto a bus (actually, 3 buses) and headed up to Inverness to see if I can get a picture of Nessie.
Perhaps I will be more descriptive and less list-y next time,
Cheers!

Scotland

Technically, I'll mention a bit more about Dublin first. I didn't really get up to much, just spent my days looking around and reading in parks (that's a good thing, by the way). I did make it to see the Book of Kells and the impressive Long Room at Trinity College and I also walked along the Liffey to the salt water, or at least as far as the path would let me.
My flight last night has to be the shortest flight ever! Like, shorter than CR to Van. Maybe not, but it felt like it. I spent more time in the airport than in the air! Stu's mom (Pat) was waiting there for me on the other end and got me back to the house. We talked for a while, and I met his dad (John), and then I went to bed. In a bedroom all for me, in a bed where there was no one sleeping above or below me! After months of hostels, this is more exciting then you might think.
Today I lazed around and had some tea with Stu's brother's (Scott) girlfriend (Emma) and by the time his mom popped back in for lunch I figured I should probably get outside and do something, especially since it is such a beautiful day. I caught the bus into town and wandered around for a few hours, but in doing so realized both that the house is not far from town, and town is not very big, so I just walked back and hopped onto the internet for a quick update. I'm going to go see if Pat would like some help in the kitchen...
Cheers!

Dublin

I was going to write a few days ago, but I looked and realized that I had written as many times in September already as I had in total in August, so I took a break. Anyway, on my last day in Galway I took a tour to see the Burren (ice age rocky mountains) and the Cliffs of Moher, where every year a few people die because they are blown off the edge. Basically, there's close to the edge and then there are signs you're not supposed to walk past, and if it's really windy, don't walk past the signs and you're good. There was a play being put on in Galway by the Druid company that I really wanted to see - Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night - which I thought I was going to miss because it didn't start until the day that I left. However, during a quiet moment on the tour I read the brochure again and realized that the play was showing previews leading up and the last one was that night and so when I stopped by the theatre after my tour there was only one ticket left - one ticket for the one me. And it was an awesome play! And I'm so glad I got a chance to see it.
My first few days in Dublin were pretty chill, just kind of wandered around and looked at some stuff. I haven't ventured too far North of the Liffey yet, but I'm still here for a while, so that's okay. I did get my ass up to the Guinnes Storehouse today and went through the self-guided tour and got my free pint and picked up a few things.
Here still until late Tuesday, so we'll see what I get up to, and then I head off to Scotland :D. The Aussie girls in my room invited me downstairs for a drink tonight, and downstairs is just the tv/games/drinking room so I've got to stop at the store on my way back and pick up some boozes.
Cheers!

More Galway

So, my statement about just needing to sleep apparently could not be met at the one-night-last-minute hostel. First, the beds were all wood bunk beds with slats underneath, which isn't a problem when it's a mattress, but when you're "sleeping" on a foam, you definitely notice it. However, I was exhausted and fell right asleep and slept for about 4 hours straight before this alarm started going off down the street. Kind of like a car alarm, but it kept going off all night. It would be going for anywhere from 30-60 minutes and then it would get turned off and that would last for around 10 before it would start again. Luckily, the laundry in the sink went a lot better then expected as I picked quick drying underoos for the next day and so at least the night wasn't a complete waste... And then, as soon as I could check into my much nicer hostel yesterday, I did proper laundry and feel much better today.
Went for a nice walk yesterday around the beach in Claddagh, kind of like a district of Galway, and this walk including a walk out on the causeway to Mutton Island. How could I resist something called Mutton? I mean, come on! There was a gate just before I got to the island, though, so I didn't actually get there, but it was quite the straight, windy adventure. Other than that, I looked around the downtown area, bought some (ie. too much) stuff, did laundry and slept, which felt very good.
Not sure what today will be as this isn't the kind of place that has things to see in town, it's all about the day trips. Since I'm here for one more full day, I'm giving myself more time to decide which one to do since they aren't cheap. Originally, the plan was a day to Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands, but I'm starting to think that the Cliffs of Moher are maybe an option. We'll see.
Oh, and I haven't changed the time setting on this thing since it would change all my entries, but I am actually posting one hour earlier then it says, in case it matters...
Cheers!

Travelling to Galway

When I woke up this morning at 6 to get ready and walk to the bus stop which would then take me to the train, I figured that 2 hours more sleep and less hassle was totally worth the money to just take the bus to Galway and forget the train.
So I pretty much have done nothing all day other then walk between buses and eat. Oh, and when websites said that the good Galway hostels were fully booked, they weren't lying! I checked two places and booked the second for the next three nights, but for tonight I'm at this outer-town, definitely more shabby location because it's the only one not full. Apparently they book up every Friday and Saturday night. Meh, just need to sleep right. I mean, technically, I need to shower and use other facilities in the washroom as well, and that looked kind of scary, so who knows. The other problem is that I am out of certain clean things to wear, and the laundromat closed a half hour after I arrived (ie. not enough time to wash anything) so it looks like I'm going to have to use the dirty sink for laundry tonight and wear some wet clothes in the morning! I bet you can tell that I am totally stoked for that... right.
More updates to come,
Cheers!

Dingle

Took the train/bus combo out to Dingle town on the Dingle Peninsula yesterday and spent the afternoon restocking my food supply and chilling out on a grass covered seawalk type thing. When I first arrived, I hadn't yet called the hostel that I was looking to stay at from my guidebook, but there was a guy with a van -belonging to a different hostel- picking up other girls off the bus so I asked how far it was and if there was room and hopped in the van. Forgot to ask about the price, but it turned out good so that was cool and I "booked" two nights.
I spent today wandering around the town and then I walked East and past the lighthouse. Dingle town is on a bay and the path led out of the bay to where it meets the rest of the ocean. Very beautiful and I highly recommend coming here some time. Just kind of taking things easy, probably hitch a ride back to the hostel with the van as it picks people up off the bus every two hours.
I'm currently trying to figure out how to get to Galway tomorrow on the train because this is apparently a foreign concept in Ireland. It's possible, but it's going to take all day and three or four stops. The bus, on the other hand is only two switches and 5 rather then 10 hours travel time. The deciding factor is going to be the cost since the train is pretty much free at this point and the bus would be €22. Meh...
That's all for now really. Okay, bye.

Irish Ferries

Met a Canadian guy on my way onto the ferry and we hung out for the 18.5 hour ride...
We played cards, and talked about travelling. At one point, we wanted to see how long we could go without checking the time, but there was a theatre on the boat so we needed to see if we'd missed the good movies so we didn't actually last very long. Then he went exploring and found out that the bar had a live music playing (two guys playing covers) so we went up for that. Had a guiness at the bar, but the ferry people water it down so that was ferry disappointing I must say. I didn't stay long at the bar because Jon (the Canadian) had me set an alarm for 5 because he thought it would be cool to watch the sunrise over the ocean.
So I was up before 5 and figured it wouldn't have started yet and let him sleep a little longer, but we eventually got up and took our blankets upstairs to stare out a window - it was too cold outside. We were there for an hour and the sunrise was very pretty. I took two pictures of the sunrise, and three of Jon sleeping through the sunrise. Seriously! He thought it was such a great idea and literally sat down and went back to sleep. It was hilarious though because he would wake up every once in a while and want to know where the sun was. Technically, we went back downstairs before we actually saw the sun cause it was hiding behind some clouds, but I saw it go from dark to light outside and there were the appropriate pretty colours and that was all that I needed.
Got on a bus to Cork after the ferry and now I'm ready for some pub food and Guinness.
Write again soon!

Bayeux

So, Mont-Saint-Michel was visually stunning, and a man at my hostel in Pontorson had recommended taking the audio-guide, which I did, and it was very informative. Made the visit to the abbey more interesting then just looking at the stuff, especially since the brochure for it was so uninformative.
I did decide today not to try for Juno Beach since it was looking very difficult to do and I didn't really have the energy for it. So I stayed here in town and went to see the tapestry and the cathedral here. And now, I'm going to go read in a park. Last night, I got in pretty early and so I ended up watching Indiana Jones: the Temple of Doom in French because it was there at the hostel and no one was using the television. Basically, it was getting dark and cold outside, but it was too early to go to bed. People ended up stopping and watching parts of it with me, so that was cool. Trying to get the tv to work was another issue as there was a major power button on the side that made the rest of it work. Never would have figured it out if one of the young guys who worked there hadn't stumbled across me trying to figure out the controller so I had some good luck there.
Tomorrow I head to Ireland and I arrive on the morning of the 11th. Basically, all the accomodations in Waterford, where I had originally thought to stay, are super expensive so I think I might head straight to Cork and stay there for a few nights instead. We'll see. For those of you checking, I won't be online for a few days since I'll be on a train, ferry, or bus for pretty much two days.
Okay, I'm off to find something to do!
Aurevoir!

The Loire Castles

Actually, I'm pretty sure the tour dude yesterday said something about the ones we saw not being in the Loire Valley, but that's not really the point, is it?
So, as well as two fancy castles, Cheverny and Chambord, we drove by what locals call "the Love Temple." It's not a temple though, it's a manufacturing plant belonging to a pharmaceutical company named Pfizer. Half the workers do research and half of them make the product and one of the Pfizer products is "the love pill for men," better known as Viagra. The tour guide though he was pretty funny. And he was very French, and by that I mean that he was very frank when discussing the love affairs and murders that happened at the castles. His terminology was very un-business-like, for example, "caught with his trousers down," and I though that was very amusing since there was an old lady and a couple of Japanese tourists with us.
Today, I got up with the intention of going for a bike ride, but by the time I got to the rental place and saw the prices, I wasn't so sure any more. So, I went to the Royal Castle of Amboise which was down the street while I considered my options. I knew that there was a free train (because of my Eurail Pass) available in the afternoon, but what would I do until then? There was nothing I particularly needed to do for a few hours, so I figured that biking to Chenonceau would fill the time if nothing else. And now my butt hurts and I need to stretch my legs and shower, cause it was quite hilly. They have this bike route that is actually longer (13 km) then the car route (10-11 km, two different signs saying different things confused me on that one), and I am hoping it's because of some mountain in the way or something that I took the 13 km route, cause if it's because my route (ie. the bike route) was just more pretty... well, whatever, I did it anyway.
After I had seen the spectacular Chenonceau Chateau, I had another decision. Do I bike back, or wait for two hours and catch the train, which is totally do-able with my bike. There were two reasons I rode back: taking the train would make me return the bike late, which I didn't think was a good idea; what would I do for two hours? so once again, I was faced with the same issue as this morning, really. I thought a lot on my bike ride. Normally, when I bike somewhere, I listen to music, but I was on these thin country roads so I needed to be able to hear if there were cars behind me. It was a good trip and it kept me busy so it served it's purpose. I don't know if I'll rent another bike tomorrow to see a good sunset though like I was going to. Something tells me that my legs are going to be pretty tired after that.
Okay, off to see Mont-Saint-Michel tomorrow or the next day.
Aurevoir!

Amboise

I only just arrived here today and will be staying for the next two days to see the castles here in the East part of the Loire Valley. I think that I may book into a tour tomorrow to see Chambord and Cheverny with a few other quick stops, just so that it's easy because I would otherwise have to take a train to Blois tomorrow before finding out if other options are available. Then on Thursday I think I may rent a bike and cycle to Chenonceau(x) (the town is with an x, the castle without and x). I could still take a train, but biking isn't very far and they recommend it, kind of, on the map so I thought it could be fun! We'll see how the weather holds up though, it's pretty windy so far.
Already today, after I checked into my excitingly super cheap hostel, I went and checked out Clois Luce. That's the chateau/large house that da Vinci spent his last years and days designing and painting things. It was expectedly awesome, I must say! There was the place itself, and then there were models of his inventions in the house as well as funtioning in the garden. I took a bunch of pictures of myself playing with the stuff, turning wheels and such. The first one I got into was the model of a tank and I wasn't expecting it to do much but it was super exciting when it started to turn! Anyway, as you can tell, I was thoroughly entertained this evening.
I spent the last two days getting to and hanging out in Perigueux. I had gone in order to see the Lascaux caves, but I don't have a car, so that didn't work out. I spent the day wandering around the town on these mapped out tours they had at the tourist information. There was ancient roman stuff and renaissance stuff. It was pretty cool, but there was enough of it that I eventually just skipped the end and cut straight to the giant church that I knew I wanted to see. Oh, and because I had no where in particular to go, I refused to get out of bed before 9:30 just because I could. I was up long before that, but read in bed because lying in bed is something that I haven't been able to do in a long time.
I've been on for a while though, trying to figure out some logistical stuff and so I think I should probably go eat or something. It is definitely a cool little place here!
Aurevoir!

Carcassonne

I arrived yesterday and walked from the train station to the hostel which was up in La Cite (ie. the castle!) because it was only about 30 minutes. Once you approach the castle, though, it's uphill which I didn't mind, but every once else kept giving me "you're crazy!" stares, which I can only assume is because of the backpack. Made it fine, whatever. I got to the hostel and set up some laundry before heading out to find out how I go about seeing the Cathar Castles. Apparently, because it's a Saturday today and it's September now, I don't see the castles. Tours are not available on this day at this time of year and there is no public transportation that would get me both there and back. I was a little upset since I could have moved on if I hadn't paid for my bed, but today is turning out fine anyway. I have already been to the markets and scored some produce as well as some material. You see, I had been considering buying a blanket for park-reading purposes as well as keeping me warm when there aren't enough blankets, but the material only cost me 2 euro for 2 yards which was a pretty sweet deal, I must say!
And now, for more about Nice. I splurged and had a fantastic meal with wine at a restaurant recommended to me by Donna and Stan (thank you again!) and it was sooooo good! Earlier in the day, I started by seeing two museums with modern and contemporary art, which I enjoyed very much, and I walked around town for a bit before getting down to the water. I walked along the walkway (funny that) and went into the Negresco Hotel (very fancy on the inside with some art and a stunning chandelier!) before sitting down to watch the ocean and the people. Before finding a seat, I saw a man with a beautiful big dog with a muzzle hanging from it's neck and I saw him make this huge dog get under the bench before sitting down on it himself, so I took a picture since the dog looked uncomfortable. This ended up being the first available bench (facing the other way) and the man proceeded to ask me, once I had sat down, if I wanted him to take my picture, since he had seen me taking pictures. After talking for a while, I agreed, and he proceeded to talk to my for the rest of the evening until I left for dinner (this is quite the span of time). His name is William and he is from Scotland (!). His friend, who joined us late, is named André and he is French. The dog is Flloyd (yes, with two Ls) and Flloyd was under the bench because the (bad-names) french president has made it a law that dogs over a certain size may only be in public if they are muzzled, harnessed, and still, in touristy places, only at certain hours of the day. So Flloyd was hiding. William pretty much told me his life story, which is quite sad, and he also told me I am pretty (two strange men in 4 days), but says that it is because I have a good heart and not because he wants anything (?). He was actually quite a funny guy and I really enjoyed talking to him and André, who were both very opinionated (not always well opinioned), especially about the current French government. Oh, André did explain to me the difference between Québec and Paris french which is that we all speak the french of Louis XIV (the king who sent the people), which is very old and peasant-like because Paris has had so much time to evolve since then. At least that's what André says.
I have more stories about these three for when I get home, but I can't tell all my stories here or else I will have nothing to say when I get back!
Aurevoir...