A picture is worth a thousand words…

So these 2 slideshows Ali made & uploaded onto Youtube are beyond perfect, and show our trip more than I can write about it!

Entire JMU Group slideshow, debuted at the banquet (with a few last-minute pics thrown in)

Another slideshow, just our little crew, is here

Homecoming: "I'm coming home again"

Out of the 40-some times I’ve flown, I’ve never been as sad as I was yesterday. I admit I was buzzed & very excited to come home to America, to Potomac, to JMU & to see Sam & friends. But I really wallowed on the plane, hoping to get it out of my system. I was returning to a house without a dog, something that JMU-ers missed the most. I didn’t expect to love England as much; I had thought that I would favor the rest of Europe and only like England. However, it has honestly become a 2nd home at this point. It’s crazy to think that I knew London as well as a local because, well, I was a local. I worked, had a set schedule and don’t forget that UK visa that made me feel super VIP. For 3 months, returning “home” meant looking for Heathrow or St. Pancras.

I’d like to think that I blended in as a London local as well as a loud American girl could. My style was definitely influenced and my “city girl” personality was in full force for the duration. I know the Tube like the back of my hand and I walk the streets like I know them… because now I do. I read the Evening Standard 5x a week, watched football & rugby, have grown quite picky about ciders and fish & chips. I can give exact change in pounds & pence without looking. I know to always order food take-away, wear a poppy in November, look for cars driving on the left side of the road and that boots & scarves are always a fashion necessity. I saw Cheers instead of Have a good day and agree that a thrice-weekly pub trip is completely appropriate.

I did have an absolutely wild time over here. Chaotic travel experiences in Barcelona, Athens, Santorini & Amsterdam notwithstanding. Amazing nights at Zoo, Fabric & Sports Cafe as well as Jamboree, Temple Bar, Bath, the Three Sisters & Leidesplein, etc. And plenty of days where just having a routine 9-6 day in one of the world’s coolest cities made me pinch myself. I have made lifelong friendships out of Ali, Alicia, Kylie & everyone else. I got to see amazing world wonders – from London’s tourism spots to La Sagrada Familia to Stonehenge and Oia. Most importantly, I got to see the world on my time while still living not just visiting London.

To sum up my semester abroad when people ask, saying “incredible” “life-changing,” etc sounds cheesy & incomplete. Luckily, I have this blog & about 4000 pictures to look at whenever I want to remember the coolest 3 months of my life. Cheers…

Friend at Hand, my favorite pub

Perfect fish & chips

Arrived back at St. Pancras late afternoon to a London covered in snow flurries! We hailed a cab to take us to the Marriott at Regent’s Park. After getting situated, we took the Tube down to Russell Square so I could show my parents my favorite, perfectly English pub, Friend at Hand. Though not the loudest & hippest place to go, if you’re looking for authentic cozy pub with football, cricket & rugby constantly on the telly & cheap drinks then Friend, located on a small alleyway is for you!

We ordered fish & chips and I made Mom & Dad  get mushy peas. I had several Strongbows and took one last look around the pub before we left. So hard to walk away from that! Tubed it back to Regent’s Park to sleep my last night in England. Not surprisingly, I hardly slept, out of excitement to finally be home after 3 months and out of sadness for leaving a city I have grown to love & an experience that has changed me forever. My parents had an early flight so I checked my bags with the hotel lobby, bid them a “see ya in the States” goodbye on their way to Heathrow as I hopped on the Tube to savor my last hours in London.

I went to my favorite areas: Bedford Place, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus & Westminster. I was such an early bird that none of the shops were open. I walked for an hour, just soaking it all up in a drawn-out goodbye. I went to my fav souvenir shop in Piccadilly, called Cool Britannia. I snagged a bunch of gifts for friends, family & most importantly, myself. Once all the shops were open, I had my gift list in my head so I was zooming up & down Oxford Street swiping my debit card at blinding speed.

As impossible as it was for me to bear, I Tubed it for the final time back to Regent’s Park, collected my bags then hailed a cab to Paddington Station. From there, I caught the Heathrow Express & had to keep myself from crying. I arrived super early as London can’t handle snow in any amount. There is only inches on the ground, but I heard of news reports of trains out of St. Pancras cancelled & some flights grounded. Oddly enough, when throwing my newly purchased souvenirs in my bags, I found a half-full bottle of vodka left over from MadHouse. I threw it in my carry-on so at Heathrow, I grabbed a few Diet Cokes & a Union Jack coffee mug I bought for Emily before security to numb the heartbreak of leaving London. What a way to go out.

In terms of my United flight, they were getting nervous with the weather so they handed out vouchers to all passengers offering them free hotel stays, etc if they skipped their flight & waited another day or two. Spontaneous Rach was this close to taking up the offer but I knew my bank account was far too low to stay in London any longer (I had troubles checking 2 bags for heaven’s sake). So I made the responsible decision to head home on my scheduled flight. Interestingly, Bob & Betty Hoskins, my JMU FMIR was on my flight. It was really nice seeing familiar faces after a week so we chatted before we boarded. I was aisle seat so I sat (with my vodka buzz going strong), ordered a bunch of movies & got minutes of sleep before landing at Dulles.

Beautiful horse named Jack

Small lake outside the convent

Short ride to Bruges (Brugge in Dutch), known as the “Venice of the North” for all of its canals. Historically, this 900 year old city, was a port city & popular among wealthy British & French tourists. Late Wednesday morning. I took a 2 hr break from my parents to square off my last school work (they checked out the Basilica of the Holy Blood – something I couldn’t have been less interested in). I joined them at the Fritmuseum… that taught me way more than what I needed to know about potatoes & fries. Oh, family vacations. We toured the Markt (“market square”), so pretty.

That afternoon, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride throughout the city. Coincidentally, the black horse was named Jack – making me completely tune out the guide & miss my dog. During Jack’s water break, we walked in the Bengiunage (Begijnhof, in Dutch) a 13th century convent. Very pretty with surrounding canals, trees & flowers. Mom & I grabbed a late-afternoon snack of a chocolate & ice cream pancake & beers in the market square. We then found a tiny restaurant for dinner where Dad really enjoyed a humongous glass of a local draft. On to a well-known beer bar called de Garre down an alleyway where we talked to the Americans at the table next to us, one who actually had been to Potomac – small world. Watched some ice-skaters for a bit before returning back to the hotel.

After a hotel breakfast, Dad led us on a walking tour. We stopped in at the Church of our Lady to look at a statue of Mary & Jesus, one of the few Michaelangelo works outside of Italy. Next, a fancy chocolate store owned by a man we had met at dinner last night. We checked out of the hotel & packed our bags into a van taxi. Not 100 yards away from the hotel did all of our luggage fall out of the back of the van (apparently the driver did not close it enough!) Please picture me sprinting out the van in the middle of the street, raining, to retrieve our suitcases. Ohh Europe. The rest of the ride & train back to London was uneventful!

Belgium pictures, both Brussels & Bruge here

Grand Place Christmas tree

Yummy waffles!

Sure enough, the train tickets from London to Brussels were insane but that’s what Mike & Sara get for trying to be spontaneous European travelers. I did find it hilarious that the suitcases they brought for 1 week were each the size of my suitcases I had for the 3 months. Silly Americans. Regardless, St. Pancras –> Centraal Station.

We arrived at night & made our way to the hotel, making friends with a lost-looking American girl heading the same direction. Pretty quickly we headed to Grand Place where there was an adorable video projected on the City Hall building, continuing around the 700 year old square on the guildhouses and the King’s House. In the middle was an enormous Christmas tree that we loved. Dinner (I had beef stoemp) at a place Dad’s friend recommended called L’ Estaminet du Keldreke.

Monday morning we boarded a busy tour where we listened to the history of Belgium (through different occupations, royal family, etc) & passed the Atomium (built for the 1958 World’s Fair, the Royal Palace, the European Commission (the executive body of the EU), etc. We walked to Notre-Dame au Sablon, a beautiful church that interestingly had welcome signs in (in order) French, Dutch, English & German. The ability of Belgians (& Europeans in general) to switch between different language is quite impressive! The church had a typical Catholic nativity without a baby Jesus… who obviously comes on the 25th. Across the church was a cool square called Place du Petit Sablon that had many statues & a nice fountain.

Returning to Grand Place with a guide book, we learned about the wealthy merchants and unions that built the guildhalls around the center. Then onto a fancy chocolate shop (Belgian chocolate is deservedly world famous) to see chocolate in every shape, size, mold & color. We walked a few blocks to see Mannekin Pis, the little naked peeing boy statue. This 400 year old bronze statue is legendary, literally has several stories regarding its conception, and has an extensive wardrobe for every occasion.

Brussels is known for its Christmas markets so we took our time in the different stalls. Dad & Rach enjoyed a few Jager shots & Mom got a waffle. There was a really funky carousel, skating rink, ferris wheel & tons of people despite the bitter cold. It’s so weird that the sun is set by 4, making Belgium feel even colder! Heading back, we passed Delirium, a bar that I’ve only heard good things about… sigh, another time.

Tuesday, we hopped a bus to the Waterloo battlefield. I’ll say right now that up until that morning, I thought the Waterloo battle was fought in England. Whoops. We watched a few films, climbed the enormous mountain looking over the fields and checked out the cheesy museums. On our way back, Dad told me that I was leaving for the States on the 17th, not the 18th that I had planned for this whole time. Cue Rach sobbing for one less day in London. Not even kidding. On the bus, sobbing.

Back in Brussels, more walking & exploring (lots of beer, chocolate & waffles this week so its necessary!) and Dad made us find the Jeanneke Pis (the girl-knockoff of Mannekin Pis), then even worse, the Dog Pis. Can’t make this up. Tomorrow morning, we’re taking a train to Brugge (or Bruges, tomayto, tomahto) for a few days…

Sunderland vs. Fulham

On Friday, in between all the million things I was doing, I took my parents to South Kensington to meet my RBI bosses Cameron & Drew & my fellow intern Kylie. Just popped in real quick but I was really happy to be able to introduce everybody. I also took them to Eve’s Cafe right on Great Russell where we went about 3x a week. The owners chatted with my parents about me which was adorable. For dinner, we went to the fancy Montague hotel the next street over for a traditional British feast!

Saturday, everyone had a million different flights to catch, whether going home to the States or Hannah & Jamie who are off to Amsterdam & Germany, Andy & Curtis who stayed in England, Scotland, Belgium & Germany. I schlepped across the street to my parents hotel room then turned in my keys mid-afternoon. I stored my 2 huge suitcases at St. Pancras, I’ll pick them back up on my way to Heathrow in a week.

Dad is a big soccer nerd so he wanted to check out a Premier League match. I have been rooting for Chelsea (don’t know why) here but tickets were kind of pricey & we were always traveling. So my mom, dad & I went to see Sunderland take on Fulham at Craven Cottege. We found a Fulham-supporting pub (Clint Dempsey plays for them, they like Americans!), met some fans & walked to the stadium. Great seats in the die-hard fan section (yay Mike!) and funny chants. Although the game ended in a draw, it was still exciting & another thing to check off my London Bucket list!

Today, we’re on our way to Belgium – a rare European country none of us have been to. Mom & Dad are planning on winging it – they haven’t bought the EuroStar tickets yet. They should know better but hey, what do I know. I’m already experiencing major MadHouse withdrawal & can honestly say I am as excited to see my London friends back at JMU as I am to see everyone else. On to Brussels!

Bedford Place, Bloomsbury, London <3

Last night together: JMU at our banquet

A few days ago, to satisfy my inner sorority-girl crafter, I bought 30 different London postcards & invites to hand-write invitations for our banquet. Before heading out, we all gathered in Flat B where we watched the amazing slideshow Ali put together. The banquet was at Cafe Below, located beneath a crypt (!) at St. Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside. The room was gorgeous, all stone & low-lighting with 3 long tables. Charlotte bought party favors (“crackers”) & paper hats (that the English typically wear on Christmas dinners). We picked our menu a few days ago: I had the salmon salad, steak and chocolate dessert… and several glasses of wine.

We had a few speeches & gifts (especially to Bob, our beloved FMIR who is retiring after this term – what a way to go out!) and I handed out the superlatives:

Axie: most musically inclined, Andy: most likely to get a guy’s number, Chad: best photographer, Curtis: best hair, Jamie: best dancer, Joe: most likely to be fluent in German, Amy: most likely to heel-toe around the campfire (?), Elizabeth: most likely to fail a 4-wheeler driving test, Hannah W: most likely to ask for student discount & samples when 40, Meghan: most likely to spot a rare bird at Edinburgh Castle, Ali: best laugh, Alicia: most likely to have her own exercise video, Belinda: most likely to bring American style dancing to UK, Erika: most likely to know every Broadway musical song, Jen: best sleeper, Katy: most likely to marry the Prime Minister… whoever it is, Kelsey: most likely to move back to London, me: best Mama Bear, Ashley: best dressed, Hannah B.: most likely to go out with everything & come back with nothing, Julia: most likely to marry an Irish man, Lindsay: most likely to quote YouTube, Mindy: most likely to get hit on by small children aka her future students, Allie: most likely to get kicked out of a club for her attitude, Ellen: most likely to play Frogger in the streets of London and die, Katie: most likely to be a homewrecker… of the Jamie Oliver family, Kelly: most likely to blow her rent & food funds on a Louis Vuitton bag & Laura: most likely to take it all in.

Katy played her violin, Lindsay presented a Harry Potter book (all signed by us) to Bob & Betty Hoskins and Amy & Ashley presented Charlotte with a gift certificate to a nice vegetarian restaurant (& she finally admitted we are her favorite group!). Everyone took their paper plate awards like a yearbook & we all took turns signing each others. Lots of pictures & hugs later, we seriously dawdled before leaving (after forcing Bob to play piano!) on our last trips on the Tube back to MadHouse.

JMU goofing on the Eye!

Yesterday, I finished all my schoolwork! For Culture by Design, we had an in-class written final which wasn’t too painful. In the afternoon, I presented my project on the role of sports & the upcoming 2012 Olympics in the UK culture to my Communication, Pop Culture & Diversity class. I really liked my topic so that was actually kind of fun to present. Took a second to realize, but that’s it for my first semester of senior year! Wednesday at the house meeting, we completed semester evaluations on each of the professors, courses, FMIR, Charlotte, the program, etc.

To celebrate a great semester, I used the rest of the social budget in reserving a capsule on a nighttime ride in the London Eye. We loved having it all to ourselves (22 out of 28 of us) so we could be as silly as we wanted. The 30 min allowed for plenty of time to soak up the 360-degree views of the city we’ve absolutely grown to love; nice start to our goodbye. Oddly, we heard the student protesters outside Parliament from the opposite side of the Thames! After, a few of us went to one of our favorite pubs on Holborn called Shakespeare’s Head. It’s different than Friend at Hand (no TVs or sports & a LOT bigger) but a younger & more social crowd. We enjoyed several pitchers of our favorite drink, called “Woo-Woo.” Then met up with friends at 101, a bar on New Oxford that we always find ourselves at. Awesome second-to-last night.

This morning, amid packing (me separating what to take to Belgium & what to store), getting the slideshow together with Ali and making paper-plate superlative awards for the banquet tonight, my parents arrived. They are staying in a hotel right on my street, so its super convenient. We had to turn in our mobiles (as well as textbooks, etc – a job that Ashley, Amy, Charlotte & myself had to fret about) today but I just walked into their hotel lobby and tackled them. I was NOT good about webchatting & calling my parents like most people were but because of BBM, email & Facebook, I kept up with my parents pretty regularly. Even though they have both been here several times before (this is only my 2nd), I’m really excited to show my London.

For now, I have to go finish these paper plate awards & packing… This is the end!?

Fabric nightclub - amazing!

Girls at Ice Bar

Friday, we slept in, worked on our schoolwork & shopped. A group of us wanted to do last-minute sightseeing: inside St. Paul’s, Abbey Road, etc. Alicia, Curtis & I took the Tube and walked to Abbey Road which only took about 10 min. The sun had set in that time & there was plenty of traffic but that didn’t stop us from taking the appropriate pictures. I brought a Sharpie so we all signed the wall. Saturday night, a big group of us bought tickets to Fabric nightclub that is known as one of the best clubs in London. It definitely lived up to all the hype. Fabric is huge, fully packed & has great music. Typical Americans, we invited ourselves up on the stage and Alicia made friends with a VIP corner celebrating a birthday. Awesome night, and although a tab bit expensive, I wish we didn’t wait all term to come here! Snow fell on our way home.

JMU didn’t allow us to intern during our exam week so this was my first Monday without interning at RBI. I spent most of the day getting schoolwork done. Erika, Alicia & Hannah W. went to Hyde Park to celebrate birthdays and enjoy the winter carnival! A few of us stopped in at Friend at Hand for a bit before we worked on our Media & Society group project. Our assignment is to present “A Letter to America” discussing the topics of media, society & current events. We absolutely goofed off & Hannah B. recorded it so look for that video on Facebook soon. Toooo funny. I also turned in my paper where I talked about the impact of the royal family on British media & society.

Katy & I went to Covent Garden to meet up with fellow Alpha Phi Caroline. It was good to hang out with her again, only wish I spent more time with her. With the “end” of studying abroad in sight, I am ready to go home but super sad. I think I could definitely do a year-long program like Caroline did at Oxford. I am as ecstatic to be returning to the States in a few weeks as I will be heartbroken to leave London.

Wednesday, I didn’t have to be anywhere! I printed out my history final papers for Judy to pick up. We had our last intern meeting/class last week (Charlotte brought treats & we discussed the biggest differences between US & UK work environments) but Bob & Charlotte took the student leaders: social director me and RA’s Ashley & Amy out to Mildred’s, a funky vegetarian place in Soho where we planned the banquet for Friday night. Last house meeting at 99 Great Russell St (classes building) we went over last event & move-out instructions. After, we went to Ice Bar right off Piccadilly Circus. A very touristy thing to do but definitely something on my London Bucket List. They give you enormous blue coats & gloves to enter the 23 degF room where everything is made of ice. The bar, the “couches” and chairs (with pillows), walls, etc all made of ice & pretty lights! Even the glasses your drinks come in are made of ice – which Alicia nibbled on after licking the bar surface. Very cool night!

I just started my last album here for London

Snowball fight around Primrose Hill

London takes Antwerp out

My second to last week in London has been flying by  Monday, my last full day at RBI. Drew & I went over my term evaluation after Cameron, Drew, Kylie & I went out to a long lunch. I’ve learned so much about the sports industry – as well as the real estate and fine art fields. What an interesting internship! That night, JMU took us to the West End to see “Oliver!” Such a great production, adorable authentic English children, wonderful music & funny dialogue with some current tie-ins. Great show!! I’ve really appreciated all of the cultural events JMU has paid for us to go on, tours, concerts, operas (well not that opera), plays & movies. Things that we all know we should do but probably wouldn’t have.

Tuesday, for our last Media & Society class with Moe, we worked on our group presentations. My group is: Ali, Chad, Jamie, Jen & Kelsey… this should be good haha. No class outing as we’re wrapping up our semester, but typical to his nature, Moe did encourage us to pay attention to (or mildly participate) in the student protests (see earlier post). I really enjoyed Wednesday’s history outing to the Museum of London (right in the City). We got to see the still-standing ancient London Wall, learned about the 1666 Great Fire of London, the 1960s exhibit and focused on the exhibit that had (doctored) photographs of what could potentially happen to London if we don’t become more environmentally-conscious. On to my last time at RBI! It was sad saying bye to Cameron, Drew & Kylie but I promised them that I would bring my parents next week so hopefully that wasn’t my last time there.

At our house meeting, we got our last meal-money, etc. We loved that FSU had a (fake) Christmas tree right in the lobby all decorated – very festive. Thursday morning, for our last CBD outing, we went to the Museum of Everything in Primrose Hill. On the way there, we had a snowball fight, to the dismay of the locals, and saw another work by Banksy! I wasn’t blown away by the Museum of Everything – it reminded me of the show “Hoarders” and made me wonder why people collect old circus equipment & that many scary dolls, etc. In the afternoon, for our last CPCD class, Dennis took us to the Museum of London (where I had just been) but had us focus specifically on the Victorian exhibit.

The JMU Antwerp (business) program finished last week so most of them arrived in London Wednesday night. I (being a senior & since the Antwerp program is tailored for juniors only) didn’t think I would know anyone so I resigned myself to getting ahead on my final papers and projects. Until Ali told me that my sorority sister Nichole was here (for some reason I thought she was in the Florence program) so I bounded downstairs and was quickly convinced to take the Antwerp kids out on the town. We took them to a very London spot – a dubstep club called The Den just a few blocks from our flat. Pretty fun night & I loved seeing another sister/ friend from home!

Last of this album…

Students took over Southampton/Kingsway

Like I mentioned over 2 months ago, Bloomsbury is home to many colleges and universities – aka a lot of students! For several weeks now, we have been hearing about the UK government’s planned spending (education) cuts and an increase of the cap on tuition fees. Currently, UK students pay approximately £3000 in tuition, but this cap-increase could allow for tuition to triple as much as £9000. Being a US university student, especially one paying about $20,000, I think £9000 ($14,000) doesn’t sound too bad. However, once you realize it could be tripling fees, you understand.

The thousands of students living in central London say that the cuts are excessive and are blaming the politicians for broken campaign promises and having the students “pay for a crisis it didn’t cause.” Today, we heard the protesters on the streets before we could see them. It was freezing today & even snowed a bit, so kudos to them for sticking to their guns. I read in this afternoon’s Standard that the police kettled them in at Trafalgar Square though some did run in all directions. Also, today at least, no major police brutality (police instead choosing to take photos & videos in order to ID people later – JMU Springfest 2010 anyone?). The protests have been going on for weeks and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Touring the Guinness brewery

Pretty Trinity College

Riots... uh oh economy

Trying to save money, I booked an earlier flight than Ali & her friend from home Elise (studying abroad just outside London, from UPenn). But, the Tube wasn’t open that early, I ended up paying the difference & then some taking the Heathrow Connect from Paddington (accidentally buying an extra ticket). After my flight-fail, I met up with Ali & Elise at the Shannon airport bar (but, at 10 am, I wasn’t in the mood to start drinking. Everyone else in there was!) We took a bus into Dublin (sitting on the top front, best view) that dropped us off a short way from our hostels. Another Rachel fail: not only did I book a different (although the more popular one) hostel than the girls, but I never cancelled Alicia’s bed, so I had to pay for 2. Gr.

We were absolutely starving so we stuffed our faces then set out to explore the city. Pretty day: party sunny, only a little chilly. I was already in love, feeling at home right away. Elise collects Hard Rock pins so we popped in – as we passed a Connolly (close enough!) bookstore. We saw Temple Bar (the whole area, not just The bar), Ha’penny bridge and the beautiful stone gothic-style Christ Church Cathedral.

The Guinness brewery is definitely not in the center of the city but enough signs along the long trek helped us find it around 3 pm. The tour was awesome tour, between the 9000 year lease (what forward thinking) to the different marketing campaigns (I’m a nerd). This wasn’t my first Guinness but it was hilarious watching Ali & Elise try their firsts in the Guinness Gravity Bar, the 7th floor 360 degree view of Dublin watching the sun set. Small world experience abroad #789, I picked out guys that were clearly from Northern California (between Danny & DW, I have experience with the style!) and it turns out one of of them was best friends with Danny’s friend from home.

Almost 3 hours later, we emerged, went back to shower, change & regroup. We grabbed dinner at a great place in Temple Bar. We listened to buskers (street performers) & went to The Temple Bar, all decked out in Christmas decorations & a terrific singer. Growing up with a heavy Irish influence, I knew almost all of the songs so as I sang along, I thought of how proud my family would be!

I enjoyed Saturday breakfast at my hostel with Katy & Mindy then met up with Ali & Elise. We awoke to a dusting of snow & slush outside & were inspired to indulge in the best hot chocolate (Butler’s) to continue exploring. We hopped on a historical campus tour of Trinity (cute tour guide!). The cobblestone was near impossible to walk on with the slush & ice but my beloved Primark boots held up. Trinity is all-stone and looks timeless. We checked out the Book of Kells & bought Andy a new TC sweatshirt (he accidentally shrunk his from his October trip here).

Time for souvenir shopping! Ali bought a claddagh ring & I bought one for my Ambassador mentee Katherine. We stopped in at a tiny heritage store whose owner had an impressive knowledge of all the Irish clans. I told him I was a Conley & without blinking, he told me where my family is from, when the majority of them began emigrating, brought up our crest, etc. Genealogy geekout! Heading back towards our neighborhood, we found ourselves in the middle of huge protests. The Irish economy technically collapsed on Wednesday & understandably people are pissed. It was pretty interesting timing for us to be there – definitely unique experience.

Off to the Jameson distillery where we just snapped pics & educated ourselves. Back on ‘our’ side of the River Liffey, we walked into a pub that oddly had a Martin O’Malley (Baltimore mayor) stained glass artwork which I thought was hilarious. Maryland pride! At somewhere different but on the way, I noticed some Sinn Fein posters that I considered stealing for Sam but thought better. More exploring the streets at night (Elise was not prepared for how much Ali & I like to walk!).

After dinner, we returned to Temple Bar but as fate would have it, Ali & Elise needed to go to a cashpoint so we stumbled into the BEST busking ever – a band of two brothers named Harry & Alfie. They played some original stuff in addition to traditional Irish songs & modern radio hits. They were very talented & as the snow began peacefully falling, the 3 of us couldn’t help but smile at our luck. Once they were done, we went to the Auld Dubliner bar. A 70 year old regular (the bartender told us he was there every night) fell in love with me, and the 3 of us had a great time.

More snow overnight. Sunday morning, we checked out, enjoyed our last meal then jumped on a bus back to Shannon for our Aer Lingus flight back to London. This entire trip, seeing the Gaelic on every street sign, hearing the accents, being told “welcome home” … I’m deeply madly in love with Ireland. The only solace in leaving was knowing that this was just the first of many many trips back here!

Dublin pictures!!