Through Wales to England

Hello Again,

We have made it through Dublin, Wales, and finally to England. We are currently staying in a town called Crewe. We actually just got back from a geo cache find! There was a lovely nature trail just across the road from our hotel. Since Philip had already researched the location of the cache we actually found it. We took away a Christmas ornament and a key chain advertising ferret food? We left a plastic Galax leaf, silly putty, and a wheat penny. As we left the woods and trail there were hordes of rabbits everywhere. They are like deer here. Each step we took sent 20-30 of them hopping off.

We also visited a castle today in Wales. The view was incredible! How is it that the landscape in Wales is such a well kept secret? It was gorgeous!!! When we get our pictures better organized, I'll post them. They are a mess at the moment and we hardly have time to breath, let alone get online.

Unfortunately, I can now say that I have missed seeing Wicked 6 times. We couldn't order the West End tickets in time so they sold out. Our tour director, Emma, knew how disappointed I would be, so she tried very hard to get us two of the few remaining tickets. Since we could no longer get the group rate, we decided to decline, much to my heartbreak. We are, however, going to see a show at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, which I can't see anywhere else. This is a decent compromise.

Since our wake-up call is at 6 am and it is now after 11 pm, I'll end here for now. More to come. London is tomorrow!

Dear, Dirty, Dublin!

Hello All!

We finally have internet connection in Dublin. I have so much to write about and don't know where to start. We arrived in Shannon early Saturday morning. It was only a 5 hour flight! We visited a few little villages along the way to Killarney to stay at the Darby O'Gill's Inn. Now, the inn...it was a nice little place, but definitely had it's quarks. There is a story of a wealthy woman who felt she was haunted by spirits so the psychic tells her she should continue to add on to her home to confuse the spirits. She went home and began construction on various passageways that led to nowhere, stairs that dropped off to the floor below without being finished, etc. Well, hotels were apparently constructed in this way here. Very confusing.

We traveled around the Ring of Kerry yesterday. This is sort of like Cade's Cove only along coastal cliffs and Irish hills . I must say, the landscape is not a disappointment. It looks exactly like you think it does. It was quite misty yesterday, but that just adds to the romance of the landscape. I'll add pictures soon.

I kissed the Blarney Stone today. We clambered up a huge spiral staircase the Blarney Castle. By huge, of course, I mean tall, NOT wide. At least one person turned around and left because she just couldn't stand the tight fit. Once we wound our way to the top, we leaned over backward, over a hole in the top of the castle with a very long drop, and held by a man whose job it is to keep you from falling, we kissed the stone. The legend is kissing the stone gives you the "gift of gab" (like I needed that).

Anyway, enough of this. Pictures next.

Well,

This will be my last post from home. I'll try and blog again about our first day by the end of Saturday.

I would like to take a moment to thank all of our family and friends for their support. We could not have managed this experience without all of your help. We will be able to eat lunch each day, enjoy excursions, and I might not die from all of the walking (Thanks Kayla!) Thank you again to all of you. We love you and we'll be in touch soon!

Good Morning!

Well, we are two days away from our departure. We still have a few things left to do at this point. One of which is purchasing marbles. I had the pleasure of traveling with a professor a couple of years ago who had a wonderful idea. Each time she or her students travel, she gives them two marbles. One they are to keep and cherish forever. The other, they are to plant somewhere along their path. I'm not usually big on these kinds of things, but this trip is particularly important for my companions for various reasons. I want them to be able to leave a symbol of themselves on their journey. We'll see how that goes :-).

In other news, my husband is growing increasingly fun to watch. He has never left North America, so this is a big step for an Appalachian who never thought they had a need to travel past this home continent. He is making packing lists, placing things on his Google Calendar, blogging, of course, researching the history of each stop, etc. It is like watching a child prepare for Christmas. I hope he isn't disappointed. I anticipate many heady conversations about the new sights, sounds, and smells he encounters. And this, my friends, is what I love about my sweet husband. He's always the analyst and it makes for the best conversations. We simply never get board.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful day!

Beginnings

We will begin our journey by flying 10 hours (give or take) from Charlotte to Shannon, Ireland. It is located in County Kerry next to the Beara Peninsula. We will then travel through the Scenic Ring of Kerry. I'm not sure what this is beyond a road along the peninsula along the coast between the Atlantic Ocean and the Celtic Sea. I'm pretending that there were once Faeries and Leprechauns for the time being :-). At the end of this gaelic path is a bog museum. Picture Jamestown (if you been there). Sounds like a tourist trap, but it should be interesting.

By Day 4 we will be on our way to visit Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone! Once I rub the stone down with hand sanitizer (JK), I'll lean backward under the turret, high above the verdancy below, and kiss the stone, as is tradition. We will traverse on to Dublin, but not before we stop by ancient Cashel Rock. This was the original seat of the Kings of Munster prior to Norman invasion. St. Patrick is linked to this structure as well.

Once back on the road, we will end our day in Joyce's "Dear, dirty Dublin" or Dubh Linn. This city whose name means "black pool," is of course renowned for its production of such literary giants as the afore mentioned Joyce, Yeats, Beckett (my favorite), Wilde, Swift, and Stoker. Joyce's collection of short stories called Dubliners, is an interesting portrait of the personalities Joyce grew up around. Whether you consider his perspective accurate or critical and artistic, it will be interesting to experience his inspiration. One of the long awaited sites of our visit to Dublin will be the beautifully ornate Book of Kells, housed at Trinity College.

We will depart Dublin and land in Wales. After visiting a Welsh castle, we will travel through a place called Snowdonia. This sounds to me as if it has been pulled directly from Narnia.

By Day 7, we will make our way to London on our way to visit the sod of the greatest of all the King's Men. Once we've exhausted Stratford upon Avon, we will light in London where we will see the old boy, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus (where I hope to see the hero of J.M. Barry's famous children's tale), St. Paul's Cathedral, and Windsor Castle.

Finally, Days 9 and 10 will be spent touring the various attractions of Paris from the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. If I can manage it, I have hopes to visit the illustrious or in some circles, ignominious, Shakespeare and Company. It was THE bookstore and literary salon for such Modernist excommunicates as Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, and Sylvia Beach. It was the artery through which Bohemian art pulsed in the early 20th Century. This, of course, would be the proverbial icing on the cake for this little girl.

Feicfidh mé thú ar ball!

A Rainy Day During the Dry Season?

Good Morning!

I hope you're all doing well. We are sitting in Zomba waiting for the rain to stop. It's supposed to be the dry season, but there was a torrent of rain this morning. We were supposed to visit the orphanage this morning. Because of the rain, the road to the ophanage was too dangerous. We will try again at 1:00.

In other news, we visited a safari camp this week. Mvuu Camp was full of hippos, a few elephants, crocodiles, lizards, and various deer-like animals. Unfortunatly, we saw no rhinos, zebras, or lions.

A Blog At Last!

Hello All!

Did you think I was never going to post? I had almost given up. If it's cloudy, no internet connection. If the power is out (which happens twice a day at random except the last two days when members of Malawian Parliament were staying with us), no internet. When I did get to the internet cafe, not a short walk, I had myriad other problems. So, here I am, two weeks into my travels and I'm hoping this works.

The woman in the picture is shucking corn at Freedom Gardens. Try a google search of Freedom Gardens, Malawi for more information. The agriculture methods here are quite inspiring.

I've had a wonderful yet disheartening experience so far. Life is very different from home in some ways, but very very similar in many other ways. The best description would be the United States 150 years ago.

Agriculture is a way of life here. The only people who seem to travel to market for any food are tourists and hotel staff. Most grow their own using a combination of old and new organic techniques in farming. It's very healthy here as far as food is concerned. There are also plenty of opportunities for exercise.

Well, I should end here for now because it's getting dark and it's dangerous to be out. I'll write again soon! Leave comments if you would like!



Also, I'd like to thank Philip for being my webmaster and best friend.