Blood sausage!

Yep, I've eaten blood sausage. Funniest thing, we get here to Salamanca, drop off my bag and head out for some tapas and wine. Jose tells me to just go up to the counter, see what looks good and let him know and he'll help me order.
What do I pick? The frickin' blood sausage! Who would have ever guessed that it would look good? It was definitely the mild version, it was mixed up with eggs and some quinoa type stuff. I also had some octopus (mmm) and salmon with cream cheese on bread before going for ice cream.
Tomorrow we'll walk around town in the morning then go explore some older villages in the afternoon.
The square is breathtaking. I wish I could just spend a week at home then come back to Spain for a few weeks.
I have to come back.
It's been a 21 hour day so I'm exhausted. If I have time I'll post tomorrow, otherwise- I'll see you all back across the pond.
-sfw

Spain!

I´ve arrived in Spain, over 4 hours late but at least I made it. Our plane had an issue with one of the machines that controls the cabin pressure and we had to turn back.
In the process I discovered that I have lost the power cord to my computer so I probably won´t be posting anymore photos. I´m here at Carmens home for the afternoon and we´ve had lunch. The view overlooking Valladolid from her balcony is beautiful. Tonight I will meet up with Jose and Debra and head down to Salamanca.
Hopefully I´ve had my share of bad luck and the trip home will go smoothly. Miss everyone and look forward to coming home :)

No stonehenge :( too late I think

Tourist photos

Woohoo- it's me by one of the famous red telephone booths with Big Ben behind me and. .. .a pole sticking out of my head.

Beggars can't be choosers.

The Noonans

In case you were unaware why I decided to go to Europe, my long-time friend Lindsay was getting married and I was lucky enough to make the invite list. Here is a photo of Lindsay and Noonan!

Landed in London

Plane was delayed, payed £16.90 for the train into town, caught the subway and checked into my hostel. I'm on the top bunk :(
All of the restaurants are closed so I had to get McDonalds >:P Oh well.
Limited on internet time. Off to bed.

Wedding

The wedding was beautiful; the reception was beautiful. Crillon Le Brave, where the reception was held, is on the Top 100 Places to See Before You Die list apparently and I can see why. I'm exhausted so I'm going to head to bed.

the proposal

So it's almost 2 a.m. I helped cook, decorated tables, made the (majority of the) wedding cake, photographed and put the whole cake together and iced it.

In return I had a Frenchman tell me I was a wonderful women when he saw me baking and icing the cake, insist I have a glass of wine when I was done; then when Noonan wouldn't stop saying how great I was he jokingly asked me to marry him. . . granted it is Noonans cousin and I think he's had quite a few glasses himself but it was still funny.

I've figured out the telephoto I borrowed from dad doesn't fit my camera and when my computer crashed I lost my Canon software so as of right now I can't download photos from my good camera. This is not a good camera joojoo trip :(

I'm exhausted and I have to get up in 4 hours to take pre-wedding photographs while the light is still good. Wish me luck.

This is the view overlooking the seaside of Saint Chamas. We found these steps leading up between houses off the road and just decided to follow them. It turns out they led up to this huge bridge with an aquaduct down the center and a bell tower on top. At the top was an olive orchard and ruins from something with faces carved into them.

Saint Chamas cont.

Here is a storefront in Saint Chamas where they were selling fruit and vegetables.

Saint Chamas Roman bridge & arches

Yesterday Sherri (Lindsays mom) and I took a short trip to a little fishing village named Saint Chamas. It was nice to see a small non-tourist town. The coolest thing was this bridge, dating back to possibly as early as the 1st century AD (I discovered online). It was built by the Romans and still has a beautiful inscription at the top and you can walk down to the river below and walk across it and everything. It's weird because it just sits next to the main road through town without any information or preservation or anything.

Monte Carlo

And this snazzy little place is the casino Monte Carlo in Monaco. Monaco is also host to the Tour de France which starts tomorrow! You have to check your cameras and pay just to get in the place. It's pretty upscale. The "Sky Mirror" out front was this convex (or concave depending on which side you were on) mirror that shows the sky and casino from one view and the fountain and grass and street from the other view.

Monaco

This is the Cafe de Paris in Monaco where we had lunch. Most of the people were pretty fancy but the funniest thing was that we also saw Tara Reid (actress from American Pie). She looked pretty trashy- we kept waiting for her to bust out the cocktails and get sloppy drunk.

Mediterranean

This is the beach at Cassis. The water was so clear and blue you could see the bottom, even at 30 feet deep.

Food

Here are some of the fantastic meals I've had in the last couple of days. Everything is so picturesque!

Cassis

Yesterday we went to a local farmers market, lounged by the pool, drank wine and that's about it. Luckily Lindsays step sister is an ex-chef who went to culinary school so we have been eating like kings- 5 star quality. Today we drove down to Cassis, a stunning beach town just south east of Marseilles. The beach was covered in stones, all smooth from the water of course but was a unique experience. They still hurt my feet a bit up on the shore part but down by the water they got smaller and smaller so they were fine. The water so clear and yet so blue. I could swim out to where it was probably over 20-30 feet deep and still see the bottom.

I'll post photos later but for now I'm going to go enjoy the pool for the last few hours of daylight, at 8 p.m. ;)

Hello France

Sorry things are out of order. I keep forgetting what I have and haven't posted and up until now the internet has been spotty and short. On my last day in Ireland I went to the Guinness factory. The whole tour was really interesting and at the end I had lunch at the top of the building. Here is a photo of my mouth watering Guinness stew.

When I I get back I think I will have everyone over for dinner and attempt to recreate this little dish along with whatever else I find.

After that I walked around trying to find the war memorial. Never got there but I did go see Dublin Castle, walked along the entire River Liffey and checked out St. Patricks Cathedral.

Yesterday was a long day.

When I went to the bus there were hundreds of revelers still out: dancing, singing, puking and peeing in the streets. The spontaneous group singing was amusing to say the least. The middle of the night bus to the airport was more like a coach so that was a pleasant surprise.

From my last post you know I got to the airport early so I caught a cat nap there and on the plane. They didn't weigh my bag but it feels lighter than when I left so I think I'm still good.

I wandered my way to the metro station and bought an all day pass to the main line running through most of the tourist stuff. I went to the Arch de Triumph- stunning then walked the tuileries which are a series of gardens with scultptures and ponds and such. At the end is the Louvre, which greatly exceeded my expectations. I could have spent all day but had to kind of rush through in just a couple hours. I saw Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, Cupid and Psyche, Hammurabi's Code. I can't remember it all but I have photos!

The trip from Paris to the Villa was long, and a long story- that ended with wine and pasta at 4 in the morning. I'll save that for later.

The good news is that I am here now, there is wireless internet, and there is a pool and fresh food from the farmers market waiting for me outside.

Round 2

It's 4:37 a.m. and I'm at the Dublin airport waiting for my flight to Paris. I've got about 2 hours to go.
Once I get there I heard it's an hour and a half bus ride into the far side of the city center so if I'm lucky and the bus departs as soon as I get there I'll have about 5 hours to walk the main thoroughfare from the Arch to the Louvre then get on the subway and get to my train station.

Wish me luck,
sfw

Guinness :)

Here are a few people from last night. The girl on the right is Toni from Indianapolis that I've hung out with a bit. The couple is from San Francisco but he's working in Germany for 6 months so they're traveling on weekends.

Really good investment of 2 euro's = 40 minutes of internet access
Hopefully I'll have better luck in France. I doubt I'll be back on for a couple days. Today is my last day here and tomorrow will be a very long day- flying into Paris and then taking the train to Marseilles. I'll try to see the Arch de Triumph and the Louvre.

bye for now, sfw

Here is one of the guys from Lad Lane, one of the MANY fantastic bands playing each night at Temple Bar. They've won best pub or best pub for music for the last 8 years or something. When I get home and can show you all the video you'll understand why.

And yes, to all of those who requested it I have had one for you :) Yes Jenny, including your cider.

This is the view overlooking the Irish sea from Howth.

Along the coast there is also Webb's Castle Rock. I wasn't poitive which one it was but I took photos at every spot where the cliffs jut out a bit so hopefully I got it :)

Yesterday I went to Howth, a fishing village nearby. I walked the entire eastern side and then some. The views were stunning, rolling hills of grass and ferns and flowers against a backdrop of the Irish Sea with sailboats and cliffs and a bright blue sky.

Here is my bed in the hostel. I'm on the bottom. I haven't been sleeping well. I've terrorozed my poor room-mates two nights now with walking and talking in my sleep. Luckily I seem to be gettingpractically a whole new set of room mates every night so no one knows its becoming a regular occurence. Hopefully I'll sleep better in the villa next week since there won't be so many noises and hopefully I'll be getting to bed at a decent hour.

This is my bluescreen of death every time I try to use my wireless internet. :(

If anyone can help me let me know what to do!

I think it has something to do with the gig hertz frequency of the internet and maybe the ability to connect to a bluetooth. I've never had the bluetooth thing light up before and now that keeps lighting up when I turn on the wireless switch.

....sigh

This is one of the lakes we visited on my trip to Wicklough county.

Last day in Dublin

I still can't get my computer to work and I've realized that I can't upload large photos on blogspot. Since wiping my laptop clean I no longer have any of the Microsoft applications so I have no way of resizing my images.

Each of mine are running between 3 and 6 MB (so that the page will become hard to load).

Long story long, I will have to be very frugal with posting photos for now.

Here I am at the Temple Bar with my Irish Coffee. It was delicious. They make it with Irish whiskey and brown sugar here, way better than the Baileys version we get at home.

Grr. . .argh

Yeah; I have major computer issues. I'm going to try to sort it out tomorrow so that I can post some more photos. Trying to use the wireless internet gives me the blue screen of death.

Tuesday I walked for about 8 hours exploring the city of Dublin. I went to Trinity College and saw the book of Kells, the National Museum and the gardens and the National Library, pretty much all over the place once I figured out the street signs are on the buildings.

Yesterday I took a day trip to Wicklow county and a town named Glendalough. We went up through the mountains outside of Dublin and stopped at lakes and waterfalls and peat bogs. It was absolutely beautiful.


The last two nights I've gone to the Temple Bar which is just about 15 steps away from my hostel. The music is to die for. I keep meaning to go to bed earlier but I just can't leave.

The Guinness here is nothing like home. If Guinness in the states tasted half this good I would become a die hard fan. The drinks are really expensive though, a pint is the equivalent of about $8.

Today I am going to take the DART to a fishing village, the port and then walk the rest of the city that I haven't seen. Tomorrow I will likely go on the Guinness factory tour, mail some things back to the states and try to figure out my computer issue before hopefully hitting the sack pretty early. I need to take a 3:30 am bus to the airport for my hop over to Paris.

The people in the hostel have been pretty great so far. I've made acquaintence with a women from Indianapolis who is on week 8 of an 11 week trip. They've helped me figure out which subways to take in Paris and given me the low down on costs etc. I also now know that I will get lost in London but that's okay because I will find everything while wandering :)

peace, sfw

Arrived!

This is the view I woke up to in my plane this morning. We were headed east, right into the sunrise. I will probably have an 18-20 hour day but I couldn't help it. Once I saw that I couldn't go back to sleep.















This is the view of Ireland from the plane. Big surprise, it's green.



















Here I am in front my hostel; home sweet home for the next four nights.






Okay; I'm off to find some lunch!

My rear hurts from sitting on the sidewalk :)

Contact

I won't be attached to my computer, but if you NEED to contact me, please send an email or call me on Skype at (760) 208-1898.

Time

Here is a website for the world clock so you can see what time it is where I'm staying:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Ireland and England are 8 hours ahead
France and Spain are 9 hours ahead

Schedule

Check US Airways flights here
Check Ryan Air flights here

Monday, June 22

Leaving from Ontario Airport
9:40 a.m. to 10:54 am
US Airways Flight 2992 to Phoenix

11:59 am (Western) to 7:22 pm (Eastern)
Phoenix to Philadelphia Flight 259

8:45 pm (Eastern) to 8:40 am (Dublin)
Philadelphia to Dublin, Ireland Flight 722

Staying at Barnacles Hostel

Saturday, June 27

Leaving From Dublin to Paris Beauvais
6:25 am (Dublin time) to 9 am (Paris time)
Ryan Air flight FR22

Leaving from Paris, Gare Lyon to Marseilles Saint-Charles
4:46 pm to 7:58 pm
Rail Europe train #6121

Staying at the Moulin Des Olives

Monday, July 6

Leaving from Marseilles, Provence to London-Gatwick
7:05 pm to 8:10 pm
Ryan Air flight FR6454

Staying at the Picadilly Backpackers Hostel

Thursday, July 9

Leaving from London-Stansted to Valladolid, Spain
8:30 am to 11:35 pm
Ryan Air flight FR3124

Thursday afternoon in Valladolid
Thursday night and Friday in Salamanca

Saturday, July 11

Leaving from Madrid to Philadelphia
12:35 pm (Madrid) to 3 pm (Eastern time)
US Airways flight 741

5:40 pm (Eastern) to 7:55 pm (Mtn time)
Philadelphia to Denver, Colorado Flight 6130

9:15 pm (Mtn time) to 10:27 pm (Western time)
Denver to Ontario, CA flight6171