C'est L'Hallowe'en

And so I have decided to post some picture of my trip to Ireland. I am nothing if not logical.

This is not Ireland, but it is a nice picture of Meghan, Mandy and myself in London so I thought I would include it.

This is where we set up camp in Heathrow.

Some of the murals in Belfast. You can find these at a number of locations around the city, but these were some of the better ones.

The Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland.

The Giant's Causeway on the Antrim Coast. This is unique formation of hexagonal volcanic rock.

A Unionist neighbourhood in Derry. Notice the lampposts and curbs are painted red, white and blue. Republican neighbourhoods are decorated in a similar way, but with the colours orange, white and green.
Celtic crosses in Donegal.

A waterfall in "Yeat's Country", County Mayo. Apparently this was featured in one of his poems.

The Cliffs of Moher on the West Coast. This was my favourite thing on the tour, I think. We got to go right up to the edge, although we had to crawl to make sure we didn't blow off (!).

The outside of Newgrange burial chamber. I went to visit this, and another burial chamber called Knowth, as a day trip from Dublin. Newgrange is known for letting in a very accurate beam of sunlight during the Winter solstice. It is quite cool on the inside, though unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures.

The "beautifully carved stone" at the front of Newgrange, featuring what is know as the tri-spiral. Some neolithic carvings from the site of Knowth.

Eire

We are back. For those of you who didn't know, Meghan and I (as well as my other cousin Mandy) spent a week in Ireland for our half-term break. Sadly, that half-term break is already over, which is why I am at home writing this blog.

I already knew that I really, really liked Ireland before leaving, and this trip kind of soldified this opinion. It is a beautiful country, with beautiful people and an fascinating (albeit tragic) history. I am always sad to leave.
I guess I could go into a detailed description of everything we did and everything we saw, but I'm sure nobody (including me) wants me to do that. So I will try to summarize some of the highlights in yet another list.

Here goes...

Carley's List of (Hopefully) Interesting Things That Were Seen/Experienced In Ireland:

- Sleeping In An Airport Overnight. Technically this did not occur in Ireland, since we were at Heathrow, but it was part of the Ireland trip as a whole. I have never tried to sleep in an airport before; I can't say that I'd look forward to doing that again.

- The Aftermath of "The Troubles". We spent a couple of days in Northern Ireland, and it is easy to see remnants of the past tension (and some present tension, unfortunately) in cities like Belfast and Derry. It is clear that there is still alot to be done before both sides can live in complete harmony, but it seems as though the majority of the Irish people are optimistic and trying to make it work.

- Beautiful Scenery. I mentioned this already, but Ireland is a beautiful country. I particularly liked the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland, the West Coast and the Connemara, and the Cliffs of Moher. I won't try to describe these places in words - I'll post some pictures instead.

- Butler's Chocolate Cafe. This should not be surprising, given my chocolate addiction. They have really good mochas and brownies, and they give you a free truffle to go with your order! What's not to like?

- Participating in a Guided Tour. The majority of our time in Ireland was spent as part of a tour group of about 13 people. I haven't done a tour for longer than a day before, so this was an interesting experience for me. As someone who is fairly independent, likes to have control over my itinerary, and likes to stay in locations for more than one day, this was not really the ideal way for me to travel. It did take a lot of stress out of planning and we did see more than we likely would have on my own, so it wasn't really that bad. Just not quite what I'm used to, that's all.

- Seeing Shane Butler live in Temple Bar. I actually had no clue who Shane Butler was, but we were fortunate enough to see him play in Dublin. He did a lot of great covers, and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. You may want to check him out - he's pretty good.

- Tim Horton's. I'm not really sure why there is a Tim Horton's in Ireland, but there definitely is one. We saw it at a rest stop in the West somewhere. I guess it IS important that the Irish people have the opportunity to "Experience a Canadian Legacy", as the signs there so eloquently put it.

Carley's List of Things She (unfortunately) Did Not See In Ireland:

- Fairies, leprechauns or pots of gold

- Four-Leafed Clovers

- A Pint of Guinness that looked appetizing to me

- Bono

And that pretty much sums up my trip.

Actually, I'm sure there's heaps more that I've forgotten to mention, but I'm currently drawing a bit of a blank. I'll add more (and I'll post pictures) if I think of anything.

Just Think - If I Hadn't Come Here I Wouldn't Even Know Who Lil' Chris Is

Lil' Chris is a 16 year old reality TV show star from Norfolk. He was on the "Rock School" show, which involved Gene Simmons of KISS teaching a bunch of high school students how to be real rock stars. That should give you an indication of the level of talent we are dealing with here. And we at Caister high school were fortunate enough to witness this talent in the flesh yesterday. Needless to say, there was much excitement at the school (and it wasn't just me - the students were excited too). Now if only he had actually sung something for us .....

Another unique opportunity I have had while teaching at Caister High was the chance to completely embarrass myself by attempting an African dance in front of all the year 9s. A group from Zimbabwe came to give a presentation at our school and called the teachers onto the stage to receive a "gift". In order to claim said gift, the teachers were required to take part in a rather intricate African dance, much to the delight of the students. It was actually quite fun, although I'm pretty sure we didn't actually get our present. Unless our present was Lil' Chris coming to our school.

This week we have been enjoying the company of my Aunt Karen and my other cousin Mandy. All four of us spent the weekend in London, although I spent a good deal of time touring by myself since I had seen many of the main sights before. I would post some pictures, but when you are by yourself it is a little difficult to take lots of pictures. I might throw some in with my Ireland pictures, assuming I actually take some on that trip. Yes, that's right, we are going to Ireland next week. I can't believe half-term is here already!

Anyways, here are some things I realized while in London:

1. I love London. Really. This is especially notable considering London and I did not get off to a good start last year. But now it is right up there with Paris on my "Favourite Cities" list. I highly recommend it.
2. I also highly recommend travelling alone. Not to say that I officially travelled alone, or that I would do it all the time, but having successfully completed two days of sightseeing on my own was a great confidence builder and gave me a great sense of freedom. I got to do whatever I wanted! Now of course the down side was that I was completely alone, but if you can get over that....
3. Places really can change a lot in one year. The neighbourhood we stayed in last year already had at least two new Starbucks and it was much more crowded. That is not necessarily a good thing.
4. Tourists can be quite annoying. Unfortunately I must classify myself as one, even though I really wish I didn't have to.
5. There must be 100 Starbucks in that one city. Crazy.
6. McDonalds seems to have wised up to the popular backpackers' strategy of using their free bathrooms. That is really too bad. Fortunately you can use the facilities at the hundreds of Starbucks fairly easily. So all is not lost.

Finally, I should mention that I still have 1 and 1/4 chocolate bars left. And it's been almost six weeks!

So with that, I'll be off. I hope everyone is having a great October, and I'll let you know how Ireland was as soon as I get back. You can hardly wait, I know.

Happy Turkey Day

I'm a bit disappointed that the English don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Of course, historically it makes sense - the pilgrims didn't arrive here, they originated from here. But I'm still feeling the lack of turkey, dressing and all that good stuff.

As for life in England: school is the same old, same old, except that now we have only two weeks until half term break (!). Meghan and I will be going to London next weekend and to Ireland the following week, which should be fun. And at least then I will have something interesting to write about. Right now I don't....so with that I will close. Have a great long week-end, and make sure to eat some pie for me.

Now That's What I Call A University Town

The highlight of this week was definitely yesterday's visit to Cambridge. It is a beautiful city, and has a great atmosphere. We enjoyed a punting trip down the river, saw lots of colleges (and lots of students - term starts this week) and ended off the day at an Evensong service in King's College chapel. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And it did make me seriously wish that I was a student again, so if I don't come back home next year you'll know where I am. (Don't worry Mom, I'm just kidding...)

Anyways, here are some pictures of my new favourite university, with some of our roommates thrown in.

Me and our roommates Kelly and Darren.

Darren, Meghan and I

The view from the punting docks on the river Cam.

Trinity College, apparently one of the more famous of the 30-some colleges in the University.

Another view of the river, and our punting guide Sam. We could have rented a punt without a guide, but I'm pretty sure that either Meghan, myself or our pole (or all three) would have ended up in the river.

This building was used in the Harry Potter movies!

The Bridge of Sighs, where students get one last glimpse of daylight before writing their exams, named after the bridge leading to the execution chambers at the Doge's Palace in Venice.

The Mathematical Bridge. I obviously had to take a picture of it.

The Founders' Garden at Clare college.

The King's College chapel - home to an exceptional choir.

The inner courtyard at King's College.

King's College at dusk.