Plymouth, England

The destination was some steps. But not just any steps; the very steps from which the pilgrims walked onto the Mayflower on September 6, 1620 to begin their voyage to what would become Massachusetts, New England! It was an amazing feeling to be standing somewhere with such an important history that related directly to me. I tried to imagine how they must have felt that day, mourning the loss of their homeland and people they had to leave behind, but harboring a thrill of the unknown, and believing that something better awaited them if they could survive the 66-day journey at sea. They were so brave. 

Becky & Brooke & a Blue Door

Hello???

The Mayflower Steps! Go west!

Brooke, Mike, Todd, Becky, Angelina and Joe at the Mayflower Steps

Cobh, Ireland

Irish coffee, fish ‘n’ chips, internet, pharmacy and friends!

We ate at the blue place called Gibson's

Fish 'n' chips and Irish coffee

Dublin, Ireland

An overnight in Dublin provided us with two full days to enjoy the crowds, shopping, live music, Guinness, the array of green, cathedrals and castles. Riverdance at the Gaiety Theater was the BEST decision we could make! Smoke and blue lights set the eerie mood for the Celtic soprano vocalist. I couldn’t help but watch the musicians, as the percussionist was smiling and sweating and flailing about on the biggest drum set I’ve ever seen. A flamenco dancer whirled and stomped in red with a pained look on her brow. Russian dancers made the audience erupt in applause at their tricks and high jumps. Two tap dancers challenged three Irish step dancers to a duel in the streelight. But by far the pinnacle of the show was the furiously fast feet of the Irish step company in perfect unison. My jaw dropped in awe when their legs produced sounds faster than my mouth can make! I reveled in every moment of the show and am SO delighted we went!

Todd and I had to taste Jameson (the supposedly “Catholic” whiskey) and Bushmill’s (the “protestant” version) side by side and compare the two. Verdict: Jameson tasted smoother and simpler to me, while Bushmill’s had more flavors and may taste better plain than mixed. To each his own, but I’ll stick with my protestant roots!

The next day Brooke kindly invited Todd and me to tour around with her friend who lives in Dublin and her. Jeff was a fantastic tour guide, giving us the history of everything from Molly Malone to the Haypenny Bridge. We had lunch at Dakota (I was craving nachos and beer), I learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness at the Guinness Factory (with a clover in the foam, thank you very much,) and we enjoyed an outside drink with casties in Temple Bar while live music from inside seeped through the windows. I couldn’t believe Brooke’s boyfriend surprised me with a blue box of treats from Queen of Tarts that we devoured late at night in our room. Best day ever!!! 

Riverdance was brilliant!!!

Enjoying a Guinness with Chase and Ryan and the cast

My first attempt at a clover on top of the perfect pint of Guinness I learned to pour at the Guinness Factory

Galway & Connemara, Ireland

Todd and I both got to escort an excursion today, on separate buses but to the same destination: the Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden. The Abbey was built in 1867 as gift from Mitchell Henry to his wife. After she fell in love with Connemara on their honeymoon, he bought the 15,000 acre estate for her and created this castle. When she sadly died on a holiday to Egypt, Mitchell had her body brought back to the grounds and had the Neo-Gothic church built as a memorial chapel. Since then, the Abbey has been a home to nuns of the Benedictine Order who opened a world renowned boarding school for girls and restored the church, the abbey and the gardens to their former glory. One of the pupils that came to study was American actress Angelica Huston!

Victorian Walled Gardens

Gothic Church

Kylemore Abbey

Liverpool, England

On the docket for today, in addition to quality time with good friends and help with my computer at the Apple Store, was finding the Beatles Museum! I learned that they started when Paul was just a 15-year-old boy, and that Pete was the original drummer, but their manager didn’t prefer him because he didn’t have the charisma of the others and was a “good but not great” drummer, so he kicked him out...enter Ringo. I learned that in Canada at one point they took NINE of the Top Ten singles! It was fun to see the newspaper clippings, to learn about the Casbah and the Cavern, where they played, and to hear sound clips of girls screaming in a Beatlemania craze. The museum does a good job of transporting you to the time period...and you even get to walk through a Yellow Submarine! 

Back on the ship, the show lounge presented a tribute band of the Beatles, who boarded from Liverpool. I knew ALL of the songs they played (to my surprise!) and pulled a gentleman passenger on the dance floor for to dance the Twist and Shout :) I wish I lived in a generation of really great music, where everyone in the world is loving the same songs at the same time. But I guess I’m lucky because I can listen to music from the past anytime I want...and maybe even dress up to match it! You know I do!

Brooke, Mike, Chase, Joe, Ang, Ry

Joe is sooo powerful!

Milford Haven, Wales

I spent today strolling leisurely through the National Botanic Garden of Wales, taking pictures of flowers, enjoying plants, and smiling when little Welsh children spoke in their precious accents... “Mummy, I reeeeelly wont t’ see the fishies!” The garden boasts the largest Glasshouse in the world, which is a refuge of endangered plants from around the world (kinda like a huge, glass Noah’s Ark for plants.) I enjoyed that it was organized geographically, so I could imagine I was walking through Australia and South Africa and then finish my walk in California.

With the rest of my alone time I savored elderflower sparkling juice and almond cake in the sun.

Diolch ("thank you" in Welsh) for reading.

The Glasshouse

A greenhouse made entirely from plastic water bottles. (Christine and Dave...this made me think of you!)

Perfect garden lunch: elderflower soda, egg salad sand, almond cake