Hadrian's Library and the Roman Agora

The next day, Jesse and I bought pomegranates at the market and then proceeded to the nearest ancient ruins: Hadrian's Library and the Roman Agora. The library was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 132 and the Roman Agora was built in the 6th century BC. Both centuries older than anything that stands in Canada. We then decided to take a little walk up the hill towards the Akropolis.--Colleen

Edinburgh-Manchester-Athens!

Our last day in Scotland was finally upon us. We were to leave on the night bus to Manchester in order to fly out early the next morning to Athens, and so, we decided to go for a one final walk in this great northern capital. We saw a cool random statue, a neat dress in a window, and then we walked to the National Museum of Scotland to take a few pictures of some of the cool things we had seen when we had previously visited it. (Mostly just the kids' section). Finally, it was time. We hopped a bus, slept in the Manchester airport, and then flew into Athens around noon the next day.--Colleen

Arthur's Seat

One day, we went for a long walk to the sea. The North Sea. We walked to the north westest point of Edinburgh; to where the ferry terminal and docks are located. It was windy and cold, but we made it in about an hour from our hostel. The harbour was busy, and full of history. The next day, we visited the famous "Arthur's Seat", a high point around Edinburgh from which you can see the North sea, views of the entire city, and some Highlands to the far North. It was so high in elevation that the top of the hill was covered in snow while the city had only been sprinkled once before. The slope was gradual until, near the summit, the hill became slick with compounded snow, ice, and dirt. It was so cold you could see your breath, and the puddles on the slope were frozen solid; yet there were morning joggers constantly running up and down the slopes. We eventually climbed to the top, where there was a plaque with a compass on it, and a large stone lookout point. When we climbed down another side of the hill, we found a place where the snow was so deep, someone had made a snowman. It was getting colder, so we decided to run down the hill, where we discovered a ruined abbey from the 15th Century. Probably not discovered, since there was an Information plaque beside it....--Jessebesse

Calton Hill

December 2. It was a cold and windy day as two young adults stepped out of the warmth of their hostel, turned left and headed for Waverly Bridge. They then crossed that bridge, turned right and headed up a semi-busy road toward Calton Hill. Now Calton Hill is no ordinary hill; it's not your basic natural elevation of the earth's surface, for on this protuberance of dirt and ancient volcanic rock there stands the city of Edinburgh's observatory and a monument of the proud nation of Scotland. Nah, I'm just messing with you. Calton Hill, is not as exciting as I talked it up to be--we didn't even go into the observatory (because it was closed, I mean it's not like we didn't try to get in). But it did have a lot of neat architecture. And after we snapped a few pictures, drank the final dregs of our Starbucks beverages, we made our way back, detouring through a cemetery.

Latha Naomh Anndra

November 30: St. Andrew's Day. One of the largest holidays in Scotland. It was a brisk day but fighting the cold was totally worth it as we got to tour the Edinburgh Castle for free. Chaching! We totally saved 28 GBPs! And on the way up to the castle, we met a William Wallace impersonator who was the same guy that Pam, Jesse's sister, had met when she toured Edinburgh. (An added bonus was that we got to see his butt. Oh don't worry, there was a tattoo on it of the Scottish lion.) This castle is on a bedrock of history as the site it is on has been used since circa 100 BC and over the years since then, different castles and fortresses have been erected on the site. The current Edinburgh Castle was built in the 12th century, houses Royalty upon their visit, housed POWs since it's construction (the prison block doors show their flags, ships and names scratched into it's surfaces) and currently houses the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny (great movie too). After seeing everything the castle had to offer, we went to the Scottish National Museum with Jesse's friends. Unfortunately, the camera was dead by then, so you'll just have to take our word for it when we say that it was really cool (especially the kids/robots section). And finally, after a long day, it was time for another tearful goodbye as Jesse had to say goodbye to Andrew and Cory. Sad times.--Colleen

Saying goodbye to Jamie...

It was a beautiful, but sad day in Scotland as Jamie and I spent our last day together in Edinburgh. She was to depart that night on a night bus to London with Vanessa, while Jesse and I were to continue our tour of Edinburgh. So, after experiencing a full Scottish breakfast, we walked up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle to take a few pictures of the outside and then we headed to the Winter Festival to meet up with Jesse's Praire Bible School chum, Andrew, who was touring Europe with his friend, Cory. It was a cute seeing Jesse cry tears of joy as he finally had male company. Anyways, we went out for dinner, just the six of us, and then--regrettably--we ate deep-fried Mars bars. After that experience, we went back to our hostel for our final hoorah and farewell beverage to send Jamie and Vanessa off. Meanwhile, Jesse, Andrew and Cory went to see Immortals.--Colleen

The Search for Ol' Nessy

Destination: Loch Ness. Our goal: capturing--with camera or net--the infamous Loch Ness monster. We set out early Monday morning on a tiny tour bus driven by a twenty-something competent bus driver who told us the history and played us the songs of the Highlands. The stories of Robbie Burns and William Wallace and the bloody fight against the bloody English were quite interesting. It made Jesse and I want to watch Braveheart again, even though the driver did point out several discrepancies in the movie. But hey! That's Hollywood for you. Anyways, we stopped in Fort Augustus for lunch and Jesse--being Jesse--decided that he had to dip a toe into Loch Ness. While Jesse and I put different phalanges into Loch Ness with a very cold Vanessa looking on, Jamie was taking a boat trip around Loch Ness hunting for Ol' Nessy. Unfortunately the famed monster was nowhere to be seen that day, but it gave us just one more reason to go back to the bonnie Highlands of Scotland.

Neeps and Tatties, Neeps and Tatties.

We arrived in this chilly capital of Scotland to blue skies and a temperature that reminded us of what we were missing back home. All of us were kinda tired after not sleeping on the bus, which resulted in us not going out of our hostel until the late afternoon. With the silhouette of Edinburgh Castle on the darkening skyline, we walked around the Winter Wonderland Festival that was going on for the entire month of December. It was so nice! and then we went on a ghost tour in the vaults beneath the city. It was scary, I am not going to lie. First, we went to a church which was the site of a number of accusations against supposed witches. No big deal. Until, we toured a room full of torture devices (ball breakers, cat o' nine tails, etc. The usual). And finally, we went to the vaults. I gripped Jesse's hand the whole time we were down there, except when we were made to stand with girls on one side and guys on the other in a particularly spooky crypt. Thankfully, Jamie's friend, Vanessa, kindly offered her hand for me to grip during that freaky-deaky time. Sleep did not come easily that night.--Colleen

Oh and sorry that the pictures are all of me. In my defence, Jesse was hogging the camera.

The People Look Like Ants!

Our last day in London. By this time, Jesse and I were old pros at getting around the city and we wanted to go out with a bang. We made a list of all the things we wanted to do and that wouldn't cost us money and then we turned around, threw it away, and did everything that wasn't on the list. Instead of going to the Tower of London, we went to Tower Bridge and finally toured that bridge; instead of going to the British Museum, we conquered The Monument by climbing all 311 of it's steps to the top for a beautiful panoramic view; we gouged the London Eye; we gazed upon Leonardo daVinci's Last Supper at the National Gallery; and finally, we sat on the giant lions beneath Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. It was awesome. That night, we rode the night bus with Jamie and her friend, Vanessa, to Edinburgh where our adventures continued...

Stonehenge: Rocks.

After Trafalgar Square, we hopped a small tour bus and headed out to Stonehenge. It was a long two hour bus ride out to see these rocks enshrouded with mystery, especially with the super-loud Italians talking the whole way there and ya, they talked the WHOLE two hours back. When we first pictured Stonehenge, we pictured the stones as we had seen it in pictures, standing blissfully in a green field as sheep graze near by. However, when we actually went out to see it, we came face-to-face with reality: two highways on either side of this monument and the constant noise of traffic while we snapped photos of Stonehenge. On the plus side, we were given audio guides that helpe to drown out the noise of traffic and they explained the theories of the origin of Stonehenge and also the myths and legends surrounding the circle of stones (Aliens!). Oh, and yes, there were sheep grazing in the same field that we were in. But, despite the traffic, Stonehenge was beautiful to see at sunset. Totally worth it! (Especially with the hot chocolate and cupcake that we got at the end. Om nom nom)--Colleen

A Home fit for a Queen

We got off our tour bus at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard and hopefully catch a glimpse of the Queen peeking out from behind the curtains. Well, we did get to see the changing of the guard at least. It was quite an experience and here's how it went down: the guards marched around in an odd manner within the confines of Buckingham Palace, other guards escorted by a band and guys on horseback marched towards the Palace in order to change places with the guards who were previously guarding the palace. After that, we walked down a long street with lots of British flags lining it, past the Victorian Arch and onward to Trafalgar Square to catch our tour bus to Stonehenge.--Colleen

The Clock was Alive. I asked What it Ate.

One brisk morning, we hopped back on the tour bus to see more of bloggy London town. As you can see from our pictures, it was a beautifully sunny day and we were smiling. :) The really tall building in the picture is called "The Shard;" amd that's basically all we know about it. After going through a tunnel in the middle of the city, we drove over Tower Bridge, past the infamous Tower of London, past World War I and II memorials and onward to Big Ben. Big Ben is kinda hard to describe; it's a big tower with a large clock on it. Right beside Big Ben is Westminster Abbey, the site of the famous wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Good times. From there we drove to Buckingham Palace, the home of the Queen and --better yet-- her still single grandson, Prince Harry, but unfortunately, we didn't see either. --Colleen

Are you Gonna go my Way?!

Meh. No biggy. Toured London in the nippy weather with Jamie's two friends, Vanessa and Caitlin. This city is filled to the brim and overflowing with history; every building and every lane had a story to tell. We ate lunch in the famed Hard Rock Cafe--an eatery where rock legends come to eat and play. After lunch we walked through Hyde Park, the largest park in metropolitan London. At this incredible park, they had a Winter Wonderland Festival going on, featuring giant ferris wheels, talking trees, and several Santa Clauses. In the park there were several statues, including an incredibly naked statue of Achilles and another statue of St. George with a slayed dragon beneath the hooves of his horse. Both statues were made of French cannons captured from Napoleon during the Napoleonic War. Back on the bus tour, we passed several sweet and gnarly car dealerships for Porsche, Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Bentley (to name a few) that were situated on the bottom floor of office buildings. Next, we drove through Trafalgar Square, past the Nelson Monument; to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, with the famed London Eye just on the other side of the Thames; and through central London, past the Monument to the victims of the Great Fire of 1666 that burned for 4 days and nights and destroyed much of central London. We got off the bus at the London Tower in order to go on a boat tour down the Thames. We cruised down the Thames towards Big Ben, where we had to take the tube back to our hostel. London is quite a site to see at night, especially Big Ben with it's glowing clock face, and the London Eye, which lights up like a giant ferris wheel. Other sites that we saw throughout the day include the location of Playboy London, the Princess Diana memorial in Hyde Park, a very friendly squirrel and tons of water fowl.--[jesse and colleen]

Back in London

We're back in London. This time with Jamie and her two friends. We were in a hostel down the street from our old one, but with more experience. We traveled the underground like pro's and knew what we were doing. Not like last time. We made a list of places to visit, and took Jamie and friends around London bridge and tour bridge. We felt like tour guides.

Jesse Kisses a Castle.

On a grey-sky day, Jesse and I set out on a bus to Blarney Castle with a single goal of kissing the famous Blarney Stone. Blarney is a beautiful and very old area. The castle itself is roughly 600 years old and comes with tunnels/dungeons beneath the castle, an old watch tower, old battlements, a butt-load of history and of course, a poison garden. "Poison Garden?!" you say? No, I don't mean "poisson" garden for who would have a fish garden? That's just ridiculous! Silly people, don't you know that no castle is complete without its own poison garden? We first went beneath it, checking out where they kept their bad guys, then on to an old watch tower, and next the battlements and the poison garden. Finally, we went inside. After going through small stone doorways into small and large stone rooms and up a spiral stone staircase, we were at the top and we had some kissing to do. It was basically "wam bam thank you ma'am." It was over that quick--but, dont' get me wrong, it was still pretty neat. The view from the top of the castle is spectacular and the area around was a lovely shade of green. From the castle, we walked a short ways to an old Earl's house, but we couldn't go inside because it was an actual private residence. By then we were kinda tired so we didn't really care and hopped the next bus back to Cork.
----A little game for you guys is to see if you can spot the pigeon in one of our pictures. We didn't even see it until we went through the pictures for the blog.----
[Colleen]

Cork Again!

On blistery and snowy day, we arrived back in Cork to a chaotic scene of mounds of fresh snow and buried cars. Just kidding, there was no snow and I can't even remember what the weather was like that day. Anyways, we checked into our hostel, the Bru Bar and Hostel, and then went to see if we could find Jamie. We didn't find her, but we did find a fooseball table in Sober Lane and so we got to play against a fooseball champ and ended up beating him a few times. We played him the next night in a match for charity, but unfortunately, we lost twice to him but it was for a good cause so no worries. While in Cork, we went on several self-guided walking tours around the city, seeing things that we didn't get to see the first time we were there, like the big boat in the pictures; that wasn't there before. Also, we spent a lot of time just hanging out and relaxing.[colleen]

Dingle Aquarium

On our last day in Dingle, Jesse really wanted to go to the Aquarium to see the penguins. So we went and spent a good few hours looking at all the exotic and funny looking fish, the scarred sea turtle who was sharing a tank with some sharks and sting rays, and of course, the nutty penguins. The penguins were pretty cool to see as they swam back and forth in their tank and we even got to see them eat some delicious little fishies. After the aquarium visit, we hopped a bus and headed to Cork.

Biking through the Dingle Peninsula

On a beautiful sunny November day, we visited Foxy John's pub and bike rental shop (in which atleast 3 old men were drinking Guinness at 9:30 in the morning) and rented two bikes. From that shop in Dingle, we proceeded to bike 30km in the next 5 hours. It was a beautiful and very scenic bike ride along the windy and narrow roads of the Dingle Peninsula. Our first stop was a nice, white sand beach on Ventry Harbour for a walk and a few pictures and our next stop was along the road, when Jesse randomly decided to climb the grass covered rock bank that was taller than me. To our surprise, there was a lovely 300ft cliff on the other side. Our other stops included feeding a donkey, visiting an ancient rock fortress and various other spots that allowed us a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean. We took our lunch upon a gorgeous white sand beach that was quite private, though quite windy. The wind was quite bad that day and as a result, we went faster walking then we did petaling, even when we were going downhill. The wind was against us for about 3/4 of our journey; even so, we did manage to make it to a very, very old church and walked through its graveyard of faded and illegible headstones. Again, something that predates our country by a good few hundred years. We made it back around 4:30 in the afternoon and finished our day with a pint in a local pub and some steamy home-made spaghetti in our bellies.--[Colleen]

Dingle!

Dingle is the best town in all of Ireland. Honestly, it's that awesome. It's got a funny name (haha "dingle") and some of the most wonderful landscapes we have ever seen. Not only does it have long fields of green grass, but it also has 300ft cliffs right beside the road and stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. It's a very colourful little Irish town, that we quite enjoyed. The whole time we were there, Jesse kept looking for Dingle berries. The dolphin in the picture is "Fungie," a local legendary dolphin that is said to have been in the area for about 80 years guiding ships to safe harbour in Dingle Bay. Also, the pictures in the beginning of the slideshow are of Killarney and then our bus ride through the Dingle Peninsula to Dingle town.--Colleen

Ring of Kerry Tour

From Killarney, we took a nice bus ride (though the bus was quite small) through the Kerry Peninsula. There's not much there; just a lot of farms and small towns. All sort of touristy. The bus took us along Galway bay and along the Atlantic coast, between Kerry and Galway. The wind was up something fierce that day; you could literally see the wind moving along the water. It made for some cool waves, though. While on the tour, we saw some nice green farms, which seems quite peculiar, seeing as it was November. We got off at specific view-points, where we could see for miles down the Atlantic, and down large valleys. We stopped once for some chowder, and further down the road we found a windy hilltop. On top of this hill was a parking lot that stood between the mountains and the ocean. The wind was howling so bad that day, that it shook the bus, and when we stood up, we were forced back. I lost a good hat that day to the wind, despite Colleen vehemently warning me. --Jesse

Muckross Bike Ride

Right after Ross Castle, we took a long and windy road around Middle Muckross Lake, that also took us across 2 bridges. There were amazing trees, vines, shrubberies and trails that wind throughout the National Park. It was not unlike Vancouver Island. The lake was really really cold, though and so I didn't get to go swimming. The ride went on without a hitch. We visited an abbey with an incredibely old Yew tree that was some three hundred years old, and beside it was a graveyard with equally antiquated gravestones. Next, after a leisurely bike through some of the greenest and most tree-filled landscapes we have seen since Canada, we found some stone bridges that looked ancient. And, weirdly enough, we found some random palm trees in a deciduous forest. We took a break by a meeting of the waters which had an incredible view, and after biking further down the road, we eventually came to the beautiful Torc Waterfall. Unfortunately, my camera died just as we got to Muckross House and so we have no pictures of it whatsoever. It was quite the bike ride, with a large portion of the trip being beside cars which drove on very tiny lanes very fast. --Jesse

Ross Castle

After a night in Killarney, we rented a couple of bikes and set off on a bike ride that would take us 5 to 6 hours. Our first stop: Ross Castle. It was a tall and imposing figure set on rocks, on the edge of the lake. Near the castle, in Lough Leane, I made a friend: a playful little otter. The Castle itself was fitted with some sweet old cannons,but unfortunately, the castle was locked for the season. The castle itself had no ceiling, so it wasn't too hard to figure out what was going on inside and it hadn't been in use for several hundred years. We weren't there in tourist season, so we walked around it and on top of it, and all over the walls. It was loads of fun, and a leisurely amount of riding from the city. Only, that wasn't the rest of our riding for the day, we had only just begun.--Jesse

Killarney!

Ah, Killarney. Also a very nice city and very colourful too. It was homey and small and farmers and sausages and things. (To quote Jesse). We were so fortunate and had beautiful weather in Killarney; I'm talking clear blue skies, birds singing, walks in parks and random people just running in the streets with numbers on their chests. It's pretty much summer here! We stayed in Killarney for 4 nights at a pretty decent hostel where again, we were able to cook our own food and eat too many potatoes in one sitting. Good times. It was also in Killarney that Jesse and I went to the cinema and watched his now favourite movie, Immortals. Honestly, he would not stop talking about it and begged me to go and see it again! But, I'll admit, it was a pretty sweet movie.

Silent Disco!

On a fine Tuesday night, Jesse and I decided to go to a Silent Disco. I know, I know, it's sounds like an oxymoron, for how can a disco ever be silent?! But it was awesome! and not silent at all! A silent disco is when everybody is given headphones and with those headphones, they are given the option of listening to either DJ A or DJ B, who are on the stage for all the people to see. And so, though we can hear no music when we take off the headphones, we can sure here everybody singing along to it, whether they can sing or cannnot. It's hilarious!! Unfortunately, Jamie had to leave that morning, and so she wasn't able to go to the silent disco, though she would've loved to have gone! Sad boosh.

Galway!

This is Galway. A colourful and beautiful city on the east coast of Ireland, just overlooking the Irish Sea/Atlantic Ocean. Galway has streets full of colourful and really neat and maze-like pubs. Our hostel was awesome! We stayed at the sleepzone in Galway, and we were able to cook some great food. Also, one morning we went out for a Full Irish Breakfast. We thought it was the best place ever and can't wait to go back. Our pictures are over a 2 day period, just in case you get confused by the different sunsets and periods of darkness and are thinking to yourselves, "Wow, can't these people just organize their photos already?!"

The Cliffs of Insanity

This was our third tour out of Galway. It was a lovely city, with a lot of neat places in it, but the real beauty is the countryside. Lots of history, involving a lot of castles. But more excitingly was the natural beauty and geological formations. I know what you're thinking, "Oh, Jesse. Geological formations are boring." Oh, no. Not when you consider the 702 ft high Cliffs of Moher. It was big. Super high. We took a tour bus that passed through Galway Harbour, and rounded around the Burren. Lots of rocks and more uninteresting geological formations. When Cromwellian English forces tried to conquer the Irish peoples, they said "There's not enough water to drown a man, not enough trees to hang a man, and no dirt to bury him. The Irish can keep the Burren." It's not a nice place, but people still call it home. It's a short drive from the ocean, but there's not enough grass to graze sheep. Anyways, after passing through the barren Burren, we stopped at an old pagan grave thingy (that really just looked like a table) made from slabs of stone, stacked precariously in the middle of the Burren. The photos are near the end of the slide show. After the Burren, we came to a fairy circle. It was a defensive structure of stone in the stone age, but became a circular grassy knoll some centuries ago.

Conemara continued!

Here are the tail-end of our photos :)