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Sunday, May 16, 2010

England/Ireland

Back in 2007 I went to England for a bit then off to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day in March. It was amazing! I only had 5 days in London before we left for Ireland but I really enjoyed it. I remember doing the crash course sight seeing tour of London and hopping on a big red double decker bus and seeing The Tower Bridge and Tower of London and Big Ben and all the typical tourist sites. I also did a really awesome walking tour all about The Beatles and the music of Britain. I got my picture taken walking across Abbey Road just as the The Beatles did in the 60's right by Apple Studios and all the traffic stopped for me! ( It is still a functional road).

While on the walking tour I met an older American couple in the tour with me and we started chatting. They asked where I was from and I said Texas then they asked where at. I told them then asked where they were from. They said "Orange Texas" Well that is where my grandparents lived for 30 or 40 years. So I told them my full name and the name of my grandparents. It turns out this guy went to med school with my grandfather! It really is a small world huh? that was really neat

The only other funny thing I can remember is there was a Brazilian camera crew at Apple Studios for some reason and I guess because of my accent they decided to interview me since I wasn't British. So he asks me what football team I support and of course being a true Texan I say "Dallas Cowboys!" only  I didn't realise he was talking about soccer aka "football" for the rest of the world and it was a funny mistake we all got a good laugh out of it.  I had some great hosts there and they took good care of me. I would LOVE to go back to England again and take a proper tour of England and see more than just London.

After that, we flew over to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day on Ryan Air ( a budget airline in Europe) and this was my first experience with a true budget airline. I still don't know how this happened but I remember accidentally paying extra for "Priority Boarding" I didn't even know what that meant but basically I got to board the aircraft first and get to my assigned seat first lol. It was nothing special and I remember it cost me quite a bit along with all the other fees and taxes there was. Ryan Air charges you for EVERYTHING! This is the airline that was considering charging you to use the toilet on the plane! We got to Dublin safe and in one piece but they sure tried to nickel and dime us the whole way and we didn't get a single thing on the plane if we didn't pay for it. But I guess that system is working for Ryan Air because they still do it. But once we got to Dublin it was amazing! The whole city was alive with celebration! All the pubs were packed to the rafters! I got to see Irish dancers (think River-dance Style) had some amazing food and drinks and also got to go on a Guinness Brewery Tour and a Jamison Whiskey Tour. I loved all the accents and heritage in Ireland.

Again, I didst get to spend enough time there and I would LOVE to go back to Ireland and take a proper tour but at least I was with a great group of friends and got to enjoy myself.I do have a funny story about Ireland though. I remember where we were staying there was a corner store/petrol station close by that had breakfast food there. So every morning I would walk down there and grab some breakfast. So the first morning went like this, I ordered my breakfast of a bacon and egg roll I think. The girl behind the counter said something to me but I couldn't understand what she said so I just said yes. Then she hands me something that is totally not what I ordered  and totally not a bacon and egg roll. Well I didn't want to bother with it so I just took what I was given. The next day, same story! I order and again I get something I didn't order. It was only until the 3rd day did I find out they were speaking Gaelic which is an old language and is not even close to English! No wonder I couldn't understand them  lol. To this day I still don't know if they were doing it just to mess with me or if they really spoke no English.


Ok, time for my usual disclaimer: I have tried to remember everything but I am sure I am forgetting some amazing stuff so forgive me and my bad memory if I leave it out. -Tyler

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