Goodbye Dublin/Welcome Home (New York City)

It was an overcast day but I think that's apropos for the day I leave Ireland and head home. It was cold at all and Mom, Jean Marie and I head out for a nice walk through town. We went in and out of some of the wonderful shops and we even found some nice little things at a few of the many charity thrift shops that they have in this city. It's nice to be able to support a worthy charity and find a beautiful brand new, made-in-Italy, scarf for only 5 Euros.

We had a lovely lunch at Sophia's which is a family owned business named after the owners daughter Sophia and also, from what Sophia herself told us, it's named after their families hometown in Bulgaria, Sophia. I love family owned restaurants because the food is usually so much better because it's made with pride.

They dropped me off at the airport with plenty of time to spare and I was home in New York City before I knew it. Aer Lingus now has personal TV's at each seat so I watched 3 movies and we were landing before I could finish the fourth.

I recieved a heartfelt greeting from our doorman and some of our neighbors who were chatting in the lobby sitting area. It was so great to see my aunt Arleen after 3 months and we chatted and caught up on everything. Zoe, the new family member and Zaboo were lounging with Arleen on her bed so I took a picture. Now Zoe, was happy enough to see me even though I was greeted at first with some barking but Zaboo wanted to have nothing to do with me. Actually he let out a scream that I've never heard before and that's pretty difficult to say since he screams a lot about everything and anything that displeases him. I know it will take days before he warms up to me or it will just be when he wants something like a snack that he'll fain love.

It's great to be home and already with the hustle and bustle of the city I feel like I never left. I guess it's a good thing to be able to acclimate right away to wherever you are. For now I have no idea what my next step is but I'm beyond grateful for having had this opportunity to study abroad and for all my incredible classmates, teachers and students who have all become dear friends now.

And since it's January in New York one must expect that it will be cold and as you can see from the pictures of the fountain in Bryant Park the water, which amazingly is still coming out of the fountain, froze as it made it's way down the sides. Behind the fountain is the Bryant Park skating rink and despite the cold there are hundreds of people out enjoying themselves. But that's New York City, not much will stop a New Yorker from enjoying themselves and that's a very good thing. But truly, I just want to scream BRRRRRRRRRR!!!! most days this time of the year.

Goodbye Liverpool/Welcome back to Dublin

It was a bright sunny day as we said goodbye to the beautiful city of Liverpool. I really enjoyed our stay there and the newly refurbished waterfront is a perfect place to stay.

We got to the ferry port very early around 7:30am and we sailed at 10:00am on the dot. The sun had already risen and I got a lovely shot of the Liverpool skyline as we sailed off.

The trip was very relaxing and we rested, read, had a nice lunch watching the water and simply enjoyed not running around. We crossed the sometimes choppy waters of the Irish Sea in only 7 hours.

As we arrived in Dublin we had a spectacular sunset to greet us and there was an adorable little red lighthouse right as you approach the dock.

We are staying in the Camden Court Hotel in the heart of Dublin and it's really wonderful. When we arrived a group of about 32 New Yorkers had also arrived. They all work for a company that runs Irish Pubs in the US predominately in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Atlantic city. A very sweet man, Rich helped us with our luggage to our room and told us that they were all here as an incentive gift from their company where he is the Controller. It was nice to hear a New York accent after all these months.

We have an enormous room with three double beds and mom and I took a quick dip in the hotels pool before we all headed out for a casual dinner and a walk around this charming old city.

Welcome Back to Liverpool (side trip Northern Wales - Chester)

I was beside myself with excitement when I woke up in the beautiful Dumbleton Manor and looked outside the windows to see the sun rising. Yes, I said sun. It was out there and I couldn't wait to throw on my clothes and get outside for a walk in the grounds. As you can see from the pictures the Manor's private lake was radiant as the sun peeked through the trees.

We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast in the formal dining room and the older lady who stopped off at our table last night joined us for a bit to chat but first she made a detour to the group of older men who were sitting at the table next to ours. The men were each wearing interesting socks with colorful garters (some included tassels) so you know I was totally intrigued by this. When the lady, and sadly I never got her name, came over to us I had to ask what the men were up to. Well, it turns out they meet up regularly at the Manor where they also have an extensive member base of current and prior UK postal workers and their families. These members meet for breakfast/lunch/high tea/dinner and then sit in the Manor library and play cards, just chat, walk the grounds or, in the case of these men, going hunting pheasant. Although I have a hard time with hunting at least these men do eat what they catch and I bet the pheasant aren't so easy to get. In the picture with mom holding the Timmys in the dining room you'll see one of the men with his garters in the background near the window.

This women whose name I don't know made us laugh though because she left to go and get ready to leave for a visit to her sick sister when she came bounding back and said "your little demon just ran up the stairs in case you wanted to know." Well I wasn't sure at first what she was talking about then I realized she thought those stuffed Timmys where in the dining room with us because the little blonde 4 year old girl who was terrorizing the Manor belonged with us. I had to inform her that the little terror belonged to the table behind us and that the Timmys were actually my moms. Craziness!

We got ready to check out and had a nice chat with the lovely staff and also the mother and father of the little terror. They also have a 1 year old son who was too cute. It turns out they were at the Manor for the night to celebrate the man's grandmother's 90th Birthday. I had seen the grandmother the night before and she was so lovely and impeccably dressed. I would never have guessed she was 90. When we got outside the grandmother was packing up her car. Yes, she still drives and she said that her car was now 6 years old and she was buying herself a new one for her birthday. He grand-daughter-in-law informed us that up until recently she was still going on vacation to Italy each year and renting cars then driving around the country side. She's a real spitfire and the only reason she can't drive in Italy during their vacation this year is because the rent-a-car agencies have an age limit for rentals. In the picture of the front of the Manor you'll see a group of people near the silver car at the front door and the women in the light color clothes is the 90 year old speed demon.

I left this beautiful place hoping that some day I'll have the pleasure of returning and mom even thinks it's a good place to celebrate her 80th b-day and 90th for that matter. Her is a picture of the entrance to the Manor drive. Originally when we first arrived yesterday, mom had thought that the little house to the left was where we were staying. It's cute but I think the Manor house was a better choice.

We drove for several hours and sadly our sun had left it rained most of the drive up North. We stopped briefly in Stoke-on-Trent just for a quick stretch of the legs and a pee break. It's a nice enough city with a large cathedral and some nice shopping streets but not necessarily a place I'd need to visit again.

We made it to Liverpool pretty quickly and checked into the Dolby Hotel on the waterfront near the Prince Albert Docks (which by the way are pretty incredible with lots of great new buildings, a beautiful Ferris wheel and great new shops and apartments.) Our hotel is actual nice for a budget place and although our room is small it is cute and I get to sleep on a top bunk which is something I haven't done since camp many, many years ago. The hotel is very clean and actually resembles a ship with little porthole windows and tiny, tiny bathrooms like on a cruise ship. Anyway, it's close to where we have to board the ferry boat tomorrow morning so we're happy and also the view from the restaurant in the lobby is great. We see the marina to our left and the Ferris wheel and other nice buildings to our right. As you can see from the pictures the sun made another appearance and again mom and I were happy.

We took a dry run to the ferry port to be sure we knew where we were going and then took a quick trip to Northern Wales and the town of Chester. I'd been looking forward to going there but wasn't sure it was going to be possible. It's a really charming old town with lots of beautiful black and white buildings dating back several hundred years. Apparently this town, like the Welsh towns in Southern Wales have Ancient Roman ruins as well. I didn't see any of them but I got some great pictures of the town center and if you want to visit a place where there's great old architecture, wonderful churches as well as great shopping this would be a perfect place.

I also got a cute picture of mom and Jean Marie in one of those quintessentially British phone booths.

On the way back we stopped off a discount outlet center about 5 miles out of Chester and 20 miles from Liverpool. We had a nice dinner at Franky & Benny's (a chain restaurant in England) and Jean Marie picked up a few things at the shopping center.

By the time we made it back to the Dolby Hotel it was dark but the lights in the Marina were beautiful and for a budget hotel it's really very nice.

Goodbye Wales/Hello England

WALES

Well there was no snow falling this morning when we awoke but it was still overcast. I knew that this was the normal weather for this part of the world and especially during this time of the year but it's still shocking after so many days to not have had sunshine.

It seems almost inconceivable and just one of many other reasons to love New York City. We may get a blizzard in winter but there is usually some bright sun in the cold forecast soon after. Along parts of the drive you could still see snow on the ground.

After another lovely breakfast at the hotel we thanked the extremely friendly staff and were on our way back to England. We stopped off first in Newport, Wales which is a large city with a university right on the River front and several new very modern bridges. This pictures is of one bridge that was recently built for pedestrians to get from the city center across the river and back to the more residential areas. We took a nice walk in the city center town which was bustling.

There are also some ancient Roman ruins right on the edge of the city center and directly outside the city limits. There are indications that the Romans were on this Island in just about every region you go to.

There were some lovely sculptures and old buildings. If you look at the picture of the main shopping street you'll be able to see mom and Jean Marie or at least the back of them. I like this little searching game "Where's mom."

ENGLAND (Tewksesbury)

We headed out of Wales over the expansion bridge that took us quickly into the England and on to Tewkesbury. The ride went faster than anticipated and we found ourselves in Tewkesbury city center in no time at all. It's a small town with a charming shopping street with small boutiques and some wonderfully looking tea rooms. It was cold so mom and Jean Marie didn't want to walk much through the town so we just stopped off at the Tewkesbury Abby. The following is a little brief history of the Abby from their web site: The Abby was founded in 1087 but building of the present building that we stood in was not started in 1102 and was then consecrated in 1121. Interestingly in 1540 after the parish was being dismantled and some other buildings sold off the parishioners got together and bought the church for 453 pounds. Thanks goodness for those loyal parishioners because it is a spectacularlar church and 470 years later it still is an operating Anglo-Catholic parish and this past Christmas Day BBC 1 broadcast mass from there. Here is one of the stained glass windows and just one of the many carvings that are all along the center vaulted ceiling. This carving is of the last supper. They set up in the main Isle of the Abby a mirror that is parrall with the floor but raised about 4 feet up on wooden legs. The mirror was so you could see the detailed carvings well without straining your neck. You really did get a better view of the details that way.

ENGLAND (Dumbleton Village)

We then were off to find our hotel in a village called Dumbleton (isn't that just too adorable) in the county of Gloucestershire. Well the 7 mile ride from Tewkesbury passed many lush green fields and some fabulous old homes and when we arrived in Dumbleton Center it was basically a store, a municipal type building and lots of homes. It's so tiny you may just miss it if you blink but I would say to anyone who comes this way don't blink because it's well worth the sight. Our hotel was just up the road and after entering the gate to the extensive grounds we drove along a winding path and came upon a gorgeous mansion. I feel so blessed to be able to stay here and thank goodness for Hotels.com because we would never have found it let alone got such an amazing deal without them.

We checked in and everyone was so friendly and welcoming and I was already beginning to feel like I was home. Mom thinks it will be difficult for me to leave this place tomorrow morning and I suppose it will be but for now I'm just so happy to enjoy an evening here. Dumbleton Hall Hotel is in an area known as the Cotswolds (apparently the lavender from this area is particularly fabulous.) The hotel is a traditional 19th Century Manor house (yes, I'm getting this off their web site) and is set on 19 acres of private gardens, woodlands and a private lake. The first hall dates back to 1534.

Mom and I after seeing our spacious room took a walk around the grounds because right next door is a field of crazing sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. You know how much I love the sheep and have wanted to pet one but alas they don't like people so they just walked off as we approached. Mom wanted pictures of her two stuffed Timmy sheep with the real ones so I managed to get them to stay on the fence and they look as if they are trying to escape. I even got a picture of mom holding the stuffed Timmys.

The gardener came over and offered to take a picture of the two of us and he was so sweet and said if we're up early in the morning he'd be happy to show us the grounds. Well early to Rob was like 7:00am and not only would it still be dark and cold out we it's just a bit too early for me. He was so sweet though and you can see him in a picture with me. I think mom was thinking he might be a good husband for me and he certainly did seem very nice. He's recently divorced and from our brief conversation I could sense his bitterness toward his ex. They both live in Tewkesbury and although it's a small town he tries to avoid her at all costs. Either way I don't think there was a love match made but it was a nice try on mom's part.

Mom and Jean Marie spent the next hour or so in the hotel while I took a lovely walk around the grounds and the little village. I stopped off at St. Peter's Church which according to the Dumbleton Village web page (yes they have their own web site) the church was mentioned in the Doomsday books and it's remaining original parts date back to the 1100's. The Church was closed when I went up to it but the outside is certainly impressive enough to make me happy I walked down to see it. There are grave stones all around the grounds of the church and although the church and it's grounds are pretty small and many of the grave stones are very old there are several people who were buried there as recently as 2008. The graves were adorned with flowers and holiday memorials from loved ones. This is a thriving village and I was fortunate to meet some of the locals. One very nice man walking his beautiful black Labrador retriever met me in the church grounds and told me a bit about the church and said I must return in May when all the flowers are in Bloom. I said God willing I will have that opportunity and he responded with "I use that saying a lot, God willing" and he wished me well. You can see him and the dog in one of the pictures of the church.

Just outside the church is an interesting and I believe once an operating fountain with special drinking troughs for the horses and at the top of this carved structure is a memorial to a Mr. Edward Holland dating from 1875 when he passed and the plaque near the top says it's dedicated to him by all his friends.

Then stopped off at the one store which seems to sell art and other handmade creative goods. The store was closed but there was this sign on it advertising the coffee hour the local community center would now be having each week so that locals can come together and enjoy each others company. I just love this place!

I took a turn on to Dairy Lane and found myself after a bit of a walk back at the grounds for the hotel. But first I passed the Village Hall which dates from 1899 and is a local meeting place (for the new coffee hour as well) and also a daycare center. Right before you enter a small path to get back to the hotel there is a left turn on to the smallest part of Dairy Lane and there are three homes there and this sign tells you their names. How could I pass up taking a picture. I feel right at home in this village and saw many locals out and about taking a stroll arm-and-arm with their loved one, walking dogs, playing with the kids, working in the garden and just doing the day-to-day things that we all need to do. Most everyone greeted me with a hearty hello and cheers.

The only living things not so happy I was wondering around were the sheep and as I made my last pass by their field I got a strange look from the black one who clearly wanted me to know he was watching me. The gardener Rob said the black ones were the men and their job was to keep the sheep population booming and that the one that was clearly limping and exhausted had been working very hard today. I'm really kind of glad we missed that sight.

I took some wonderful pictures of the hotel grounds and the view of the hotel as I approached the final little hill. This is a magical place with sheep, some cats, friendly people and I have a feeling if these walls could talk a great many fabulous stories of great people. There is even a news article framed in one of the halls talking about Queen Victoria's visit and how she presented the book of Remembrance from the Post Office Fellowship (which apparently owned or used the building) and I think it is presently still kept in this building.

Mom was relaxing in the grand foyer by the warm inviting fire place. I think you can see she's also very happy here but I think most people would be.

We had an incredible 3-course dinner in the formal dining room where we met a lovely older women who was eating alone. She's staying at the hotel because she's been visiting her sister who lives down the street each day. Her sister had a stroke and is recovering.

After dinner we sat in the library and had tea and coffee. It was a truly wonderful day.