Home at last: Part 1

I tell you, it is good to be home. We have seen many amazing things, and have gotten very good at walking all day in 100 degree heat on only a bottle of water and a few sandwiches, and we are dirt broke. Our trip was unforgettable, though, and we will always remember it.

So! My computer is very slow at uploading pictures, so I will post all those promised pics from our last few days in a couple of installments-- yes, I'm lazy, but aren't 3 posts better than one? I thought so. :-)

This was my last view of Urban Junction, after my lovely 7 weeks.

First stop-- Pompeii!

There were murals like this everywhere-- it was incredible how well preserved they were, and also how detailed and numerous.

Another view down a street. Pompeii is surprisingly large, and you can get a good sense of what it must have been like in its prime.
Another mural. I think he just burped or something.
The loo.
Now we are in Rome! This is an archway in the ruins of the Forum, which was also a stunning venue.
A very dark and scary tunnel, which had mangy pigeons and everything. I had to document it to show how brave Whitney was in traversing it.
The Colosseum.
A Whitney, and the Colosseum.
Another building in the Forum. I am always amazed at how advanced the Roman society was-- consider that this building is at least 2000 years old or so.
A good vantage of the Forum. See what I mean about advanced?
Now in the Vatican City, and St. Peter being his fierce self.
One of many beautifully ornate ceilings.
The masterpiece that is Michelangelo's Pieta.
You have no idea how big and overwhelming St. Peter's is until you go inside of it.
St. Peter tut-tutting some sinners.
A giant pinecone. I needn't say more.
A glorious ceiling in the Vatican Museum.

And that is a brief rundown of our time in Pompeii and Rome. Tomorrow, we bring you Florence and Paris! And, the last day will be Barcelona and Madrid. Stay tuned, folks!

-Duncan (and Whitney)

Madrid, and our last day abroad

So, Madrid brought our tour of Europe to an end. It was a sort of bittersweet one- we are for all intensive purposes penniless at this point, due to a few unfortunate... ripoffs-- but for the most part, our experience has been amazing.

Today, we went to the Prado Museum, which was a pretty spectacular facility. The art was splendid, and we both found much to enjoy. The gift shop, sadly, lacked any of the artworks that we found as our favorites, but it was still great. Besides, since it was a Sunday, entrance was FREE!

(Dad Williams- Whitney is convinced that you would be in love with the works of El Greco, particularly his pieces with the human figure. She tried to find something at the gift shop, but eevrything was in Spanish, so she got mad at it and gave up. Sorry!)

Then we wandered around the town a bit, rented a small rowboat on a pond of sorts in a grand park, and then just tried to enjoy our last bits of time abroad. Whitney discovered another alcohol she likes, which is Sangria-- take note of that, everyone.

So, we have a flight to catch at 10 in the morning, and so have to get up early and head off to catch our plane. We have a long day of travel ahead of us, so send us your prayers-- ours go out to Nicole and Mom Meadows on their respective returns home-- and we will all be back together tomorrow night.

Much love, and many thanks for all your help and support during our trip,

Duncan and Whitney, world travellers and poor people :)

P.S. We will be doing one last blog post-return, chock-full of all the photos we couldn´t upload during the last few days!

I'm in mourning

Rupert is, I think, officially dead. I am quite sad, as he was my darling laptop... not to mention all my photos and music may be gone. He isn't even turning on at this point. Or, he is, but the screen stays black and an awful grinding noise comes forth from his gut. Not good, not good at all. So, everyone needs a moment of silence for him, and a prayer that I have a friend that can recover hard drives for free...

Other than that, the trip is going quite well. We made our second visit to Guell Parc this morning and saw the famous Gaudi mosaics... it was quite grand.

Then we headed for the train station and made the four hour journey to Madrid. Once we found our hostel, we hit the streets. We stopped at a Ben and Jerry's in the Plaza Mayor and just enjoyed the environment... singing, liveliness and all. Then we visited the Plaza del Sol and wandered the streets for a bit. We definitely like Madrid thus far. There is a free tour offered tomorrow that we are considering... and then tomorrow night is reserved for tapas and drinks!

That is all for now!

We'll see you Monday!!

Hola de Barcelona!

Hello everyone!

We are here in Barcelona, finally in a real room (we've slept on trains for the past two nights). We've had a chance to charge Rupert the laptop, so we thought we'd fill fill everyone in on the latest happenings...

Sadly, Rupert the laptop is having some issues. I think he may be on his last leg. I think the world travels just may have pushed him over the edge of long term functioning. He has been making some odd noises every so often, and the first few times I tried to turn him on, the screen was just black. I thought maybe the battery was so depleted that he just needed a good charge, but then once I got him turned on, he would either go to a black screen or just shutdown. Now the battery is somewhat charged, and he is no longer plugged into the wall, and he seems to be going a bit better. I'm leaving the details because I know Dad will look it up :) Anyhow, pray Ruppy makes a safe trip home so I can back up all of my photos! Duncan, luckily, still has a lot of his on his memory card, so if all else fails, we shall have some! (Okay, as I finished typing this, Rupert did the same thing, just a black screen, so I had to move to a computer in the lobby)...

I'm going to first talk about Paris.
I absolutely loved Paris. I never pictured myself a Parisian kind of girl, but I totally am. Once our train arrived, we strolled down the river for a little while. The weather was just grand- sunny, but not as hot as Florence. We got a good look at Notre Dame (from the outside) and made our way to the Louvre. Duncan wanted me to see how expansive the building was- which was mind-boggling. Then I decided that I couldn´t be that close to the darn thing without going in. So we bit the bullet and saw as much as we could in three hours. You need at least a week to see the whole museum correctly, but what an amazing treat it was to see all of these masterpieces I learned about in Art History! I was astonished and totally in love. Following the Louvre, we wandered through some parks with sculpture gardens, got a few good views of the tower and the arch, and just enjoyed the day. Now I wish that we had allotted more time for Paris, but just getting a little taste was enough to make me want to go back!

Now, here is Duncan to talk about the lovely Barcelona-- which, for the small bit we saw, was amazing.

Especially, in my mind, the famous cathedral put into motion by Gaudi, the Sagrada Familia. It is still being constructed, having been started over 100 years ago, but despite the cranes towering alongside the spires and the cobwebs of scaffolding hugging the inside, the sheer presence of the place was breathtaking. I stood in awe, mouth wide, at the overwhelming, naturalistic openness inside and the madness of the engineering it must take to construct such a peice of beautiful architecture. I told Whitney that, whatever it takes, we have to attend the first service held there after its completion, 30 years or so from now.

After that, we went to Gaudi Park, from where you get a sweeping view of the city, which is huge, and packed tight. We didn´t realize that the famous mosaic benches were just over the hill, so we will try and return there tomorrow morning, before we catch our train to Madrid.

After that, at Whitney´s bequest we headed to amble on the Ramble, a street full of vendors´ tents, street performers, and open-air tapas bars. Sadly, due to the tight limit on our budget, we were not able to enjoy some of Spain´s traditional fare, but if our money holds out until madrid we will blow it all there on tapas and Sangria! In the meantime, we decided to just hit up a McDonald´s, as all Whitney was really concerned with was eating outside. Yes, we came all the way to Barcelona for a Big Mac.

I have to brag about Whitney-- she ordered our train tickets entirely in Espanol, for which I was very proud of her. Me, however...

So, we ended the night sitting on the patio, with me drinking a 1 Euro beer from- get this- a vending machine, and just enjoying the weather. We are ready to be home, but are at the same time getting used to the traveller´s lifestyle.

Hope all are well, we miss and love you, and will see you Monday night!

Whitney, featuring Duncan

A longer update

Hello everyone!

We found an internet cafe in the Florence train station, and as we have a few hours to kill before our train arrives, we decided to do a better update!

Our plans have changed a bit. We decided to go to Paris instead of Nice. The timing just seemed better, and as we both got a bit sunburned yesterday, the beach no longer sounded quite as appealing. We also thought we might try to hit Versailles, but we shall see what times allows. I think we will have to miss the Louvre as it would just be a cruel tease to only see a few hours worth. On that note, we did get into the Ufffizi today! We waited in line for about an hour and a half, not too bad considering how long the line was. The art was amazing! We both enjoyed it a lot. It was a grand way to say ciao to Florence.

Our accomodations have been a slight upgrade at this hotel. Though still in a tent, it is more of a canvas room with an actual door. It is blazing hot during the day, but it actually gets a little chilly at night. It has been quite comfortable. Sadly, there is no pool at this one, so we haven't been able to cool down quite as easily as we did at Rome.

In other news, based on my poor decision, we walked into town the LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG way. We didn't realize it was the long way until the way up. The way down was quite an enjoyable walk, in the shade and all downhill. But, after six hours of constant walking, we were tired and that hill was a killer. Last night we went for a view of Florence at dusk (our campsite is on top of hill with a great view of the city). We walked about a block to try to get a better view and saw another path into the city, probably half the distance of our earlier walk. Oh well, good exercise I guess (even though I don't think we really need it at this point!).

This morning as we were packing up, a little Italian woman knocked on our tent and wanted to clean. She was speaking to us completely in Italian, and somehow we managed to have a conversation with her. We told her we were leaving in a few minutes, and somehow she communicated that she would give us a ride to check-out in her golf cart. Then she told us to lock our door... how we understood this, I still don't know. She also continued to talk to us the entire ride up to check-out. Her son is studying in London, but that was about the extent of what we could pick up. Funny, but a good time.

We are starting to feel the constant going; we're tired! But tonight we are hanging out on the train, a good chance to rest. We are learning to eat less and not complain about the weight of our luggage as much. We are also embracing the rejuvenation effects of proper hydration.

We love you all much, and hope to be hearing your voices soon!

Love,
Duncan and Whitney

P.S. Southwood- sorry you broke your tailbone. I definitely need to hear more about that later :) I said a prayer for you in a Cathedral yesterday- hope the trip is everything you were hoping for, I love you much and miss you a lot.

P.P.S. Mom Meadows-- you had better be taking a lot of pictures! Have a safe trip home.

A Quick Update

We only have a few minutes for an update- but we are in Florence and having a grand time! We actually did do Rome in a day, and we have spent all of today walking... and walking... and walking some more around Florence. I think our favorite thing was the Santa Maria Novella Cathedral. Look it up, it was amazing. (We cannot upload pictures because of a shortage of battery supply and the lack of time for the internet). The lines to see the major art galleries are OUT OF CONTROL here. They stretch on and on, so we are not sure if we will actually get to see the David or all of the cool art in the Uffuzi, but we are dedicating tomorrow to trying.

We leave for Nice tomorrow, and then we are on to Barcelona the next day! We are not sure when we will be able to update, but we wanted to let you know that though tired, and very HOT, but truly enjoying ourselves!

Dad(s), you need to come here. Dad Meadows, we were not sure if you had been, but we figured that you had visited Italy in your travels. Dad Williams, you better get over here! You do not have a choice, it is a must. It will blow your mind!!!!

We have to run, love you all!

Duncan and Whitney

Today is MUCH better

Greetings from Roma!

Today has been much better than yesterday… much, much better. Last night while we were trying to fall asleep, we were brainstorming ways to get home sooner. Luckily, things worked out better today. Duncan is my hero as he has taken care of navigating all the trains and whatnot.

But let’s start at the beginning.

We left for the Pompeii ruins around 8 am this morning. Visiting Pompeii was one of my dreams- and well worth that honor. We opted to just walk around and explore on our own. It was amazing! See the preserved artwork was astounding! We only spent about three hours there. The Italian heat is a big change from Dublin rain, but the heat is more bearable than the steamy humidity at home. We’ve been drinking lots of water (Mom, you’d be proud).

We made our train for Rome, no problem. It was only a two-hour ride that passed quite pleasantly. Duncan slept half the way.

A shuttle bus picked us up and brought us to the campsite. After dumping our stuff, we immediately hit the pool. Yes, there is a pool here, and it was amazingly refreshing to take a dip. It was quite crowded and a couple was haphazardly hitting a ball around us, but still just grand.

Then we cleaned up a bit and enjoyed an Italian dinner at the restaurant on site- Duncan had pizza and I had lasagna. All was very tasty (and sooooooo much cheaper than Dublin; we both ate for €15)!

We also bought a €2.50 bottle of wine which we plan to drink all of, if possible, tonight so that we don’t have to carry it around tomorrow. But what better way to wait to see the Pope than drinking straight from a bottle of vino? Just kidding, we bought plastic cups… and we’re only drinking as much as we see fit tonight.

But, we’re off to watch the sunset and drink that wine. Thanks for prayers, as I am sure they helped make today go much smoother than yesterday.

Love you all!

Duncan and Whitney

P.S I would like to say this trip has made me less high-maintenance about… a lot. I am no longer a snob to tap water, I’ll take whatever I can get. I am sleeping in a tent, and glad to be… and I didn’t wash my hair this morning. I’m a new woman! ☺

From my last day at work- Helen, me, Fiach and Steve

A view of the Alps from the plane

Pompeii

Duncan at Pompeii

And the darn volcano that did it (Jen, I imagined you up there when I saw it)

Duncan swiping water from Pompeii

A dragon of sorts on the wall

These were some really neat tiles

Gorgeous trees...

A mural we found that seemed to depict the birth of Venus

A really neat mosaic on the floor of a room at Pompeii

One last view of some ruins before we left

Here we are after our dip in the pool outside our humble abode

I'm proving that we're staying in something the length of my armspan

Getting ready to go out for dinner

Oh My Freakin' Gosh

So, the language barrier... sucks.

Thus far, our experiences on the world traveling have been a bit... crappy. We arrived at the Dublin airport two hours ahead of schedule (so four hours before our flight) in order to share a taxi to split the cost. Somehow we managed to kill the time with reading or playing cards.

The flight itself was quite grand. Flying over the Alps was AMAZING! We tried to take pictures, but none could really capture what we were seeing. I definitely want to go to Switzerland now. We also had a female pilot, which I don't think I have ever had before. The flight was only three hours and passed pretty quickly.

Then we arrived in Italy, and that is where our problems began. We waited at baggage claim for a little over an hour.. an hour! No reasons, just everyone standing around for an hour. We had a fear that we would again lose our luggage, and as we are moving on tomorrow, we were a bit worried about it catching up with us. But it finally came!

So, as it was getting later, we did find English-speaking persons at the info desk at the airport. They directed us a bus that would get us to the main train station, from which our directions to the hostel started. We made it to the station okay- but then all hell broke loose. Well, not really. We waited for a train at one terminal, but all the trains that came were direct to Pompeii, and not what we wanted. Then we tried the Metro, but we had no idea what line to get on. Then we asked some police to point us to a bus- one happened to speak English (thank Jesus) and pointed us to where we could catch a bus. After standing around for about half an hour and realizing that we had no idea what we were doing, we broke down and decided to get a taxi. We were warned that they rip off tourists... and they did. €40 later, we got to Portici- but it didn't really feel safe standing outside at the bus park at 11 pm not knowing any Italian, so I'll accept a €40 bill. However, he dropped us off at a round about... and we still had to wander around to find our hostel. After taking a wrong turn, we had an Italian man chase us down saying stuff in Italian. He pointed down a scary road, and Duncan started to follow him...

Ok, here's where I have to interject, so that it doesn't seem like I am leading Whitney into harrowing and irresponsible danger at every turn. let me begin by saying that I am helpless here- I don't know who to trust and who to be wary of, and speaking none of the language doesn't help. And, as Whitney has appointed me the leader around here, it fell on me to decide how to proceed.

Now, if you are in a completely strange town at 11 at night, and an old man approaches you and starts gesturing down a dark alley and trying to say something to you, your first instinct is to get the hell away. Like... in Atlanta, for instance. Stranger danger, and all that. Really, I am just confused by him, and the Italians won't let you go away until they are done with you. Turns out, he was indeed pointing us to the right place, which we never would have found by ourselves, and I felt mortified by my ignorance of his attempt to help. Luckily, an old Italian lady led us there, saving the day with the word "hostel?", and all was well.

I need to say, though, I hate being helpless here. The bus and train system is horribly confusing and the routes are nowhere to be comprehensibly found, and I feel like and idiot when all I can do is give a blank stare and point to my ear whenever trying to get help or solicit a service... I hope it gets better.

Anyway, having made it clear that I would never be led like a blind puppy to put Whitney in harrowing peril, here's her again!

I love that little Italian woman. She was like a grandmother, and I owe the sleep I get tonight to her. I'd also like to say that the door she pointed us through looked at first to lead to a carpark. I thought, oh hell, where are we? But luckily, we are safe... and about to go to bed, to head to Pompeii in the morning. Wish us luck, that it goes better than tonight has.

Oh Dublin, I miss thee!

Oh English, I miss thee too!

Second to Last Day at Work

Hello everyone!

Well, I am here by myself because Duncan is working late tonight at a "sports night" for the kids. He should be home in an hour or so though. However, I guess the update is left to me!

Firstly, I had some very entertaining conversations with my coworkers about American things. We talked about American tv shows and how many commercial breaks there are. Helen said she didn't know how we watched tv that way, and that often times American shows would run for 40 minutes on Irish tv (meaning we lose 20 minutes to commercials when we're viewing). I mentioned that some people watch the Super bowl just for the commercials, and everyone in the office was outraged. They thought that was ridiculous. Helen said she watched the Super bowl a few years ago and that it was horrendously boring. Then we talked about how American sports are boring because they are continually stopped for all of the rules and regulations... and how if you barely touch someone it is a foul (and after watching just a few minutes of any Irish sporting match, you will know why they think that ridiculous). Fiach said he rather liked ice hockey- I told him that it was pretty much the most violent of sports we watch, and that was probably why he liked it.

In other news, I looked up the forecast for the cities Duncan and I will be visiting next week, and while sunny, it is HOT! Florence is supposed to get up to 105°!! We've grown accustomed to the mid sixties. Today it got up to about 70 and it felt pretty hot to me. That's kind of sad- but true. So, in my shock, and realization that I had packed only one pair of WHITE shorts, I ran down to the "cheap" store and picked up and extra pair. I also got a new purse because the one I have now doesn't have a zipper. I've heard about those pick-pockets in Italy... and Spain, so I'm trying to get prepared!

Last night Duncan and I pretty much exhausted the Office episodes available online, so tonight I have moved to My Name is Earl. It is truly hard to get by without a tv.

We would gladly receive any recommendations anyone has for things to do or see while in our last week of travels. As we don't have much time in any particular place, we're pretty much planning to do the average tourist stuff... hate being one, but what can you do?

I send my love to everyone- please pray for safe travels and we're looking forward to seeing everyone on the other side of the pond!

<3
Whitney

it's the FINAL COUNTDOWWWWWWWN!

No news is good news, I guess.

We have firmed up our plans for the rest of our travels. We decided to skip Arles and go for a day in Nice-- I read that the French Riviera has sunshine 300 days a year. So I'm banking on July 19 being one of those 300.

Other than that, work was EXTREMELY boring today. Duncan was able to visit Howth (the magical place), though he did not find it quite as magical when visiting it alone and on a cloudy day.

We're off to watch episodes of the Office on-line!

Love you all-
Whitney (and Duncan)

Daisy Dukes

Very little happened today, so we shall leave you with this story...

This morning I, Whitney, made my usual morning commute. However, when Kelly and I got on the bus, it was more packed than usual, so we had to separate. After a few stops, my seat buddy left and I had an open vacancy for a few moments. At one point, I looked up and saw this man... an Eastern European man, I think. I didn't really get a good look at him, except for his attire- some glorious cut-off jean shorts- shorts that were shorter than anything I own. And, of course, he sat next to me. At this point I just dove into my book in hopes that I could avoid eye contact and make the time pass as quickly as possible. The amount of bare skin next to me was quite discomforting. Kelly was having a hard time holding back her laughter, and once I finally escaped to my stop, I heard her finally let it out as she stepped off the bus. Only in Europe (or maybe Dawsonville) would I have such an encounter.

<3

a Recap

Our Trip to Galway

We caught our bus to Galway Saturday morning at 10 a.m. We thought it was the last we would see the sun that weekend (and that it figured the first day we had seen the sun in what felt like an eternity, was the day we left).
Duncan and myself on the bus, ready to go!

There was a pretty big cemetery close to our hotel. We all decided to explore it. There was a bird perched on top of Jesus. I thought that was funny.

This was at the foot of a grave- and probably the funniest thing I have seen in Ireland; it captures the Irish wit perfectly.

All of the Berry kids went to a pub to grab a drink for Kelly's b-day. We also were able to catch part of a hurling match on the big screen. To reference an earlier quote, it does beat the shit out of golf (and most American sports for that matter). I recommend watching a game to anyone who find one to watch! It's quite intense.
Beth, our resident coffee drinker

The birthday girl, Kelly! and her Bulmers, of course.

Jordan, sunburned, and with his Bulmers as well

Duncan and his beloved whiskey, except it was Bushmills, not Jameson- his true heart's desire

Me- beginning to feel the long day, and my first day with more than two hours out of bed in nearly a week, accompanied by my vodka and tonic

Saturday came and we set out on our tour down the west coast- as you can see the beautiful water was accompanied by amazing weather!! How could it be?! We still don't know.

We stopped in a little town called Doolin and ate at this pub- the food was delicious, with big portions and FAST service. It was very enjoyable.

We then visited the Cliffs of Moher- 650 feet high and 7 miles long, they are quite a natural beauty. However, they are also decorated with TONS of tourists. I know, it is completely hypocritical to say the tourists kind of ruined the experience, but they did :) It was still amazing to see though.

If you can even see them, the tiny dots in the left corner on the cliffs are people, if that gives you any scale at all.

The water was the same stunning blue that we saw on the Northern coast.

Duncan with ice cream on his beard- What can we say? He likes his soft-serve.

This was an ancient burial tomb older than the Egyptian pyramids.

Sadly, everyone deemed this car cooler than the burial tomb. It was pretty cool though.

By the way- did I mention that the hotel room was somewhat of a fiasco? You're only supposed to have two people in a room, and we clearly had four. I thought I had booked a room with a double bed, a pull-out couch and a cot- enough for all four of us to have adequate room. Of course, I said only Duncan and I were staying there. Well, sneaking two other people in to the room bit us in the butt. We had only ONE double bed. But guess what- we all managed to fit- kind of.

Back to our Saturday excursion, here is a pic of Duncan and me enjoying the scenery.

We thought these signs at the cliffs were funny. Why is the man running off the cliff?

Also to our amusement, the cows here are much more comfortable plopping down and sleeping like cats. I must admit, it was alarming at first to see cows laying this way. I thought they were dead, but Beth (who is an animal science minor) assured us this was normal for a sleeping bovine.

This is me taking a photo at the Burren Mountains. The mountains are limestone, and used to be under water. They put stone mountain to shame.

Lastly, this is another castle we saw from a distance. If you look closely in the foreground, you can see a few geese and their babies.

Things that didn't make the photos:

• We tried to eat Mexican again for Kelly's birthday. Again, it was a flop. Apparently authentic Mexican food does not exist in Ireland. La Salsa- despite being only an imitation- was still oddly pretty good. I am not sure what ethnicity of food it actually was, but I liked it.
• We visited Ireland's "premier show-cave" and paid €8 to get in. It was a let-down. Think Ruby Falls, without the ruby.
• At the Galway bus-station, we saw a demented pigeon. No, I'm not talking New Orleans diseased- winged- rat, but this black thing that was kind of heaving. And it wasn't just me with my strange fear of the stupid birds- it was scaring the others.
  
• Our bus ride home was 4 long hours.
  

I finished my antibiotics today- and feel back to full-health! I had plenty to do at work, and Duncan got to go swimming (or at least to a pool) with the kiddies.

And we would like to take this time to thank our parents for their financial aid. We would be destitute our last week without the help.

We're sending love and good tidings to everyone!