We stayed in Dublin all day. After the meet and greet we walked to the concert where he was performing that night, hoping we could get in, but we weren’t successful, so we had some sad pints at our favorite Dublin bar, Toners.
Galway was pretty. It was less urban than Dublin, with a big walking street full of pubs and bars with tents and patios. The drinks were very expensive though. After Galway, we went up the coast to the north west. There were a lot of cliff beaches and sheep. We visited Knock, which was a very religious place, and went to the basilica there, then headed to Siego. It’s very warm and sunny here, practically summer in Alaska terms. Today we are camped next to a beach. Jack and I explored the caves around the cliffs, though we couldn’t spend long there because the tide was coming in and we almost got trapped on the rocks. ]]>
The second hostel we stayed at was in London. I can’t recall the name of the area it was in, but it was only about three or four tube stops from Buckingham Palace. This hostel, in my opinion, was not as fun as the one in Edinburgh. Security was a lot more intense. You had to have a key to get inside,which wasn’t very fun. If you were outside talking, the security men made you go all around the building to the smoking area, even if you weren’t smoking. You had to be quiet because of the residential buildings nearby. And, one of the people we were with while there wasn’t much fun. I did meet a very nice Argentinian man, though,and they gave you free towels with your room.
The last hostel we stayed in was in Edinburgh, like the first one, but in a different area. This hostel had a lot of very nice qualities – free breakfast, free laundry, etc. The showers were particularly enjoyable. All of the hostels had a chill out room. The first one had many big cushions scattered along the floor and a TV that was always playing movies. The second one, I didn’t go into. And this one had comfortable leather couches and a little kitchen area for making food, and a TV. In the chill out room, Jack and I met a big group of people who were all staying there for the weekend, and who had also all met at the hostel. There was an American, but a majority of the people were from Scotland or England.
Eating food while staying at hostels is hard. It’s expensive to buy food from the city, and even more so to buy it from the bars that are usually attached to the accommodation. While staying there, Jack and I lived off a lot of kebabs and french fries with gravy. Mom bought us soup once, which was greatly appreciated, but I have lost count of the amount of times I’ve eaten french fries with gravy from a restaurant called the Clam Shell while staying at a hostel in Edinburgh. For future reference, it isn’t really a good purchase. They aren’t very filling nor good for you. Kebabs, on the other hand, are very much worth what you pay for. ]]>
We arrived here a couple days ago, and are staying by the docks. The day we got here, Jack and I went to stay at a hostel for three nights, because it was so fun last time. There, we met a cool diving instructor who had apparently taught Emma Watson how to dive. We also met a man who Jack and I suspect committed some terrible crime – he was too drunk to be sure, but he kept telling us that he was in Edinburgh because he had finally gotten his “ankle bracelet off and was allowed to leave.” He also said there was pictures of him all over his old town, and that he was happy to be free and be somewhere where “no one knew who he was.” Every other word he spoke was a swear word. Meeting someone who actually fills the Scottish stereotype is finally crossed off my list.
We also met a big group of people who were there for the weekend, and ended up playing games with them all night.
I came home on Valentine’s Day morning so my parents could go out. Jack left again that night,but I have stayed in the camper, so I can recover from my cold. I’ve been sick for about a month now, not with the same cold but three different ones that occurred right after each other. It’s been lame, but I think I am finally healing. Today,the parents, Sylvia and Annabelle climbed Arthur’s Seat. Max and I didn’t go because we were sick, and because I already climbed it. I think we are having hashbrowns for dinner, which is exciting.
-Jennah
]]>The next day, we took a hike along the seaside to a pub a couple of miles away. The hike was wonderful, though very windy. There were some scary parts where we all had to walk along a treacherous cliff, and sea spray got us wet. It was a beautiful view though, and the waves were massive.
The pub we walked to was very cozy, and we would have gone again had we been able to
get to it. We walked back to the camper in the semi-dark.
While we were at Tintagel, I got a pea coat at a charity shop. I’ve been looking for a coat in every charity shop since Edinburgh, so that was a good find.
At the pub it was quiz night, and Dad, Max, Jack and I were a team. There were a lot of strange, local questions so naturally we lost miserably.
After Tintagel, we went to Bewd, which was a small, gray town. Annie and I stopped walking around to go back to the camper, but we got lost. Luckily it didn’t take long to find our way again, since the town was so small. Small. So small. The smallest town.
– – Jennah
]]>I slept for about 18 hours, and when I woke up I found out Mom had gotten us tickets to ride the train that they film some of Harry Potter on. It was beautiful. We went to Mellaig, a small fishing town and then caught the train back. After that we headed down to several small towns on the way to York, not stopping in any of them very long. There was a lot of flooding going on in the UK – a town we visited not long ago, Whitby, was completely cut off because of the flood, and several streets in York were underwater. After York we revisited Chester, and now we are in Wales.
We have just left Caernarfon for the second time, after visiting it, Conwy and Bemaris again so Ryan could see it. We’re on our way to Stone Henge, then Salisbury and then up to London.
It’s only five days until Ryan leaves, which is why we’re moving around so much. Re-visiting the castles was fun,but I’m more excited for Salisbury and the cathedral there, which is supposed to be beautiful. I’m not sure how it compares to York Minster, but I think it’s supposed to be bigger and better. ]]>
The ruins of the cathedral seemed very haunted. Supposedly, many years ago, a nun tried to leave her nun hood to get married and they locked her in there until she died. I didn’t notice any ghosts but it definitely had a strange feel to it.
We arrived back in Edinburgh for Christmas on the 22nd, and stayed in an RV park close to the beach. It was a 30 minute bus ride to the city center so we didn’t go in that much while we were there.
For Christmas I got a wallet from Ness, a scarf and a purse among other things. We went on a walk to the beach and then returned. I made a duck for dinner and it turned out fabulously – it was super delicious. We watched Christmas Vacation and hung out for a while.
The next day we moved back to our park and ride at Wallyford. That night, Jack and I wandered the streets of Edinburgh trying to decide what to do. We ended up renting a hostal for the night, and hung out in the hostal bar. There, we met several people – a guy from New Zealand, a Romanian and a Canadian named Cy to name a few. We ended up staying there for two nights, and all day the last day. It was definitely the most fun I’ve had on this trip. Now, we are in Glasgow. I walked around today but I had a bit of a cold, so I didn’t really appreciate it that much. Jack and I might go back to Edinburgh tomorrow for Hogmanay, a huge New Year’s Eve festival with the biggest fireworks display in the world.
-Jennah
]]>We ate Domino’s pizza for dinner, which was absolutely delicious after five months of rice and pasta. The first couple of days we lounged around our American hotel room (we could drink the tap water! People spoke English!) and just relaxed. Soon, though, we had to figure out a way to get to Wal-Mart, since we needed food and such frivolous things like that.
It was all very complicated to get to said Wal-Mart, since we were surrounded by complex freeways that had no sidewalks and expensive taxis (such a shock, coming from Lima, Peru, where taxis were the cheapest way of transport). It would take several buses and a mile of walking there and back.
In the end, we were able to get a ride from with our hotel peeps for ten dollars there and ten dollars back.
The first thing we did upon arriving was wander, awe struck, around Wal-Mart and gaze at everything.
Once we got over all the American things, we walked to Taco Bell, which had been missed dearly whilst in South America.
We went shopping, I got SweeTarts, and it was a good day.
We decided that we would fly from Dallas to Las Vegas, stay at the hotel/casino Circus Circus for a couple of days while we waited for Ryan and Dad got the van through customs, bought a trailer, and drove to where we were.
Vegas was a sweltering one hundred degrees and higher every day. I preferred to stay in the cool, dim interior of the casino but mother dearest insisted on exploring Vegas. I saw no point in this, since we had been there before, but oh well.
Jack and I explored Circus Circus to an extent, being social and making many friends.
Father and Ryan reached Vegas at midnight and we had to trek from our hotel room to the lobby to meet them.
We were all joyously reunited and Dad and Ryan went to Sam’s Town (the RV park we had stayed out on Big Trip l) and we slept at our hotel.
The next day everyone else took the bags to the new trailer whilst Jack and I stayed behind at the hotel and were social.
After they came back we walked to the Venetian. There were giant creepy masked dudes walking around and these really freaky tree ladies that scared me.
We took the car to the RV park, where it still hot, so we went to the pool. Of course, people there flocked to me and more friendships were made.
The next day we went to the buffet at the casino/hotel there. I ate a lot of donuts and stuff. It was good.
Annabelle really, really wanted to ride the New York, New York so we headed there after the buffet. Unfortunately, she wasn’t tall enough and was very sad.
We walked to the Aria and the Cosmopolitan, which were both very fancy in different ways. The Aria was swanky, with marble benches and air conditioners on the floor so your feet wouldn’t get hot. The Cosmopolitan had giant crystal chandeliers that stretched twenty feet and down three floors. Very pretty.
It was midnight when we got back, and since we were going to get up early and leave, we all went to sleep.
The next morning we left Vegas and a while down the highway turned around and went a different route.
Once we were going the right way, all was well.
We camped in Carson City, in a Wal-Mart parking lot (ah, memories) and disconnected so we could drive around. Carson City was quaint and charming. It was a nice town.
The next night we camped next to a salt lake that turned out to be caustic. Slightly disturbing, because the campground said we could swim in it. Hmm…
We arrived in Reno and Jack, Ryan and I toured the university. It was very nice, and if I didn’t want to go to Seattle I would consider going there.
Outside Nevada City, California, our friend Marian lived so we visited her. She lived in a little camp thing and we were able to stay at the top of a ridge there where the sunset was quite pretty.
The next morning Aunt Marian took us to a thrift store where I got some books and clothes and whatnot. Then we ate lunch, which was macaroni and cheese. There was a little pond with pink lotuses growing on it. Sylvia ventured into the water and picked one. Brave child.
We left around mid day and stayed somewhere of insignificant importance.
The next thing was Sisters, Oregon where we were seeing a rodeo.
It started at seven and it was nice. It felt kind of like a giant party.
I enjoyed the rodeo, though some of was sort of barbaric. There was bull riding and whatnot.
We stayed overnight at the rodeo and left early the next morning, making it into Washington.
We camped at a Wal-Mart parking lot and fully planned to leave today, but the car is having transmission problems so we’re staying another night.
-Jennah
]]>The flight was short, and when I stepped outside the plane it wasn’t as nearly as hot as I had expected.
We waved down three motos and loaded our bags and then headed to the combi hub, where all the combis congregated. We had to wait a while in our combi so I took a little nap.
The ride was three to four hours long and winded through the jungle. Leafy jungle greenery coated cliffs leading down to the river were everywhere you looked.
I liked the ride, but everyone else got some form of car sickness. Pansies.
Night had fallen when we arrived, and the motos we got understood our urgency to get to the boat before we left. We breezed by getting the hammocks, but went down to the dock to see the boat halfway down the river.
It was quite disappointing.
The dock was crowded with people, who immediately swarmed us as soon as we got there, asking if we here for the boat and that it had already left. Repeatedly. The mosquitoes were bad, and I had to get sprayed down with nasty bug spray.
There were a lot of bats that were zooming around, and under every light was a thick cloud of insects. Great.
Dad talked to several people and we ended up checking out another boat. I stayed outside to watch the bags, but Mom reported peeling paint and coated with bugs.
We decided to stay in a hotel for that night and headed to the cheapest one.
After a peaceful night in the hotel, it was decided to take the boat that supposedly left that day at three. So we hung up our hammocks and it was then that I realized exactly how hot it was. It was hot, very hot. So hot that when I fell asleep in my hammock, the side of my face was coated in sweat when I woke up. So hot that moving sounded exhausting.
Other hammocks were set up around us and Ryan and Jack started talking to a girl named Noemi who was selling things on the boat while I slept (again.)
The boat didn’t leave that day.
But it was still alright, since we had some time before we would worry about not making our flight tickets to Iquitos.
The Captain reassured us several times that we would leave bright and early the next day, so we were cool.
I chilled in a hammock until a giant moth that was practically the size of my head started fluttering around, so I fled to the cabin.
Ryan and I slept in the cabin (I couldn’t believe I could sleep, since all I had been doing was sleeping all day) and everyone else slept in the hammocks. We had mosquito netting around the bunks to keep out all the freaky Amazonian bugs.
The next day Mom forced us out of bed ridiculously early at nine o’clock. The boat gave us breakfast, which consisted of strange banana milk and bread. I gave mine to Dad, because I wasn’t hungry.
It was another day of lazing around the hammock while there were several false departures. Sylvia found a giant black beetle that she kept picking up and playing with it, letting it crawl up her arms and whatnot. It was pretty creepy. Then Mom stepped on it and the fun ended.
As night began to fall, we started to worry. If the boat didn’t leave then we wouldn’t make it. Dad talked to the Captain, who said we would leave tomorrow. That was too late, so we packed up and sat on the deck so we could refund our money.
All the people on the boat were getting rowdy and the Captain had left, so we were stuck until he came back. We brought all the bags down in the dark, which was lame because you couldn’t see where you were going and when you stepped on one of the giant black beetles everywhere it would go crunch. Ugh.
Finally, someone informed us he would not be back until the next morning so we went back to our hotel.
Dad got our money refunded and we spent the day walking around the small town, going to markets and whatnot and relaxing in our hotel.
We made plans to take a tour up the river in a small boat the next day then went out for dinner where they served the traditional food of Peru: French fries, hot dogs and chicken. Otherwise known as salchipapas. Noemi came with us, since we were all friends now.
The next day the power was out, so the fan in our hotel room didn’t work. It was surprisingly cool, all things considered.
We gathered at by far one of the fanciest hotels in town where the boat was parked. Our tour guide, Gabriel, was the manager of the hotel.
The boat ride was quite nice, despite the fact I was worried about crashing, sinking and drowning the whole time. It did not help when Mom told me that if we ended up in the river, swim for the nearest bank and don’t panic, since I apparently ‘seem like the one who would panic’. Thanks Mom.
We turned down onto a small limb of the river and hitched the boat up to where small town was. There were motos there, and I wondered how they got them there. There were kids jumping off the dirt cliffs into the river, which would’ve been fun if it hadn’t, you know, been the jungle with all kinds of poisonous things.
We got a moto and started the drive to a lake that was apparently situated there somewhere and where we would be fishing and canoeing.
While we were driving, I could see what looked like little bushes or dirt, but when the car got close it would turn out to be a swarm of butterflies in all different colors- blue, green, red. Mostly light green and blue, though. It was amazing. They would flutter by in a cloud right next to you.
We parked and started down the path to where there was a house. We entered a fence and walked down a mud path. Little piglets and chickens frolicked about and cool jungle trees were everywhere.
We had to cross several boards across particularly muddy parts.
The canoe was small and I fell and almost tumbled into the frightening dark Amazonian lake water, but luckily didn’t.
The lake was eerily silent as we rowed around, getting dangerously close to the weeds that clung to the banks. The water was weirdly warm, and bright red and blue dragonflies zoomed around.
We eventually tuned onto a little limb from the main lake that was also pressingly silent, and the water was considerably colder then before.
Dad and Pepe took out the net and attempted to catch fish. They failed.
We floated into a floating field of strange green flowers that just… floated there. The roots were under the water and you could just pick them up. It was cool.
We turned around since we had to eat dinner and rowed back.
The path up to the house where dinner was situated was steps and there were cocoa beans scattered all over it, you had to balance on the edge.
Dinner was catfish. Whole catfish, with the fish and the tails and everything. It was surprisingly good, and I actually ate mine. Annabelle and Max ate four.
The next thing on the agenda was horseback riding, which Annie was ridiculously excited for. There were two horses, a big white one and a small red one. Annie and Max went first while the rest of us chillaxed on a log. Some of the people who lived there gave us some funky guavas, which I opted out of trying.
The biggest little ones were gone for about fifteen minutes, then Sylvia took Max’s place and Annie went again. This time while they were gone the people gave us fruit that was soft and shockingly sour. I didn’t like it very much.
We were supposed to be back by six, when the private combi we hired would take us back to the airport town, but we were pretty sure we’d be too late.
Two more horse rides later we hitched another combi ride to a boat. There were sadly no butterflies, since night was falling.
The boat ride was dark and Dad and Ryan had to sit up on the hull and tell us when there were logs. Occasionally they wouldn’t see some and we’d hit them with a terrible thunk.
Mom hissed at us to be present since it was dangerous, which wasn’t really reassuring.
Luckily we got back fine and made it to our hotel. The plan was to get the combi tomorrow at six am.
Bright and early the next morning we boarded the combi and headed to the airport town.
Once we arrived there, we headed directly to StarPeru and spent two hours there, hammering out any issues in our flight and whatnot.
After we were done there we hauled our duffel bags over to a cafe and spent the rest of the day there, killing time till our flight left at five o’clock.
The flight was sort of turbulence filled, but it wasn’t too bad.
When we touched down in Lima it was dark, and we got a taxi to our Lima House.
The next day was spent packing up everything and organizing things. Our flight left at 1:40 am and Ryan’s and Dad’s left at 12:30.
The airport was airport like and we wallowed away while we waited for the boarding of our flight to begin, reminiscing about our times in South America and what we missed about America and whatnot.
We boarded the flight at 1:40 am and it left at 2:25.
I dozed on and off during the flight, which was seven hours. I didn’t like sleeping on the planes that much…
Breakfast consisted of a strange egg filled bread thing, cubed pineapple and a croissant.
We landed in America!
The line at customs seemed endless, but we somehow breezed through it and into the Land Of The Free.
We called our hotel, and they came to pick us up in a schmancy van with electronic doors. It was shocking, after living with motos. It even had seatbelts!
We got to our hotel and lazed around for the whole day, recovering from our flight and that’s it. We ordered pizza for dinner. So different, after salchipapas and chifa…
The next day was spent next to the same, though Mom was trying to figure out to get to Wal-Mart. The nearest one was five miles away, and to get there without a car would involve a long string of buses.
The next day was spent the same.
Today we were able to get the hotel to take us for ten dollars to drop us off and ten to pick us up. The first thing we did was wander, awed, around Wal-Mart before we went to Taco Bell and drank fountain drinks (!) without worrying about getting sick.
We walked back over to Wal-Mart and went on a shopping spree, buying Little Debby’s and chips and all kinds of things we hadn’t had in months.
It’s good to be home.
-Jennah
]]>It was decided we would go into Lima, so after preparation we waited for the bus on the dirt strip between roads for the bus.
We caught one to Lima that was only moderately filled with people, but on the way it rapidly became jam packed. It was quite hot and stuffy on the bus and I zoned out for most of it.
The section of Lima we were exploring had several malls and we spent the first fifteen minutes talking to the Olo Internet people.
The plan was to take the little ones to Divercity, a children’s museum of sorts. We found out it wasn’t open until three, so we walked over to the food court in one of the malls.
After some discussion, we ate there and I watched the siblings as we staked out a table and Mother and Father got food.
Whilst we ate, Mother and I made a bargain that if I took the young ones to their museum, I would get Nutella. I was quite happy with the situation, until we found out I wasn’t old enough to take them there myself.
We left Father and the small ones there and walked over to Plaza Vea. Ryan and Mother had long conversations about chocolate for a while before we walked around the upscale mall and looked at clothes and whatnot.
I made them stop at a Nescafe sample store thing, and we got free chocolate coffees. Well, Jack had the caramel, but in my opinion the chocolate was better.
My stunning beauty was so impressive that the Nescafe guy invited me to take a photo shoot for the Nescafe Facebook page. Since he didn’t want to be rude, he had to bring Jack along too.
Once I had finished modeling (and Jack) Mother and Ryan went shopping and Jack and I walked over to Divercity to see if Father was still in there.
Jack lurked around for a while before finally being brave enough to talk to them and we asked to fetch Father for, which they did and we went back to Mother.
We caught the bus back to our beach house and so ended our day in Lima.
Today was spent lazing around the house and discussing the Amazon trip and whatnot. Lovely times.
Jennah
]]>A little of a let down after being in Chile for so long. No more clean places and such.
The first day here was spent getting comfortable and helping Mother, Ryan and Jack to get ready to go to La Paz.
The next couple of days were spent recouporating from our airport shanigan.
It was all very chilled and Dad went out to get hotdogs. We cooked them about was about to eat them when we made the startling discovery that the hotdogs were wrapped in plastic wrappers.
Ah, Peru.
So father used a butter knife and attempted to scrooge the hotdog out in little clumps until we had a big plate of shredded hotdog and made sandwiches.
Luckily, the adjoining nights were better.
The pool has been getting used frequently. Sylvia seems to enjoy getting out, taking a shower and getting dressed then deciding to get back in.
Yesterday we checked out the beach and discovered that it was at the bottom of a cliff/steep hill. There were locked gates and such so we have yet to go there.
We explored the neighborhood a bit, walking about a mile to the nearest ATM. It was pretty much the same; restaurants, one fancy restaurant and a barren strip of dirt between the roads. How pretty and photogenic it was.
Ryan, Jack and mother got back last night and brought me a wonderful leather jacket. It wasn’t the original one they had shown me, which was garishly red and has a horrible fur collar. It was apparently a joke. Ha. Ha.
They also brought back several bars of Bolivian chocolate, which was quite delicious, some oven mitts that father got endlessly excited over and other things.
Now that they are back, I’m sure adventures shall start soon…
Jennah
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