My *NEW* blog address!

http://texasaggiemoose.squarespace.com/home/

Check it out!!! :-)

Farewell London...

So tomorrow I'm jumpin' a big jet liner, headed back to my homeland of Texas.

It has been a long day of packing and getting things ready to leave, and I'm almost ready. My taxi is scheduled to arrive at 9:15am and I'm meeting Jo at Victoria station - where we'll meet up and she'll accompany me to Gatwick for me to catch my flight back home.

I'm going to miss London terribly, but I defintely plan to come back. London will always hold a special place in my heart - for it truly is an AMAZING city to live in and experience.

Top 5 things I'll miss about London:

1. The fact that the city never sleeps - there is ALWAYS something to do here.
2. The AMAZING choice of food from all regions of the world. Indian curry dishes are my new fave - Mmmmmmm!
3. The incredibly diverse people that live here - you routinely meet people on a daily basis from all corners of the earth. London is DEFINITELY not a "bubble."
4. The shopping and the clothes! Monsoon and Marks & Spencer in particular...maybe I'll be able to order from them off the Internet (I hope!).
5. One word...PIMM'S!!!! ;-)

Top 5 things I will NOT miss about London:

1. The fact that it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get ANYWHERE in this city!
2. Being nestled under a smelly dude's armpit for the better part of the morning commute on the tube.
3. "Signal failures" on the tube - sounds like a bogus excuse for people not showing up to work if you ask me...
4. Walking home from the grocery store with bags of groceries cutting into your wrists b/c they're so heavy.
5. The level of customer service!!! It wasn't as bad as I predicted originally, but was still quite maddening! I learned a lesson though - not enough people over here complain about it and demand better results, so I made DARN sure that I did and even got several perks b/c of it! :-)

Sadly, this is my last official posting on the blog. The blog has been more successful than I ever could have imagined and gave many people back home a lot of laughs. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing postings on the blog and sharing my wild and crazy adventures - and have appreciated all of the comments from you guys. Living abroad for 7 months has been an incredible experience as well as one heck of a ride - and I recommend it to anyone.

I've decided to start a NEW blog once I get back - and here is the new address: http://texasaggiemoose.squarespace.com/home/

Check it often, as there's sure to be many hysterical "culture shock" moments as I slowly ease back into life in Texas.

Thanks again for reading and for sharing in this incredible experience with me...

-Vicki :-)

Saying the goodbye (for nows)...

Last Saturday I went and had lunch with my dear friend Jo, since it'd be one of the last times we'd see each other before I leave London. We'd *planned* to go and see the Princess Diana exhibit at Kensington Palace since I've been dying to see if forever - but we ended up meeting at a cafe and decided to spend the whole afternoon chatting and catching up instead of making the trek to the Palace. We ended up closing down this one cafe and it was great! Jo was really sweet and even got me a parting London gift that included Bill Bryson's book called Notes from a Small Island (which I'd heard many great htings about), some Pimm's (my FAVE!), some Cadbury chocolate cookie fingers, some hula-hoops snacks, and a big can of Heinz baked beans. HA! All of my favorite things (minus English sausage and HP sauce) that I've fallen in love with over here - Mmmmmm!

Then on Saturday, Stuart and I went to Basingstoke to see his family. It was really great to see all of them again. Pam made a fantastic Sunday roast (very traditional) and all the fixin's. Paul, Kate, Miss O, and Rafer were there as well - so it was nice for all of us to hang out again. As usual - Miss O was a constant source of entertainment and kept us laughing. :-) We discovered that she actually *likes* for you to stick your finger in her ear - as she keeps asking for "more" in a really cute little voice. I couldn't resist!

We also exchanged Christmas presents and they all got me some really lovely Christmas gifts, including some fantastic travel goods like a blow up globe (how cool is that???!!!) that I plan to hang from the corner of my room back home, and some AWESOME BBC travel books. Makes me excited to plan my next travel adventures! :-)

Paris in 36 Hours...

I chose Paris as my final “mini-trip” in Europe, before I come home on the 15th (of December).

My last visit to Paris was back in 1995 when I went with Aunt Karol, Maw-Maw & Paw-Paw. I was 13 at the time though, and didn’t appreciate it as much as I probably should have. I remember being totally let-down at the Louvre when standing in front of the Mona Lisa, thinking to myself, “What??? This thing is MUCH smaller than I thought and really isn’t that exciting.” Honestly the highlights of that trip were flying business class and having the male flight attendant (Oliver) “flirt” with me, going to a McDonald’s in a foreign country, and taking the river cruise down the Seine River that runs through Paris. It’s quite tragic when looking back on it, b/c I was INCREDIBLY lucky to have had the opportunity to visit in the first place – I guess I just wasn’t the most “cultured” of 13-year-olds! HA! J

Anyway, I decided to take the Eurostar across the English Channel to Paris. For those of you not familiar with the Eurostar (as I wasn’t before I moved over!), it’s a high-speed train that takes you directly from Waterloo Station in London to the heart of Paris in about 2 and a half-hours. About 20 minutes of that is spent underwater through the channel that separates England from France. Kinda an eerie feeling knowing that you’re about 150 feet underwater – although you don’t really notice anything other than your ears popping and such. Here’s more info in case you’re interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurostar.

The trip started out on a bit of a hectic note though b/c I realized when leaving the office that day that I didn’t have my passport (of all things to forget!!!)! I’m always over-obsessive about making sure I have it with me when I fly, but for some reason I just didn’t put it together that although I wasn’t flying I was still traveling to another country and needed it with me. It was literally when I was walking out of the office that it dawned on me that I would need it before boarding the Eurostar. DUH!

So I made a MAD dash to Waterloo to verify that I did indeed need it to travel and of course I did. I was secretly *hoping* I could charm my way onto the train with just my international student identity card, but they wouldn’t go for it at check-in. The guy told me that perhaps if I was English I could get away with it, but there was NO CHANCE with me being an American! (Go figure, right?) There was an Italian woman working at the customer service help desk though that was really nice about the whole thing. She knew I was panicked, so just told me to get home as quick as I could, get my passport and then she’d get me on the next train – without charging me the change fee that she was supposed to. I hurried around the corner to check my big backpack since I knew it would only slow me down further. Paid $10 for that and then made a mad dash for the Jubilee line. Got to Canary Wharf and knew that I didn’t have time to wait for a bus to take me back home, so I flagged down a Black Cab, and breathlessly told the driver my predicament. I negotiated a half price fare with him since I was bound and determined to not pay more than $10 for the trip, and off we went! He screeched up in front of the house (well not really, but it makes the story more interesting…), I ran inside, and then jumped back into the cab – heading back to the Tube station.

Got back to Canary Wharf station, then jumped onto the Jubilee line again to Waterloo. Arrived just in time to throw my ticket at the machine, POINTEDLY flash my passport at the French police (even though I was still in London), throw my bags through the x-ray machine, have a rude lady take my token picture outside the Eurostar carriage (for blog purposes of course!), and then hop onboard. When I finally sat down, I was exhausted!

We arrived in Paris around 10pm local time. Once getting off the train, it took me a minute to get my bearings in the Metro station because: a) everything was written in French and b) the Paris metro system is a bit confusing compared to the London metro system. I figured it out though and headed toward the hostel I had booked. I got checked in and up to my room around 11pm and met my three roomies for the wknd. There was Nicole (originally from Jamaica, but went to college in the States and has lived in Seattle ever since), Luiza (from Brazil), and Lorenzo (also from Brazil, but no relation to Luiza). It was a very good thing we all became friends right away b/c we were in about a 10x6 room with TWO sets of bunkbeds, a closet, a desk, and a chair – not to mention all of our belongings. Was quite comical! Nicole had QUITE an interesting story though b/c she's prolly early 30's (she wouldn't confirm!!!), and one day decided to take a trip around the world. She wasn't completely happy at her job in Seattle, so she quit, sold her house and most of her possessions, put the rest in storage, and planned her trip around the world! She's going ALL OVER including Europe (eastern and western), bits of North and South Africa, eastern Asia, and finishing out the trip with 2 months in Australia and New Zealand! I'm VERY jealous of her and would LOVE to do the same one day - you only live once! :-)

Nicole, Luiza and I headed out for a quick bite to eat and a drink a few blocks away and strangely settled for a Brazilian bar. Kind of a strange place as they had TVs all around that had Brazilian tunes blaring from them and Brazilian women dancing all over the stage with cameramen focusing on their rear ends (among OTHER places!) – but the drinks were good and we had a nice time. After that we were tired though – so we headed back to the hostel and hit the sack.

On Saturday morning, I woke up and was not feeling so hot AT ALL! I had a bunch of congestion and that rattling in my chest, which is never a good sign. I tried to stick it out though and continue on with my plans for the day…

I first went to see the beautiful Notre Dame cathedral. It was very lovely and they had a big Christmas tree out in front for the holidays. Milled around there for a while and also bought one of the famous French crepes. One of the most popular is the one filled with Nutella, which is a hazelnut spread with a chocolaty taste. Looks kinda like chocolate peanut butter and was truly squeezed from the clouds of heaven! I had it for the first time in Italy (where it was created) and assumed that it was strictly a European thing. But then I found out that you can buy it at any grocery store in the US even…is definitely on my list for when I return!

Anyway, after indulging with the Nutella crepe I did a bit of souvenir shopping and then headed over to a wine museum. Kinda a cool place, but also a bit of a letdown b/c I was expecting a great tour and when I walked in to this place that was MUCH smaller than anticipated, they handed me a brochure, told me it was self guided, and then I realized AFTER paying my £7 that all of the signs were in French! Sigh….I still saw some really cool (and very OLD!) wine making tools and pictures that showed the whole process. The end of the tour of course came with a glass of chilled French white wine.

After that, I headed over to the Eiffel Tower b/c I had arranged with Nicole and Luiza to meet there to see the Tower all sparkly and lit up. For 10 minutes on the hour every hour, the Eiffel Tower literally is lit up with tons of sparkly lights and it looks amazing! When I’d seen it previously on “The Bachelor” (no laughing!) I thought it was for the show and not a regular occurrence. Then we met up with one of Nicole’s friends that lives in Paris, named Fiona. She recommended a very nice restaurant on the Champs Elysses that was on the second floor of a concept car showroom (kinda strange, I know!) and we had a very lovely dinner and some great wine. The service took FOREVER and I had a couple of classic American customer service cravings, but I did the best I could to control them and keep myself in check. HA! :-)

Then it was back to the hostel for bed, after a very long day – in which I was still feeling a bit under the weather.

Sunday was a complete wash folks…I was supposed to get up early and head over to the Eiffel Tower to pick up the Fat Tire Bike Tour (like I did in Barcelona!), but I woke up feeling wretched. The congestion had set in further, I had a headache, and it was raining – not a good mix for an all day bike tour. I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to just get on the next Eurostar back to London and rest up for the upcoming week. So I packed my things into my big backpack and headed for the station. Had to wait about an hour and a half for the next train (just long enough for the older Italian man next to me to make anti-Bush comments after finding out that I’m from Texas – joy!), but I eventually got back to London safe and sound.

So all in all, it was quite a whirlwind trip to Paris – but it was still nice to get away and to finally experience Eurostar!

P.S. - Did I mention that I saw "Paris Hilton"??? LOL! ;-) (See pic below)

Thanksgiving abroad!

Thanksgiving this year was spent in Swindon with Stuart and his brother (Paul), sister-in-law (Kate) and niece (Olivia). Oh yes...and Rafer the famous chocolate lab. :-)

Stuart and I took off work on Thursday and Friday of that week (since people in the UK obviously treated it as any other day of the week). I headed down on Wednesday night to try and help Kate with things (since she's expecting!), and Stuart headed down on Thursday morning. It was really good fun getting into the holiday spirit and also teaching everyone what it's all about in the first place. Just like at Gobblerfest, I found myself answering questions about Thanksgiving related things that I'd never been asked before. I decided to come armed with the official Thankgiving story printed off Wikipedia to reference in a pinch - HA!

Paul and Kate went *above and beyond* the call of duty though and made it as close to a real Thanksgiving at home for me as they could. It was really touching b/c it was the first time I'd been away from my family and home for the actual day - and Thanksgiving is a much bigger deal to me than Christmas. Kate went to great lengths to find TWO big turkeys (Fred Senior and Fred Junior) and got ham (Wilbur) and ALL the trimmings. We even decided last minute to experiment and try and make homemade cranberry sauce even though we really had no clue what we were doing and I don't even LIKE cranberry sauce! HA! Neither of us ended up caring for it much, but one of the people at dinner that night commented that he really liked it! Go figure...

Anyway, Paul and Kate invited several of the guys on the same Army course as Paul and their wives over for dinner that night. Everyone got really into it all, and the Irish couple that was there brought some really good sweet potatoes and even brought marshmallows along at my request. :-)

As an extra added surprise, Paul and Kate ordered a huge Texan flag off the Internet that we hung from the front porch before everyone arrived. They also went to the effort of downloading a bunch of Texas/country themed songs from iTunes to create a music playlist for us to listen to all night. The Aggie War Hymn was even on there - I was VERY impressed! Other songs included some of the Dixie Chicks, the Yellow Rose of Texas, Road to Amarillo, and also some Johnny Cash. It was hilarious!

Dinner was fantastic and everyone had a really great time - Thanksgiving was a total success! :-)

Gobblerfest International - WHOOP!!!

Well folks, the 7th Annual Gobblerfest (aka: “Gobblerfest International”) was held on Saturday November 11th in both London, England & in College Station, Texas and both were *HUGE* successes, as usual. Stuart and I hosted the one here in London obviously and Tasha and Kendyl (my old A&M roomies) hosted the other dinner in College Station.

For those of you that don’t know, the origin of Gobblerfest dates way back to the fall of 2000 when I was in college at Texas A&M and cooked up the idea of hosting a Thanksgiving celebration amongst friends that year before we all went home for the holidays. My roomies and I weren’t sure what to expect that first year but it was a HUGE success! We cooked an entire traditional Thanksgiving dinner complete with a 20 pound turkey, 10 pound ham, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and rolls. It was quite a feast!

Gobblerfest soon became an annual celebration with all of us, each year with more people and more food. For year 3 back in 2002, we decided to have T-shirts printed for the event and continued the tradition every year since. This year, Tasha, Kendyl and I knew the shirts had to be *CLASSIC* because of the fact that one of the dinners was being held in England, the location from which the “mistreated Pilgrims” fled back in the 1600’s. So as you can see we did the best we could to embody the true spirit of Gobblerfest in its new (although temporary) location. :-)

We ended up having about 18 or so people that came over for the event and the food was great. However, it was a bit of a task trying to find a turkey this early in the holiday season since the Brits obviously don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. I ended up finding a turkey through a higher-end grocery store over here called Waitrose, but had to order TWO of them b/c they were each less than 10 pounds. Since I don’t have a car over here I ended up ordering all of the groceries from Waitrose’s online grocery delivery service (Ocado) and scheduled two shipments. Had to arrange for two shipments due to the ridiculously small size of a refrigerator that we have here in London. Imagine what you had in your dorm room at college, and that’s what I was working with! HA!

Stuart and I ended up cooking the first turkey (Fred Senior) on Friday night and carved him up so he’d be ready to go on Saturday. Then we cooked the second turkey (Fred Junior) on Saturday afternoon. That was followed by throwing the 3 small hams (The Three Little Pigs) in the oven as well. In between we did all of the potato peeling, dressing prep, green bean washing, and other important food prep tasks. Made for a very busy Saturday!

All of the Brits seemed to have a great time that night, although many had questions about what Thanksgiving back in the States is all about and why we celebrate such a strange holiday. I then told the story of Gobblerfest of course. A couple of people actually asked if they should be ashamed (as Brits) to be celebrating a holiday that celebrates the fact that the Pilgrims fled their homeland - and of course I just laughed!

The evening finally ended around midnight and I was left with yet again more great Gobblerfest memories…

Ireland - The Gorgeous (Yet Rainy) Emerald Isle...(Part 2)

Day 2 began with a trip to the famous Cliffs of Moher, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean! They range in height from 400ft to over 700ft and offer some of Ireland's most spectacular views. As you can tell from the pic it was a very misty/dreary day which was a major bummer, but we could still appreciate their beauty. The coolest part was listening to the tide rush in, underneath the cliffs and into the caverns - very atmospheric! :-)

After we left the Cliffs, we headed over to Lahinch - Ireland's surfing capital. On the way though - we had a bit of a traffic jam...(see pic) - only in Ireland! HA!





Lahinch was great though! Just to paint the picture for you, it was about 45 degrees outside and there were LOADS of people in hardly any clothing or protective gear that were surfing in the water there. It was hilarious to watch! This one old guy stripped down into his boxers and decided to sprint to the edge of the water and then plunge right in! We did a bit of exploring along the beach though and took some cool pics. Tex (from previous posting) was quite impressed with the beach as well. Some very gorgeous views indeed! It was also on this beach that for the first time I saw *true* sea foam green!














Once we'd had our fun on the beach, we took the Tarbert Ferry across the mighty Shannon River and headed toward the village of "Dingle." Yes...Dingle. HA! Quite a cute town and we ended up spending MUCH more time there than originally thought b/c our crazy bus driver Frank, ended up blowing out one of the tires on the bus (thankfully we weren't on there) and it took FOREVER to get it fixed on a Saturday in the small village of Dingle. Tex and I ended up eating lunch in a small fish and chips shop (they were delish by the way!) and we were very curious about the "fried Mars bars" that we'd been hearing about - and decided to split one. If you can get over what you're actually putting into your body, it's FAB! Takes a minute to get over the fact that you're eating a fried candy bar topped with ice cream, but you get over it quickly. Apparently they're ULTRA popular in the area though - so what kind of tourists would we have been had we not indulged??? ;-)

Once we had ALL tires on the bus properly inflated and a driver again, we set off through the Sliabah Mish mountains (although couldn't see much b/c of the dense fog and mist!) and then through Slea Head, which is a spectacular cliff road drive. The thing about the western coast of Ireland is that it appears to be so untouched by modern technology and modern civilization. It truly is a peaceful place where people can go to relax. Speaking of, we saw the place where the lead singer for The Cranberries lives! Out in the middle of nowhere, but a very nice place!

After our afternoon drive, we headed toward Killarney which is a very colorful town beside the National Park. Much more of modern city than the other places we'd seen, but still quite laid back and relaxed. Once we all checked into the hostel, we made a HUGE booking at a family owned restaurant in town and all 30 of us went for dinner. Excellent food and good company! Then we headed over to this pub/nightclub for a bit more Guiness and some dancing. :-)

The next morning we set off early for Blarney Castle, the home of the Blarney Stone! It was another cruddy weather day, but the castle looked GREAT with the low fog and rain - very spooky almost. The castle itself is over 600 years old and very cool to explore on the inside, although the steps were all completely uneven and slick (b/c of the rain) and I was paranoid about eating it right there in Blarney Castle! HA! My favorite part would have to be the gardens that you overlook when you get to the top of the castle. All of the greenery had started to turn with fall colors and it was gorgeous, as I'm from Texas and we don't really see many fall colors each year.

Now there are many speculations about the Blarney Stone (see Wikipedia's explanation here), but basically it is said that if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you'll never be at a loss for words. Everyone from Sir Walter Scott to a host of American presidents, world leaders, and international entertainers have been eager to take advantage of the Blarney Stone magic!

I have to warn you though, that I only BLEW a kiss to the Blarney Stone once I saw the logistics of it all. I was imagining this great big stone that was up on some pedestal that people kissed, maybe by kissing their hand first and then touching the stone for the gift of gab. BOY was I wrong! Basically the "Blarney Stone" is a piece of an external rock wall of the castle that isn't even accessible by walking up to it. Instead you have to lie down on your back on this totally gross mat, then have some strange and quite grumpy Irish man hold onto your jacket while you lead your head backwards behind you (holding onto these two bars) and kiss this nasty looking stone wall. Legend has it that the locals pee on the Blarney Stone after hours to have a laugh at tourists' expense. Whether that's true or not didn't matter to me in the slightest - there was NO WAY I was putting my lips anywhere NEAR that thing! So basically I leaned back and inches before I was in contact with the stone, I blew it a kiss. They don't call me Howard Hughes for nothin! :-)

After stopping for a quick sandwich for lunch and a few souvenirs, we hopped back onto the famous bus and started to make our way back home toward Dublin. Along the way though, we traveled through the People's Republic of Cork and then eventually stopped at the Rock of Cashel in Munster, which contains the ruins of a cathedral on a majestic rock. The Rock of Cashel served as the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster, dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Most of it doesn't even have a roof and birds just fly in and out in an eerie way. Of course the weather was overcast when we visited and that combined with the birds flying around and the almost dead silence made for a spooky visit.

The grounds all around the cathedral had the most amazing headstones and cross markers though - like nothing I've ever seen before! There were zillions and some of them were REALLY old (as in hundreds of years old), to where you could barely even make out the writings on the stones. There were obviously many statues of the Virgin Mary as well all over the place. The fields surrounding the area where insanely green, in true Irish fashion and that was nice to see. No wonder they call it the Emerald Isle...

Anyway, after that we had to high tail it back to Dublin so everyone could catch their flights and trains back home. We did see a marshmallow factory along the way home though! HA! By the time we got through the traffic in Dublin, some of us were seriously pushing it time wise with having enough time to make it to the airport. Long story short, Tex and I were ripped off by a local taxi driver and ended up having to pay WAY MORE than we'd planned to get to the airport, but it was worth it b/c we got there on time and I got an earlier flight than expected!

Ireland was quite an exhausting trip, and the weather was less than exciting - but I'm SO GLAD I went on the tour b/c I met some fab people along the way and saw some gorgeous scenery! :-)

Misty, drizzly Ireland (Part 1)

So as most of you already knew, I chose Ireland as my next big trip over here in Europe. Having a bit of Fightin' Irish blood in me, I thought I should at least check out the place and see what it's all about! I went with the sister tour company of the group I did the Scotland tour with back in September. They're really organized and show you the major highlights. Just like the Scotland tour, this one was 3 days in total and took us all around the western coast of Ireland - the most scenic part of the country. I've decided that the big cities really don't impress me that much, and that I much prefer the scenery and countryside of the countries I visit.

My trip started when I flew into Dublin on Thursday afternoon (my actual plane is pictured above). Had heard what I cool place Dublin was and couldn't wait to explore. My first stop of course was the Guinness Brewery where they brew the famous black (and VERY stout!) beer. Barely made it there in time for the last tour, so I kinda had to rush around a bit - but I saw the highlights. At the end of the tour, you go up to the 7th floor to the "Gravity Bar" and receive your complimentary pint of the black stuff. I was expecting it to be absolutely wretched, but it's actually not bad! Everyone that has had it in Dublin says that it's like no other. Just to give you a clue - you literally let the stuff sit there and "settle" for AT LEAST 5 minutes before you can even drink it and get the full effect! HA!

I then headed over to Christ Church Cathedral and that was really lovely as well. Built in 1038 - it's truly amazing!

The next morning was when the tour officially started. I got up super early to get loaded up and everything and of COURSE it was drizzling and cold, which I knew was NOT a good sign. Everyone was really friendly though and guess what??!!! There was a Class of 2008 Aggie from Fredericksburg onboard!!! His name was Paul, but we all referred to him as "Tex" for the rest of the tour. A true red head himself, he said he fit right in! Talk about a small world though - we were buds from that point on... Also made friends with two girls from the States that are studying abroad in Denmark, Kimberly (from Mississippi) and Kristen (from Ohio). So the 4 of us hung out pretty much the whole trip.

In the afternoon, we went to Locke's Distillery - the oldest pot distillery of whiskey in the world. Pretty cool b/c we got to sample and everything - talk about some STRONG stuff though - whew!!! Then we went to the "Barren Plateau", which is where icebergs drug a bunch of silt through the area thousands of years ago and left behind a barren limestone landscape with huge cracks in the ground. Looked pretty cool!

Further down the road, we came across this area with a "fairy ring." Basically it's a slightly wooded area circled by trees with a mini "valley" of sorts in the center (see pic). Irish legend has it that you're never EVER allowed to walk within the fairy ring or evil spirits and forces will enter your body and possess you forever. You're allowed to walk along the top of the "ring" and you're supposed to make a wish while doing so. Some of the Irish take them VERY seriously and our tour guide was one of them. She was paranoid about one of us falling in an! HA! A girl accidentally tripped on a tree root when we were walking around the circle and all of us were concentrating on making our wishes and not entering the center that we all screamed when she tripped! Was quite comical...

While trying to pass the time on the bus while driving later in the afternoon, our guide had us play this REALLY strange game. Didn't really have a name, and I'd never heard of it before but basically it consists of handing out matchsticks to everyone to hold in between their teeth like a straw. Then there are two teams and two lifesavers (obviously with holes in the center). The object of the game is to get the lifesavers to the end of the line on each team WITHOUT the use of your hands! So it's kinda like a modified version of ring toss. Talk about invading someone's personal space though! HELLO!!! The couple pictured in the picture was actually a true couple from Australia, but there were MANY people that were a bit squeamish about the whole thing (myself included!). There were two Australian guys seated next to each other at the back of the bus that flat out refused to do it b/c it was too "homosexual" for them - we were all dying laughing b/c they were dead serious and didn't think it was funny at all! :-)

The afternoon was topped off with a trip up "corkscrew hill" and as the name suggests - it was quite an experience going up it in a HUGE coach bus with a stick shift. Frank (our driver) did a great job though and no lives were lost. We made it back to the hostel (in Doolin) safely that night, and then all headed down to the local pub for some of the BEST Irish stew in the world. Fell from the clouds of heaven I'm tellin' ya! There was a local Irish band playing that night and they even had their kids playing - was very cute!

It was a very exciting first day - even though the weather was less than ideal... :-)