LaraD

No, we don't actually have Regency Steampunk Sky Pirates in Cork... more's the pity. It would have made for a mad experience. This might be my last travel blog entry for some time, I believe. I go home on Sunday! If I'm inspired, I may write on Friday or Saturday, but I have a sneaking feeling I will be too busy. So, you might be expecting some kind of summing-up entry. But I have no idea how to sum up five months in a single blog entry. Maybe I will think about it for a while after I have gotten home and then post a huge, introspective entry. I may have reason to write more travel-y things in December though... a group from Wright State is going to Honduras, and I am attending the informational meeting ... read more

Hello again! I know you are all thinking "OH! Another one so soon!" This entry won't be too long, and no new photos... but it's here! With some reflections and stuff. My roommate Kasey moved out today. I walked her to her bus to Dublin. Her room is all empty and stuff... it's weird. I had another exam this morning, and one tomorrow. Then I only have one left. Saying that makes it seem like I go home as soon as I'm done with exams... ish. I am having a hard time with... TIME right now. 18 days (which is what I have left here) is sort of switching back and forth between seeming like a hundred billion years and absolutely no time at all, which is super freaky. I have not heard anything from Tony ... read more

As of yesterday, I have begun a countdown to homecoming! Okay, that's a lie. I've been counting down for a while, but not in such an excited fashion. Just as a sort of marker of how much time was left/how long I'd been in Cork. But yesterday was my 'twenty days left in Cork!" day. And WHAT a day! It was Tony's last full day here, and we went on a marvelous bus tour of south west Ireland. We went up through Limerick into the Burren, saw a weird megalithic tomb, scurried to the faraway pier on our lunch break in Doolin so that Tony could touch the ocean for the first time (and made it back to the bus in time!), and finished up with the "magnificent" Cliffs of Moher (not that they aren't magnificent! ... read more

I hear there are some of you out there who are very eager for an update! This one probably won't be too long, as it's late at night, and I have to be up bright and early to catch a bus tomorrow! Tony and I (yes, you read that right! He's here!) are taking a bus tour, like genuine tourists, to go see the Cliffs of Moher and a bunch of other stuff, which I will blog about when he is gone and I am sad and lonely and need something to fill the time. But for now, I'm just going to cram in some photos from London, the Amanda Palmer show, and Ireland. Next week, I will put up photos from Tony's visit (during which there was some elusive Irish Sun!) At any rate. Photos! ... read more

Hello all. Sorry there won't be photos, but my camera cord is in Cork, and I am now safely ensconced in a friend's flat outside London. How I got here is a long and complicated story. In the last six days I have been in: Verona, Italy Venice, Italy Bardolino, Italy Milan, Italy The Swiss Alps The French Alps Paris, France Calais, France Dover, England London, England Here is what happened: We were all happily singing away on our four-day holiday in Verona and Bardolino and Fumane (lovely town; amazing wine), having grand nights out, expecting to be home on Sunday afternoon. You can find clips of our performances on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VLZOwEu0Hk will take you to one of the contest pieces, and you ought to be able to find the others from there. On Thursday, someone ... read more

Just to let you all know: I'm no longer headed to London on Wednesday, but I WILL be in Paris! It's been delightfully manic on the choral trip, as more and more ash flew up into the air. We're in Milan now, having left Bardolino this morning on a coach. With any luck, we'll all be on a coach to Paris tomorrow, to stay there for several days while we try to find a way home. With that same luck, no more volcanoes will blow, and Tony's flight won't be canceled. On the other end of this, if it KEEPS blowing up, I can take a SHIP home at the end of May!!! ... read more

Cork city knows how to do spring. It has been slowly getting warmer, the days getting longer, and now we have reached ABSOLUTE spring. The leaves are tiny and green and getting bigger and greener every day. The temperature hovers between chilly and perfect, depending on the breeze, and whether or not you're in the sun or the shade. I just got back from Fitzgerald park, where absolutely everyone is outside enjoying the sun. I got ice cream and basked beneath the blue sky for a bit, then took a leisurely walk back along the river. We have a rehearsal tonight for choral, and one more tomorrow night, but then it's off to Italy (at 1am Wednesday morning... ugh!) I need to get packing! But I wanted to let everyone that it doesn't rain in Cork ... read more

Just returned from Galway this evening! I can feel myself getting sick - it was cold, windy, and pissing rain when we got there, and kept on being that way until the next morning. But it did not stop the fun! I got to hear what it sounds like when STRONG, STRONG wind blows through the loose rigging of hundreds of sail boats (answer: AWESOME), and Rebekah and I bought each other claddagh rings from Thomas Dillon, who claim to be the original makers of this traditional piece of jewelry. Pictures attached! Our hostel reminded me of the Mystery House we went to in California, when I was little - stairs, and stairs, and MORE stairs, with doors to strange places, surprise steps, odd skylights, and uneven floors. But it was very clean, and heated, and ... read more

Tomorrow, my roommate Rebekah and I are off to Galway. Since it's sort of bad etiquette to buy yourself a claddagh ring, we're getting them for each other, in the place that claims to be the birthplace of claddagh rings. We're also going to try to find a trad session! And just sort of wander around Galway, which is supposed to be really cool. Let's see... news, news... Only a week and a half until the Italy trip with Choral! I am DEADLY excited to go to Venice for a day. As someone pointed out (I forget who) I will get to see Venice before it sinks! We're also going to Verona for a few days, and we'll get to go by the balcony where everyone leaves notes for Juliet (supposedly it is the balcony that ... read more

Hello all! It's been a while... again. I'm a bit miserable at keeping this blog up, aren't I? Just so everyone knows, if you send a message through the travel blog, I won't be able to reply to it. Email is better if you actually want an answer. So, let's see. I got back from Orlando on Monday night, arriving in Cork around 7:30pm. This was after a loooooong layover in Heathrow. It was quite a chunk of traveling. I spent a large portion of my layover asleep on a bench, then read Fudoki, by Kij Johnson (a signed copy I picked up at the conference for $5) and finished it, and also played a lot of ukulele. UKULELE! I got a cherry red sparkly ukulele for my birthday, and got it signed by Charles Vess ... read more