I forgot to turn off my alarm from yesterday. Ugh! So at 3:30am my alarm starts blaring. I just emptied my bag onto the floor until I find my phone and disable it. Karolina jumped up, but luckily I turned it off and she was instantly back to sleep. A few hours later we awoke (for real this time) and embark on a walk down the beach. It was no longer overcast. It was absolutely gorgeous!! We both took pictures as we walked in an attempt to always remember the beauty. We came back to the resort and ate breakfast. IT was magnifico!! I love every morsel of food here. It's all so fresh. I painted my toes and headed to the beach for a day in the sun. I'm not going to want to go ... read more

Hi Friends! I know I never addressed the abrupt stop to my blogs when I was backpacking through Europe back in 2008, so I want to quickly explain now. The day my blog stopped was the day I had received news that my grandfather had died suddenly of a heart attack back home. I just couldn't find the strength at the time to write about that tear-filled day. I loved my grandfather very much and wanted to be with my family, yet I knew that my grandfather would rather me stay in his home country of Ireland. Similarly, I didn't feel it would be decent to skip over that day either, so consumed by emotion, I stopped blogging and just phoned home every few days as I continued my travels. I hope you all understand. I ... read more

My alarm went off at 5:45am, I growled, turned it off, and forced myself to get up. I packed my things up in the dark and snuck out into a completely deserted Belfast. I walked to Victoria Station in Belfast only to find uot I needed to be at Central Station, 15 minutes walk. It was 6:30am and my train was 6:50am. I nearly ran and made it by 6:40am. This is when I'm thankful I'm only lugging around a 22lb backpack. Which is probably about 30 lbs now. I got to Dublin on a train that was so packed with suits that people were standing. It was raining out as we went past fields of sheep and countryside. It was very pretty. I arrived in Dublin at 9:30am and headed to the ticket window to ... read more

Luckily, I could sleep a bit this morning because my first train wasn't until 9:33 am. I got up at 8:30, took a quick shower and was on my way. Walking to the train station I ran into someone I knew! What are the odds?!? Especially since at 9 am this city is still asleep. It was Basel, who we'd last left in Perth. I stopped for a second to say hi and meet his friend Wendy and was on my way. The train ride to Glasgow was a strange one. There were a lot of older, louder people on it and I was just irritated. When I walked into the coach the place got quiet. Strange, maybe their not used to seeing young people. I had no choice to where I sat though because this ... read more

:( Our final day of the Wild in Scotland tour. We piled into the bus and began on our way. We fist stopped at a random shore line. We saw mussel nets and a still gorgeous view of the highlands of Scotland. From there we went to Culloden battlefield. The very last battle on the Scottish soil. It was between the Jacobite Army and Bonnie Prince Charlie verses the British Government. Like most Scottish stories, this was very gory. Obviously, since Scotland's still pledged loyalty to England, the Jacobite Army lost. It was a slaughter fest. The British army of 10,000 - fully equipped - was no match for 4,000 Jacobites. Neil explained the Highland Charge to us and how the British finally learned how to counter it. He also pointed out the poor choice in ... read more