I recently attended the largest cheese festival in Britain, something I had been looking forward to since I got here in June. I was so excited about it that I even forewent a weekend in London. But what can you expect from a dairy farmer's daughter? Last year, the cheese festival was held in the park right below my apartment, so that if it had been there again this year, I'd be looking at it right now as I type. However, one of the days got rained out last year, and there wasn't sufficient parking. (What do I care? I could [View Full Entry]

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As I write this, I'm lying on my couch in the States, awake ridiculously early from the jet lag. Yep, I've procrastinated so much that I'm now almost 2 months behind. My Englad adventures are over. However, now I can stop having adventures (although I am going to Baton Rouge today...) and finish writing about them. The pictures are all taken, the museums are all experienced... now I just have to be coherent. So come back with me to mid-September to a charming little town known as Bath. When I was planning my trip to England and knew that I'd be [View Full Entry]

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So after a quick lunch, I headed towards Edinburgh Castle only to realize... I didn't feel like going to Edinburgh Castle. Fortunately, located behind it in the old army barracks was the Chester Beatty Library, which had the added attraction of being free. Plus, when I walked in, the guard told me the best thing I'd heard all weekend - that I wasn't allowed to take my backpack in and would be required to put it in a free secure locker. My liberated shoulder muscles wanted to cause my arms to fling themselves around him in gratitude... but I restrained myself [View Full Entry]

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No, not hurling. Hurling! (And those are links, so click on them. In order!) How could I say I had been to Ireland without exploring Dublin? Especially since I flew in and out of there. I got up and packed up my things and headed out, but not before having a full Irish breakfast. It seemed to be very similar to the full English breakfast, except for the presence of black pudding (known in other languages as "blood pudding" - 'nuf said) and something else unidentifiable. I ate [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Cashel, I headed west. It was nice to be in a rental car again, because it meant I could veer wildly off the road when I saw a sign pointing to a pottery place. I had heard that Ireland was even worse than England for timely and communicative road signage, but I didn't find that to be true. With a map and some planning, I got everywhere I wanted to go - lazy ferry drivers aside. I did have some issues skirting Limerick, though. It was easier said than done, because the road signs pointed me in a direction [View Full Entry]

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Labor Day weekend found me in Ireland. A few weeks before, I was moseying around the Ryan Air website, just out of curiousity, and the next thing I knew, I had a ticket. The return trip cost 1 p. Convert that to American dollars, and that makes it a whopping two cents. I have no idea how these airlines stay in business! They get you on the taxes, but still. I had paid for it almost even before checking to see if I was free that weekend. (Like my grandmother who had laying hens and still bought eggs at the store [View Full Entry]

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After Chepstow, we turned inland to visit the famous Tintern Abbey. When I heard the name, it sounded familiar, but I didn't realize why... until I found out that it features in a poem by Wordsworth, which I was forced to read junior year of high school. Though I'm not one to spout poetry, it truly was a beautiful sight, especially on such a bright and sunny day. But first, the car boot sale in the shadow of the abbey. Ahhh. That vaulted and established British tradition. Take one car, stuff it with junk, drive to the nearest racecourse [View Full Entry]

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Or something like that. Basically, I went to a couple falling-down places in Wales, and Welsh has lots of consonants, etc. And now I'm done trying to be clever. At least I didn't got to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which is an actual town in Wales that has the proud distinction of having the longest name of any town in Britain. Supposedly, it translates as: "Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave." Anyway. Moving on to what I actually did and saw. On the Sunday of the [View Full Entry]

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One the Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, I made the trip to Blenheim Palace with some friends, including the super-cute baby Jonah, who's getting more entertaining all the time. First piece of essential information: it's pronounced "BLEN-um," said very quickly. Secondly, it's the estate of the Marlboroughs (pronounced "MAAAH-bruh). And thirdly, it's the birthplace of Sir Winson Churchill. The reason we decided to go this particular weekend was that the palace was hosting the Oxfordshire Craft Show. I was very excited, since I pictured it being like the 18th Century Craft Fair [View Full Entry]

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On Friday night I ate once again at the Seven Tuns Pub in Chedworth. The purpose was to plan an outing for the following Sunday. (We went to Wales! - coming soon) Afterwards, we took a walk and witnessed the birth of a baby calf. (As if I haven't seen that before!) Still, it was fascinating. We also saw a bull that looked like a transplanted Hielan' Coo. I hope he doesn't think I'm rude if I mention that his horns need a trim. (Scroll down for the pictures - I don't know why they're way down there.) [View Full Entry]

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