Ireland in a Nut Shell

Well, today is my last day in Ireland. Although it's a great country and I have a list of places to go when I return, I'm ready to push forward through my agenda. I came down here to Cork on Friday morning, through the absolutely beautiful Irish countryside. I instantly liked Cork. It's much smaller, cleaner and more charming than Dublin. Everyone is really nice. Asking for directions is not a problem, but understanding them is a different story. My hostel is on the north side of town, if you look at a good map you'll see that Cork is built on land divided by two strands of the same river. Some maps only show one branch which is incredibly confusing!!! It's pleasant, clean and there are actually solo travelers here, so that's a big plus.
Yesterday I went to Blarney Castle and ruins, Kinsale (small tourist trap fishing village) and Charles Fort, which apparently was the inspiration for the shape of the Pentagon. When I got home I met up with these (40s) women who were staying in my room. Both Americans from southern Florida, Dixie and Elliot were great friends who decided to rent a car and drive around Ireland for a week or so. They had incredible energy and invited me to come out to a pub with them. So off the three of us went with the addition of a sweet Canadian girl to find a happenin' place. Once at the pub we got some drinks and the fun started rolling. Some guy named Pauly (he pronounced it like Pooly) came and joined up with us along with a couple of Swiss. The pub closed at 12, but Pooly would have none of our going home, so we followed him to the central part of the city to a night club. Well, he was rejected from the first two that he tried to get into, but the third one - Bodega - saw that he was with four women, so they let him in. Let me tell you, no one in Ireland can dance. It was so funny. Out of the 50 people on the dance floor, only 4 of them, maybe could keep a beat. Greg could make a killing off teaching them how to do some killer moves. Greg, keep that in mind in case DC doesn't work out for you! It was nice though, no men trying to grab any part of skin possibly showing, much better than Adams Morgan or frankly, any other dance club I've been too. Afterwards we went to get some late night snacks and hit the sheets. Not a bad night. I only had 3 guinness and managed to have a blast. No shots this time which was also a plus.

This afternoon I spent the day walking around eastern Cork. So beautiful. I had the chance to walk around the grounds of University of Cork County, which is nearly as beautiful as UCSD. Ahh, it was amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take as many photos as I wanted to because my battery died, but it was an amazing blend of natural beauty with modern and classic architecture. AHHH! Once again you'll have to wait for the photos because I don't have the right technological tools to get things up and running now. I've got to get more organized.

First Night

Well, let's just say that after an 8 hour layover in Chicago that I more than made up for it in Guiness last night. After going through lots of emotions for the entire trip over here, and not being able to brush my teeth for almost 28 hours, I ended up on a pub crawl through some of Dublin's trendy bars with some locals and foreigners. I met these two Aussies, Gaza and Nick at my hostle. We started out with some Guiness at the famous Temple Bar whiskey joint, then went off to join up with a pub crawl group they had been hanging out with for the past two night. Turns out, said the pub crawl mistress Heather, that no one showed up at the meeting point and she lead us on a mini one of her own. We didn't have to pay and got free shots at the first three place. Man, I forgot about those shots until now. No wonder I'm drinking water like crazy this morning. Pictures soon to follow. Needless to say I missed my alarm, all three of them and am getting a later start than I wanted. I may just end up on one of those bus tours so I can sober up before trying to soak in the Irish culture. Cheers!

My Last Day in DC

I woke up this morning to turn on the news and watch the war. I can't believe I put my boyfriend on a plane to a war zone. All I saw was snow. Figuring it was something I did because Greg's got more remotes than the entertainment wing of Best Buy, I got up, washed my face and brushed my teeth to really start the day.

What does one do during their last day in the city that contains so many sweet and sour moments? It's raining today. This much needed weather change will provide some relief to the residents of this muggy swamp we call our nation's capital. . . . There are the errands of course, the short list of friends I must drop by and bid final goodbyes to, but I'm still struggling to figure out if there's something I need to do, and if so, what, to close this chapter in my life.

Now, it's 1:01 am on Friday the 11th of August. My flight leaves in 6 hours and 15 minutes. The four or five or six bottles of wine have taken their toll and I am so happy that friends, old and new have come to say not only final words of wisdom, but also, made promises to see me along the way.

This LA girl is not one to have too many friends. I didn't have many in CA, but here, I've found a small and absolutely wonderful set of friends who I know I will be supported by for the rest of my life. For this I am eternally greatful. I feel like the most lucky women in the world to have won the affection of these individuals and for the next ten months or so, it will be their emails that keep my chin up when I am down.

I can now say, "See you later," to DC knowing full well that when I can get back the nation's capitol, I will have an amazing group of friends with open arms to receive me. Thank you to all of you have made my life so incredibly special over these past four years. You hold a space in my heart.

Brief Overview of Europe

My first and only trip to middle-America's favorite continent came between my junior and senior years in high school. My parents were desperate to get me to explore options beyond school, club swimming and saying the prayer over the PA system at my Catholic high school. When the opportunity came to ship me off to Madrid, Spain for a couple of weeks, my mom fought tooth and nail to let me go. The result: well, since my parents will probably be reading this at some point before I leave, I reserve the right to withhold several details, but I came back to LA a bigger LA girl than when I left. My next jaunt is short and sweet, therefore it's also very limited. For all the Italians out there, I won't be getting to your homeland for various reasons, but the most prominent one is that I would actually really like to spend significant time in the country shaped like my favorite fall fashion accessory. And as you can see . . . I'm basically hitting the capitals and that's it.

August 22, 2006 - Dublin
August 25, 2006 - Cork
August 28, 2006 - London
September 02, 2006 - Amsterdam
September 10, 2006 - Paris
September 15, 2006 - Berlin
September 19, 2006 - Munich (only if I can get my friends Greg and Rob to head on over from DC for Octoberfest)
September 24, 2006 - Prague
October 04, 2006 - Budapest
October 10, 2006 - Istanbul
October 16, 2006 - Athens
October 21/22, 2006 - Flight from Athens to Tel Aviv

The Whole Shebang!

Here are the boring basics, but they need to be said. I got my flights from the American Airlines Advantage miles my parents gave me for graduation. For a total of 100,000 airmiles, I could travel up to 20,000 real miles (ie miles between point-to-point cities). This itinerary adds up to 18,457 miles. All of the cities have to stay put, but I can change the date/time to any flight that may become available.

Leg 1 - Aug 21/22, 2006 San Francisco, CA to Dublin, Ireland (connection in Chicago)
Leg 2 - Oct 21/22, 2006 Athens, Greece to Tel Aviv, Israel (connect in Madrid)
Leg 3 - Dec 17/18, 2006 Tel Aviv, Israel to New Delhi, India (connect in London)
Leg 4 - Jan 28, 2007 New Delhi, India to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (connect in Hong Kong)
Leg 5 - Mar 03/04, 2007 Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Beijing, China (connect in Hong Kong)
Leg 6 - May 25/26, 2007 Beijing, China to Sydney, Australia
Leg 7 - June 01/May 31, 2007 Sydney, Australia to San Francisco, CA (connection in Los Angeles)

Technically legs 6 and 7 are one ticket with a stop-over in Australia.

Once I get the chance to plan out each of the regions, I'll post them too.