At the end of the rainbow

Hello from the Emerald Isle. As of 505 pm yesterday we docked in Dublin after a three hour ferry ride. But before I get too ahead of myself, I should tell you what Cari and Lauren did on thier last day at nan's: absolutely nothing! Well that's not entirely true, they did book some hostels, watch movies and play scrabble with nan. They were sad to leave nan, but they were excited to set of on the last leg of their journey. So yesterday morning they trained to Holyhead in Wales and then hopped on a ferry over to Dublin. On the ferry, they befriended a girl from montreal who had a gps and was staying at the same place as them. So finding the hostel was a little easier lol. After going out for dinner with their new accquaintance, they retired to their room to watch Disney movies on the iPod. Their roommates include a very talkative British boy who kept on talking even in his sleep. Lauren, sleeping on the bunk above him, was not very amused. But the morning soon came and the girls were off to explore the city. First it was off to the national leprechaun museum, where they were told stories of leprechauns and fairies, and got to sit on giant furniture. Then it was off to see what Dublin looked like in the Viking age and medival times. Cari became a viking warrior and her and Lauren both tried on a very heavy chain mail helmut. Giving up on that, they took a tour of Trinity College, where they were regaled with funny college stories and even thrown a lofty marriage offer from their tour guide. The college also house the book of kells, an old old manuscript and the oldest harp in Ireland (which Cari made a copy of for her props project earlier this year). After perusing these, the girls headed back to the hostel, where they made soggy pizza and just chilled. Tomorrow they will be off to cork in tue south where more Irish adventures await them!

Robin Hoodand other stories

Hello and welcome to story time with Tim. Today I have a tale for you about outlaws, arrows, and treasure hunting! So get comfy as I regale you with the girls adventures of the last two days. 
Yesterday Emma spent her last day in england visiting her nan and aunt, and Lauren and Cari and I went to Nottingham  (again) but this time armed with the proper bus timetables to get to Sherwood forest and back in a reasonable amount of time. Despite the rain, they enjoyed a lovely walk around the woods, home to the legendary outlaw Robin Hood and his merry men. They even wandered off the beaten path to check out some of the giant oak trees. After climbing in and on some of the coolest looking trees they've ever seen, the girls then headed to the clearing of the 1000 year old Major oak, possibly the oldest tree in Sherwood Forest. It was here that Cari finally got to try out shooting a long bow (something she's been eager to do since seeing a stall for it at Warwick castle). Sadly, the blood of Robin Hood clearly doesn't run in her veins, as had she been shooting at real animals we all would have had to run from the boar she angered but didn't actually wound. Fortunately we all made it out alive and returned home to chill with Emma on her last night here.
Today, in our first Emma- less day, Cari and Lauren went treasure hunting in the town of Hay on Wye. But it was not gold or jewels the girls were after, but treasure of the hardcover and paperback sort. Hay on Wye's primary trade is that of books. Every second shop is a book store! New books, old ones, antiques, theme stores, bookbinders, everything book related in one place. There as even just stalls outside with a box to drop money in called the Honesty Bookshop (take note Mia, a lot of them could use someone good at cataloguing and organising, if youre still job hunting). Upon arrival they immediately decided that there was no way that the hour and a half they had allotted before the bus back would be enough, and instead spent over three hours wandering through the shops (and still didn't get to them all). They managed to keep themselves to three books apiece, mindful that they had to travel with them for the remaining days of the trip, and felt that all in all the treasure hunt was a success.  The journey home however, was not as grand a success. Having missed the bus they aimed to catch, they waited an hour for the next one. Upon arriving at the train station, they found that their train had been cancelled. So they hopped another one and got off at a different station. But of course the train from there was delayed, and once aboard, they managed to attract the loudest ( and possibly slightly drunk ) group of people who sat right beside them. But they finally prevailed and made it home! And so dear readers, there never was a tale of more adventure, then of cari, lauren and their recent ventures!

Cheers,
Tim

There and back again: the trek to hadrian's wall

Well August is drawing to a close, and our girls continue to have adventures as their time in the UK rolls on. Yesterday a quiet day was spent at nans, with laundry being done and much Ireland planning being done. Cari and Lauren leave for the Emerald Isle on Monday, sadly without Emma as she is heading home on Saturday, to begin work on her honours thesis. Cari and Lauren have also changed thier homeward bound flights and will be back in the Peg on September 11, two weeks earlier then originally planned. They opted for the slightly earlier homecoming so that Lauren could study for her nursing exam, Cari could start classes almost on time, and because the girls are getting tired of living out of a backpack (and I'm tired of living IN one). 
So anyway, after planning and relaxing yesterday, it was time to watch yet another batman movie before bed. This morning cari and Lauren got up at the crack of dawn to make the long trek back up to the Scottish border to see emperor hadrian's wall, used to keep the Picts out of conquered Britain back in the day. Emma stayed with nan. Not knowing where was best to get off the train, they finally decided on Newcastle, and began their journey. Firstly, they had an entirely unhelpful map that didn't tell them anything. Then there were poor use of signs on top of that. Finally some nice truckers pointed then in the right direction and they made the 4 mile trek to the wall. On the way they found another wall and proceeded to climb on it, just for kicks. Cari got on the wall, Lauren got stuck. Cue unflattering picture! They finally made it to what is left of the wall in Newcastle, and walked all over it as they pleased. Then it was 4 miles back to the train and another long trip home (made slightly more interesting by three passengers getting in trouble with police for yelling at the conductor, and that they were hit on for the first time this trip by a guy on the tram). So needless to say the girls are very tired today and that's why this blog is so boring. Tomorrow is take two of Sherwood Forest, where they will hunt for traces of robin hood and check out the giant oak tree. But for now it's bed, goodnight all.

Cheers,
Tim

The monty python tour: castles and caves

Well folks, due to unfortunate circumstances, the girls have had to say goodbye to Scotland a day early. Never fear, it's not anything really serious, but more on that later. Firstly, I'd like to say that the girls spent a nice last night in the hostel chatting to an austrailian couple who were moving to Vancouver. They had lauren's Olympic sweater to thank for sparking that conversation. The next day they got up, checked out and headed down to the loch to stick their feet in. It was an adventure, as the path involved crossing a few streams with only fallen tree branches for bridges (doesnt sound difficult until you add 20 pound packs to mess with your gravity and balance). But they prevailed and got to go wading in the 11.5 degree loch. Chilly! Then they hopped on a bus to fort William, where they wandered around and ate some delicious indian food. After that it was off on another bus to appin, home of castle stalker, the castle used at the end of monty python and the holy grail! Cari was very excited! Once there, they pitched their tent on a random grassy spot across the lake from the castle and settled in for the night. After a cold night of sheep chourses and lumpy ground, they awoke to sun shining over the castle. The plan for the day was to continue on to find the cave of the killer rabbit, however, that is now not the case. Emma is nursing a not too fun cold, and city softie Lauren is not uber keen on roughing it anotther night, so cari and I are out of luck and we are all headed back to Nans. It must also be noted that without a gps system to help tell us how far we have walked an thus when to turn off the road, our rather vague directions might not have gotten there anyway. Sadly this means I will not get to visit my ancestral home where my great great great grandfather of monty python fame once resided, but such is life. Anywho, after a long day of travel (including a brief stop in Glasgow to catch the fantastic accents) the girls and I are back at Nans to regroup and check out some day trips they missed the first time around. 

Cheers
Tim

Ness-capades!

Greetings from loch ness! Yesterday the girls trained from Edinburgh to Inverness, and all found the train ride very long. They sPent the whole ride next to a very chatty child who alternated back and forth between cute and annoying. They explored Inverness a little, seeing the castle and the river ness. They then bused to their hostel in the town of drumnadrochit ( pronunciation??) and settled in with some tea and nice warm beds. In the morning they were off to the loch for an hour boat tour. All agreed it was very nice, but there were no Nessie sightings. Their captain however, had taken a duck charming course and charmed all the ducks into the loch to come on his boat and eat bread. After the tour, they walked to a waterfall, which disappointed them in its inaccessibility so they marched promptly down the path to the nearest grassy spot and ate lunch. It was then tine to exPlore the log ness centre and learn all about the mystery of the monster. Just so yOu know, it wasn't solved. Back at the hostel it all about supper, sporcle and trivial pursuit. Tomorrow the girls embark on their crazy two day journey to find a castle and the cave from monty python. You better wish them luck!

Here's looking at you kid

Hello all,

Since last I talked to you the girls and I have been quite busy. The day after our Liverpool adventures we headed out to Nottingham for a day of Robin Hood fun. Sadly, the girls discovered that the town's tourism industry has not capitalised on it's legendary character claim to fame as well as some other towns. The underground cave walk was closed temporarily, and busses to Sherwood forest and all that it contains only run four times a day, none of which were convenient to them getting home again that day. Disappointed, the girls decided they would come back another day to try again and instead wandered through some shops and the old town before heading back to nan's to pack because the next day they were off to Scotland!
After a long day of travel, they managed to set up the tent durning a break in the rain, did NOT have potatoes for supper, and still had time to head back into Edinburgh city centre and catch a fringe show (a hilarious three man partly improvised show based around found objects). This morning they wandered the fringe market, saw a show (dancing pirates, bad choice) went to a craft fair and checked out old buildings, saw a show (Casablanca spoof, good choice), walked down a very long street, and are currently waiting to...you guessed it, see a show (supervillain musical, verdict unknown at press time).
So far Scotland is fantastic! Cari is over the moon about the gigantic-ness of the fringe festival, Lauren is elated about the bagpipe players on street corners, and Emma is ecstatic she got to walk through old buildings without getting rained on for a change.
The show is almost starting so I will leave you here. The plan is pizza for dinner tonight then back to the campground and up early to see the castle, then off to Inverness for two days to chase the loch ness monster!

Cheers,
Tim

The continuing story of Bungalow Bill

Hello hello,

I want to tell you that today the girls were once again day trippers, each with a ticket to ride to Liverpool where they went on a magical mystery tour of the city, going here there and everywhere. Every little thing about their mornig was filled with rain. With a little help from my friends I got to see the famous cavern club, and thought I might get to check out an octopus's garden at underwater street but found you can't do that (at least it's frowned upon if you're not a little child). Two of us (Lauren and Cari) wandered the shops including the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Cafe, while Emma tried and failed to find a bathroom (or even it's window). With a twist and shout it was off to the piers and a photo gallery chronicling a day in the life of the fab four. The girls decided they'd follow the sun which had finally appeared and had a picnic on the sea wall where they watched a ferry cross the Mersey. They then took the long and winding road to Albert docks where they bought some fudge and checked out all sorts of other old fashioned goodies including truffles (chocolate, not savoy). They then headed into the Beatles Story exhibit where they saw the movie prop of Elanor Rigby's grave, a replica of the yellow submarine, and learned all about the history of the group and the musical revolution that they started. They then marched (sans meanies) to the Liverpool Museum where they were thrown helter skelter by the massive crowd and had to run for their lives to escape the chaos without actually seeing anything inside. To get back across the universe they hopped a train, and then spent a quiet evening with Nan. Tomorrow it's off to Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood adventures.

Hello goodbye,
Cheers,
Tim

P.S. I love you
P.P.S. Can you spot the 30 Beatles song references in this blog (plus the one non Beatles song)?

May I present the ambassadors from Canada...the canooks!

The girls spent most of today exploring Warwick castle where they watched a jousting tournament between King Henry the 3rd and a horde of barbarians (including Vlad the Impaler), saw the mighty trebuchet fired,were sneered at by the Victorian parlour maid who had to announce their presence at the Countess' weekend party, and congratulated by Henry the Eighth for not being French. After their efforts to pull the sword from the stone proved to be in vain they decided what they really needed was a nice strong cuppa so they retired to the magnificent Thomas Oken tearooms for proper cream tea. This included piping hot scones, clotted cream, and of course, tea! They stopped for groceries on the way home and had their first "fight" about the true nature of French toast which ended amongst some bewilderment in the super Market aisles. A quiet evening at Nan's was then called for to prepare our adventurers for their trip to Liverpool in the morrow. This was accomplished through watching Dirty Dancing and listening to Lauren lament her lack of hip movement.
cheers,
Tim

Oh, to be a sheep!

Hello to all! Well, we all survived a very wet welsh weekend. On Saturday the girls got up to climb mount snowdon. The weather was cool, but no rain. The walk up the mountain started out cheerily enough, but by two thirds of the way up, things started to get serious. The fog rolled in. The wind picked up. The gradient drastically steepened. Soon it became a fight to the finish. Mount snowdon vs cari, Emma and Lauren. With a little encouragement from people climbing down the mountain, the girls finally clawed their way to the top. Upon reaching the top, they found no view ( it was too foggy), they looked a right mess (the cashier at top Cafe laughed at them), and the train that will take you down the mountain was booked solid. So they slipped and scrambled back down ( wishing they were sure footed sheep of course), and promptly found at the bottom that they missed thier bus. So they called a taxi and once at the campground, ate, fended off incoming slugs, and called it a day. After a simple day of traveling back to wolverhampton, the girls find themselves still quite tired and in slight disbelief of their encounter with "that stupid mountain". But as emmas nan says, " nothing is impossible in wales!"

A weekend of wet welsh wandering (and weddings)

Croeso cymru! The girls have arrived in Wales and already are butchering the welsh language. They arrived around lunchtime in the little town of Conwy, which houses a very cool castle. They climbed winding staircases to the tops of towers, looked down a deep well, laughed at welsh signage, and gave an interview to a nice man about how they enjoyed wales. After that it was off to Caernarfon where they wandered until it was time to catch their next bus, seeing another castle (but only from outside) and a small carnival. They are currently sitting in the campsite pub hoping that the break in the rain holds on until they have the tent set up! Cari would also like to congratulate her cousin Joel and Jess who will be getting married in five more hours at home, but who, according to her watch here, have already been a couple for over an hour. As promised the girls toasted you over dinner tonight! Hope you are having better wedding weather than we are. Tomorrow is a hike up
the tallest mountain in Wales, will let you know how it goes or if we get fogged out.

Cheers,
Tim

One, two, three, Bamboo!

Hello again. It's been a quiet few days here for the girls in Wolverhampton. Yesterday they played scrabble with nan and got completely beaten. They tries to take her for lunch, but had to revert to plan b and take her for dinner. It was very delicious! Emma tries to teach cari and Lauren majongg, but I'm not sure they have grasped it quite yet. After cards it was time to watch BATMAN! Today they took Nan to the Market and bought some yummy candies. Tomorrow we are all headed to Wales for some castle touring and hiking in the national park. Cross your fingers for no rain!

Aaassss youuuuu wishhhh.........

Hello once again! The girls are still keeping busy. They spent a lovely day in Stratford visiting Shakespear's birthplace, his daughters house, and the house he died in. To be or not to be...that is the question! The next day they were off to the peak district to walk a hike that was used in the filming of The Princess Bride (hence the title of this blog). It was an 8 mile hike up some giant hills, often scrambling up rocks and avoiding bleating sheep. And they only got minutely lost twice! Today and tomorrow will be quieter days, as the girls are being cautious with all the rioting going on. Everyone is safe and sound, but it is a bit unnerving when one goes to take the tram home and they run into police with riot shields. Keep an eye on the blog, as posts wil likely come more often with Caris iPod.

Cheers.
Tim

It's called a lance...hellooo!

I would like to apologize for the delay of updates lately....computers are hard to come by and Cari's new Ipod Touch seems bent on making things very difficult. Hopefully it will be set up with wifi tonight, and posts wil be able to come more regularly. Anywho, since our last update the girls have been busy. They left Bath and went to Avebury, a sleepy little town surrounded by another acient stone circle.  They could actually touch these stones, so it was rather exciting. After lunching with some sheep, they set off for Emma's Grandmother's house in Wolverhampton, who shall for now on be referred to as Nan. The first day at Nan's was spent at Blenhiem Palace just outside of Oxford. There the girls explored the beautiful palace and gardens, complete with roses, statues and waterfalls. Then they were in for quite a surprise....the palace was hostin a JOUSTING TOURNAMENT! They were thouroughly entertained by the emcee, the horses (which were real, by they way), and the silly antics of the "knights". After watching their knight win, it was time to head back. The next day Emma stayed with Nan, while Cari and Lauren left for the city of Birmingham to go to the aquarium, a quest that proved much harder than it should have been. After much wandering (seriously, please make your signs point in the right direction!), they found it, and spend a good hour amazed by sharks, manta rays, and one gigantic turtle. After that they were off the the cinema to watch Harry finally defeat Voldemort, and then home again for tea and card games. This blog is currently being written from Stratford, where the girls are spending the day exploring the world of William Shakespeare. Check back later for an update on what they find!

Cheers!
Tim.

Salisbury, Bristol, Bath

Hello all.
So our lovely ladies have had a few adventures of the last few days. they made the trek to Salisbury to see the wonders of Stonehenge. They walked around the monument and then went and stood on some barrows (burial mounds). I was allowed to make an apperance riding on lauren's frontpack, and found it quite enjoyable. Then we were off to Bristol, where we saw a giant suspension bridge, ate cornish pasties in the park, and i got my pictyure taken on a gorilla with a tophat. After some trainhopping, it was onto Bath, where the girls explored the ancient Roman baths and even made a wish while tossing coins into the cicular pool of the goddess. Lets see if they come true! Today the girls tried on crinolins and corsets at the fashion musuem, had a proper tea at the Jane Austen house (yes, Lauren actually drank tea- and didn't mind it!), and will eventually be going to soak themselves in the luxurious pools at the Thermae Bath Spa. I sadly, cannot join them there, but I will reappear tomorrow as the girls move on to stay will Emma's Nan for a while in Wolverhampton.
Cheers!

Tim.

To Caunterbury With Ful Devout Corage...

Dear Friends,
Our intrepid trio spent today in Canterbury exploring the historic town centre. After taking advantage of the chance to sleep in a little, we headed to see the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey, the home and original burial place of Augustine when he and his monks arrived to christianize England in the 7th century. The next stop was Canterbury Cathedral to see its gorgeous stained glass windows and the spot on which Thomas Beckett was murdered. We had a lovely picnic lunch in the cathedral grounds to take advantage of the very hot weather we have been lucky enough to have. After lunch Cari and Emma went on a walking tour of the city, while Lauren had her own adventure exploring the area. After popping in to the grocery store to get some supplies for the next few days the girls headed back to the hostel to have tea in the garden and cook some dinner. We will probably have a quiet night tonight with games and possibly a movie. The next few days we will be camping and so will not be able to update the blog but check back later in the week to hear all about Stonehenge, Bath, and other fun exciting things!
Cheers!
Tim