Turas go Londain / Trip to London

A chairde,

Beannachtaí ó chathair bhaisteach agus ghaofar inniu! Bhí níos mó na 3 seachtain againn le haimsir iontach deas agus té, gan rian fearthainne agus grianmhar ar fad. Leis an fhírinne, thiocfadh leat a rá go raibh sé beagán róthé, ach tá a fhios agam nach féidir liom a leitheid a rá i gcomparáid leis an drochaimsir a bhí ar siúl sna Stáit agus ar fud na hEorpa! Níl muid cleachta leis an ‘ghrian’ agus an ‘teas’ seo in Éirinn níos mó! 🙂

I rith na tréimhse té sin, bhí an t-ádh orainn dul ar turas go Londain! D’fhan muid le teaghlach de chuid Jonathan taobh amuigh den chathair, i mbaile a thugtar Linfield air. Bhí an-spórt againn agus chonaic muid na radharcanna ba cháiliúla (221B Baker Street, Parliament, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Iarsmalann na Briotaine, London Eye, srl), in éineacht le mo chol ceathracha Heidi & Jared, agus a bpáistí Ulysses, Bronwyn, agus Thorrun a fheiceáil, agus bualadh le mo chara as Corcaigh, Eoin. Ba thuras ar dóigh é, agus mar bhuntáiste eile, bhí na ticéidí saor in aisce ó Bhanc na hÉireann, fosta!

Sílim gurb é sin an taisteal deireanach a dhéanfaidh muid i mbliana, áfach. Tá an t-airgead gann agus níl ach 3 seachtaine fágtha againn sula n-imíonn muid ar ais go Massachusetts! Tá áthas an domhain orm a rá gur sheol mé isteach an chéad dréacht de mo thráchtas inné, agus tá Seanachán ag obair go dian ar a thráchtas féin. Le cuidiú Dé, beidh achan rud istigh agus críochnaithe roimh leath-mhí Lúnasa.

Le grá,

Amanda

Parliament

Parliament

Elizabeth Tower (which houses Big Ben, the clock)

Guard on horseback with crazy people posing

Buckingham Palace

221B Baker Street!

Jonathan schmoozing with Winston Churchill and FDR

Awesome bike in UK colors

Giant Assyrian statue in British Museum

Jane, Gilbert, and us at the British Museum

us with Eoin and his girlfriend Sophie

Dancing with the girls at Heidi and Jared’s

Amanda and Thorrun

The Bubb/Bernhard clan

silly photo over the Prime Meridian line

Lewes Castle

Thomas Paine was a big figure in Lewes

Gilbert and Jane at their house in Linfield

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Hello folks,

Greetings and salutations from a once-more rainy and windy Galway city! We had more than 3 weeks without any rain, believe it or not, and like many places in the world Ireland went through an unexpected heat wave without a trace of rain that was completely sunny! In truth, one could say it was actually a little bit too hot… but I know I’m not allowed to say something like that with the horrible weather going on in the States and all over Europe. It’s just that we’re not used to this thing called ‘sun’ and ‘heat’ any more here in Ireland! 🙂

During that hot period, we were very lucky to go on a trip to London! We stayed with Jonathan’s family (his mother’s cousin Gilbert and his wife Jane) just outside of the city, in a town called Linfield. We had a blast and along with seeing all of the most famous sites (221B Baker Street, Parliament, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, British Museum, etc), we visited with my cousins Heidi and Jared and their children Ulysses, Bronwyn and Thorrun, and also my friend from Cork, Eoin. It was a fabulous trip and, as a bonus, our tickets there and back were paid for by Bank of Ireland!

I think that is the last bit of traveling we will be doing this year, however. There’s no money for such pleasures and we only have 3 weeks till we head home to Massachusetts! I’m delighted to report that I have submitted the first draft of my thesis, and Jonathan is working diligently on his own. Hopefully, everything will be in and done by the middle of August.

All the best,

 

Amanda