It's almost one in the morning and thanks to the jetlag, my earlier exhaustion has given way to a childlike refusal to go to sleep. And so I blog… Today we took a tour down the coast. We woke up early only to find most things closed, but where there's a will there's a way, and there is no such thing as an early morning without coffee in my world. The bus was comfortable, and the tour guide was informative. We got to the bus later than most other tourists (...

I've now been in The Republic of Ireland for exactly one day. My first impression of it is generally favourable despite the ridiculous weather, difficulty in navigating and overall apathy from workers. Sarah and I arrived in Dublin this morning after a cramped, restless, red-eye across the pond. I was amazed at the lax attitudes at the airport- no customs cards or forms to fill out, and I'm not entirely sure the official even looked up at me as he stamped my p...

I'm sitting at the Gatwick Airport and have had a hell of a time getting here! Apparently I wasn't the only one not wanting me to leave! My flight is very early this morning, so I knew it was going to be rough either way, but sheesh!! First, the Gatwick Express was closed because of track repairs. Then the tube wasn't open early enough to get to the train station. The website wasn't working, so I couldn't check-in online in advance, and when I got to the sta...

I don't want to go home so soon! I'm not used to such short vacations. Add to that, it's 16 degrees outside, and the result is that I really don't want to return to winter!! Tamara took me to a sample sale yesterday, and as if we didn't already know this, I have a problem. The pound is strong and dollar is weak, so I figured there wouldn't be a whole lot of shopping this trip. But when it comes to footwear produced in Spain, particularly boots, I just can't...

It's amazing how quickly things become not fresh; the older I get, the more sieve-like my memory is! Tamara's coming to pick me up in an hour and I still need to get showered and dressed, but let's see how much I can get out with my morning coffee. Wednesday, wow that feels like a long time ago now, I made my way to Leicester Square. I grabbed some lunch and sat in the square watching the world rush around. At that point I immediately regretted not having a m...