Quick Update

Nothing too exciting to report for the past week. The weather here in Bangor has been absolutely beautiful so I have been taking advantage as much as possible. I climbed Snowdon for the second time on Monday. Rachel and I did it in record time! We were up and down in 4 and a half hours! I thought I was going to die but it was all good. I have also been running (or trying to) most days. My goal is to run the Bix 7 this summer down in Davenport so I need to keep training! I would say I can run about half of it as of right now. We have also been spending time up at Roman camp just laying out. The sun has been shining all week so I have been soaking it up! Not enough to get a tan but enough to enjoy. I have also been trying to be studious! I am close to having all of my papers written that are due on May 6th. I think I have given up for now though! Last night we had a Scream marathon (watched all 3 of them) and today we went to the cinema to see the 4th! If you like the Scream movies you must go see the 4th. It was excellent! I was really impressed. Tomorrow our study abroad group heads to Ireland for 6 days! I'm super excited. It should be great! I won't have my computer so you guys will have to wait for the blogs. As many of you probably know, there is a huge event here in the UK on the 29th. The big royal wedding is that day and a few of us will be heading to London for the big event. We get back from Ireland around 5 on the 28th and we leave for London at 8 that night! We will be pulling an all nighter and partying it up in the streets of London since we don't actually get in until 1:14. I figure there will be people lining the streets by that time anyways. So the next week will be quite the adventure! Stay tuned and I will try to update you guys when I have a chance!

Until next time...

~Amy

Just for fun, I'm bored...

1. Real name : Amy Marie Dupont

2. Nickname(s) : don't really have one

3. Zodiac Sign : Cancer

4. Male or female : Female

5. Elementary School : Balltown Sherrill Catholic School

6. Middle School : RHCL

7. High School : Wahlert

8. College : St. Ambrose/Bangor University

9. Hair Color : Brownish

10. Tall or Short: 5'8

11. Sweats or Jeans : Jeans

12. Phone or Camera : Camera

13. Health freak : not a freak, but aware

14. Orange or Apple : either

15. Do you have a crush on someone: no

16. Eat or Drink : eat

17. Piercings : a few in my ears

18. pepsi or coke: neither

HAVE YOU EVER?

19. Been in an airplane : yes

20. Been in a relationship : Yes

21. Been in a car accident : Yes

22. Been in a fist fight : No

23. First piercing : ears

24. best friend : Ashley

25. First award : Digger award in Volleyball maybe?

26. First crush : oh I don't remember

27. First word : probably daddy

29. Last person you talked to: mom

30. Last person you texted : Sheilagh

31. Last TV show you watched: Veronica Mars

32. Last thing you ate: Ben and Jerry's half baked ice cream :)

33. Last movie you watched: Inception

34. Last song you listened to: I'd do anything

35. Last thing you bought: groceries

36. Last person you hugged : I dont remember who was last but my family that came to visit

FAVE: 

37. Food : Chinese food

38. Drink: Dr. Water

39. Bottoms : Jeans

40. Flower : Not a flower fan

41. Animal : Cat

42. Color : Pink

 43. Movie : Pirates

44. Subject : this semester... Hollywood probably

HAVE YOU EVER:

(Put an X in the brackets if yes)

45. [x] Fallen in love with someone.

46. [x] Celebrated Halloween.

47. [x] had your heart broken...

48. [x] went over the minutes/texts on your cell phone.

49. [x] had someone like you

51. [] got pregnant.

52. [] had an abortion.

53. [x] did something you regret.

54. [x] broke a promise.

55. [x] hid a secret.

56. [X] pretended to be happy.

57. [x] met someone who changed your life.

58. [x] pretended to be sick.

59. [x] left the country.

60. [x] tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it.

61. [x] cried over the silliest thing.

62. [x] ran a mile.

63. [x] went to the beach with your best friend.

64. [x] got into an argument with your friends.

65. [x] disliked someone.

66. [x] stayed single for 2 years since the first time you had a boyfriend/girlfriend

CURRENTLY:

67. Eating : Nothing.

68. Drinking : Nothing.

69. Listening : Teenage Dream

70. Sitting/Laying : Sitting

71. Plans for tomorrow: Climb Snowdon if it is as nice as it is today, if not, writing papers

72. Waiting for : Melissa to see if she still wants to go for a walk

YOUR FUTURE:

73. Want kids : more than anything

74. Want to get married : i suppose

75. Career : PA

76. Lips or eyes : eyes

77. Shorter or Taller : Taller

78. Romantic or spontaneous : Spontaneous

81. Hook-up or relationship : Relationship.

82. Looks or personality : Personallity

HAVE YOU EVER: 

83. Lost glasses/contacts : probably

84. Snuck out of a house : yes

85. Held a gun/knife for self defense : No

86. Killed somebody : No

87. Broken someone's heart : probably

88. Been in love : I thought so...

89. Cried when someone died : Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

90. Yourself :  mostly

91. Miracles : yes

92. Love at first sight : no

93. Heaven : Yes

94. Santa Clause : of course :)

95. Aliens : No

96. Ghosts : no

TRUTHFULLY:

97. Is there one person you really want to be with right now : there are many people, not just one

98. Do you know who your real friends are : yeah i think so

99. Do you believe in God : i think so

100. Post as 100 truths : Yes

Continued Travels in Scotland, Saying Good-Bye and Traveling Home

I am currently sitting on a train from Glasgow to London (but I'm not going to London, I have to switch before the train goes that far). I will talk more about my travels home a little later. Before I get to that, I should pick up where I left off on the last blog. I stopped after our Catholic mass experience on Sunday the 10^th and it is now Friday the 15^th. A lot has happened since then! We have just been so busy and had so much fun that I haven’t had a chance to blog. We also haven’t had any internet connections on our travels through Scotland so I wasn’t really motivated to type anything up. I guess I shouldn’t say we didn’t have internet access, we did, but we had to pay extra for it. Now, I’m sitting on a train with all the time in the world so I thought I would reflect a little bit on my time with my family.

So, mass on Sunday was very cool and the church was amazing. After mass we still had a couple of hours before our tour officially started so some of us wandered around Glasgow. Our hotel was right in the center of town and close to everything we could possibly need. We found a pedestrian shopping strip so we had a walk around. Guess what we found? My favorite store over here in the UK… Primark! I have shopped in this store a few times now and I just love it. They have super cheap clothes and shoes and more and it is all so cute! It is probably a good thing there isn’t one in Bangor or I would have bought one of everything by now. Anyways, we shopped for awhile and then at 2:30 we loaded our tour bus for the first of many times. We were going for a guided bus ride though the town. Barbra was our awesome tour guide and Jim was our awesome driver. Jim had a really thick Scottish accent so that was fun! Dad always got a kick out of how he always called him Peter with the accent (Pee – Ta). So for the next couple of hours we drove around the city and saw everything from the three universities, the BBC, a bunch of parks, cathedrals and everything else Glasgow had to offer. We also stopped at one of the museums. I’m not huge on museums but this one had a HUGE organ in it and it was being played the whole time. I simply sat up on the balcony and watched the man play this massive instrument that made music that went right through you as he played. It was just amazing! There were cameras on his hands and feet so you could watch him play 3 levels of keys with his hand and a set with his feet. There were also numerous knobs on the organ that he could constantly be pulling in and pushing out. What a magnificent instrument; I couldn’t imagine how long it took him to learn to play like that! That night we enjoyed a drink in the hotel bar that was compliments of the tour and then we enjoyed the first of 3 very formal dinners. After dinner we decided to have our own party in our rooms. We had stocked up on some beer and wine earlier in the day so we did some drinking and played some euchre. This ended up being a tradition for every nightJ.

The next morning (Monday the 11^th) we had to have our luggage in the hall and be down to breakfast by 7 to be ready for a departure at 8. We enjoyed yet another full Brit breakfast! There was more food then I knew what to do with, but it was so yummy! Soon enough we were all loaded back onto the bus. We were informed the day before that the tour requires the seats to be rotated so we had to check the sheet before we got on to see where we were assigned to sit that day. Our group was in the first four rows on the left side of the bus; prime real estate for sightseeing. We also found out that the tour we were on was continuing on to Ireland after the Scotland tour and since we were not going to Ireland we would have the front of the bus rotation first J. Our journey to the highlands involved lots of history of the kings and queens of years past in Scotland. We made a lot of random stops but most of the day consisted of driving. There were a couple of highlights such as driving along the lochs (including Loch Ness). I even got Nessie to poke her head up for a photo shoot ;o). We also stopped at Urquhart castle, which was cool but there were tons of people there and it started to rain. The castle did have an amazing view of Loch Ness where I spotted Nessie. We eventually made our way to Newton hotel for the night which looked more like a castle then a hotel. The hotel was so beautiful! For dinner that night we had a traditional Scottish meal. This included haggis neeps and tatties, (haggis, turnips and potatoes which believe it or not, I ate) Scottish broth soup, a fancy chicken breast main course and a raspberry/pudding/oatmeal dessert. This was the most formal meal I had ever experienced. It took us about 2 hours to get through all the courses and I really enjoyed it. If it was my choice I probably would have skipped the meal but it ended up being great. After our meal we were indulged in traditional Scottish music and dance. This involved to young girls doing some Celtic dancing and a man playing an accordion and another man playing the bagpipes. The dancers were amazing and the old guy playing the bagpipes was amazing (he even wore the kilt and admitted he didn’t wear anything under it!) This was very entertaining and I probably enjoyed this part of the Scottish experience the most.

The next day (Tuesday the 12^th) started with another traditional breakfast served right to us. The hotel staff was so awesome, I never felt so catered to… I could get used to that! We headed out by 8:30 from the hotel and we were shortly at our first stop for the day. I think most of us could have lived without this stop but some enjoyed it. We went to a battle field where Scotland and England battled in the 18^th century. There was tons of history behind it and it was cool to see the guns and stuff but we spent way too much time there. Oh well! After that we headed south toward Edinburgh. The day involved a lot of stories from our awesome tour guide accompanied by beautiful landscapes out the bus windows. We made a stop in a small tourist town where we had a delicious lunch and did some shopping. After that we pushed onwards to Edinburgh. The hotel we stayed in for our Edinburgh experience was about 7 miles out of town and it was super ritzy. I don’t know if that is the right word because all of the hotels we stayed in were pretty ritzy, but this one was different. It just had a different feel to it. It was part of the golf and country club and everyone staying there just seemed stuck up, like they were above us. We (as in my family and I) really felt out of place. It really just sucked because we were so secluded from town. Anyways, that night after arriving at the hotel we had a chance to freshen up and then we loaded the bus to go into town for dinner and a walking tour from a real Scotsman. The dinner was the last of the dinners that were included in the tour and yet again it was extremely formal. The restaurant we ate at had an amazing view of Edinburgh castle, which was all lit up after the sun went down. The meal was pretty good and I had cheesecake for dessert which was amazing! There was some confusion about the drinks. We assumed they were included with the meal and were complimentary since they were the two nights before, but we were wrong. All the tables ended up getting drinks but we didn’t realize we had to pay. Some of the people got all the way outside before the waiters tracked them down to pay. It was kind of funny, but how were we supposed to know. They gave us the drink menus to order off of just like our meals so we didn’t think anything of it. After we got everything figured out we were off on a short tour of the old city. Richard, our authentic Scotsman tour guide, told us ghost stories and was extremely entertaining. He made the stories feel real and he was just so into it. Made the tour very interesting; he even told the story of how Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came to be. After returning to the hotel we enjoyed a drink at the bar and then called it a night.

The next day (Wednesday the 13^th) we went back into the city with Richard as our guide. We traveled down the royal mile which connected Edinburgh castle to the Holyrood Palace (home to the Queen for at least 1 week every year). We also saw other historic sites in the city and then ended at the castle. Richard gave us a tour of the castle and then we had the rest of the day free. We explored some more in the castle and even saw the Royal Crown and Jewels of Scotland. They were in this highly secured room behind glass that looked like it was about 10 inches thick! They were very cool and of course there were no pictures allowed. After we explored more of the castle, including the dungeon prisons, we were off to explore more of the city on our own. At this point, technically the tour was over but we were still able to take the bus back to the hotel that afternoon. So we wandered around and hit a few pubs and shops. We ended up eating at Hard Rock Café because I have been craving American food. Our waiter was from Canada and he gave us a hard time about being American and eating there. The main highlight of the afternoon was when Steve, Aggie, Mom, Pat and I climbed the Scott Monument. This was a huge steeple looking monument in the middle of the city. It had four levels to climb. All the levels were connected by two-way spiral stair cases that got narrower and narrower as your climbed higher. It was crazy when you met other people going he opposite direction because at some points they were hardly wide enough for one person. For about the last 10 steps or so, I even had to climb sideways just so I would fit. The view from the top was absolutely spectacular! You could see pretty much every inch of the city with Waverly station just below and Edinburgh castle just off in the distance. Words can’t describe and pictures just don’t do it justice. If you ever visit Edinburgh, the Scotts Monument is a must! We had just about an hour before the bus was going to pick us up so we decided to grab some subs and beer to keep us occupied for the night. We drank, we were merry and we played lots and lots of euchre. It was an absolute blast hanging out with my family!

The next day (Thursday 14^th) was an extra day for us. The rest of the tour was on to Ireland and we had the day to enjoy Scotland. We had a few things picked out that we didn’t get done the day before. Our first adventure for the day was getting back into town. We had to walk from the hotel down to the main road where there was a bus stop. We were instructed to take the 27 or 28 into town and it would take us right to the city center. Seemed easy enough and it was. After we arrived out on the road a bus was there within 5 minutes. It was a huge double-decker bus so of course we had to ride on top! The view from the top was just insane. Every time the bus slowed down for a car in front of it we were sure it was going to run it over. We would peer down the window and there would still be plenty of room in between the bus and the car. It also seemed like the bus was going to take out everything on the left side but it didn’t. It must not have been his first day driving! One of the things we wanted to do that day was go down to the water front and we thought maybe if we stayed on the bus long enough we would end up down there. That didn’t end up being true. After we passed by the city center the bus soon came to a stop near the Scottish government building and it shut down. We figured we better get off. The driver advised us that the number 44 would get us close to the water so we decided we would do that. We had day tickets for “First Bus” so as long as we took one of those buses we wouldn’t have to pay any more. The problem with that was the fact that there are about 10 different bus services circulating around the city. We found the closest bus stop that appeared to be a stop for 44 so we waited there, and we waited and waited. Needless to say we really didn’t know what we were doing and everyone we asked tried explaining it a different way, but the 44 “first bus” was going to be the only one that would get us close to where we wanted to go. Finally it came so we got on. We asked the driver if the bus would take us to the water and he told us eventually it would; that didn’t sound overly promising. As we rode around it seemed like we were going further and further out but eventually the water was close. I asked the driver when we should get off and he said we could get off any time and walk to the water. We were hoping to find a board walk and shops and restaurants but that didn’t seem to happen. However, we did find the water so the girls stuck their toes in it. I didn’t because I had tights on; I survived and they said the water was freezing. I could have told them that before they stuck their toes in. The day was still young so we headed back to the city. Once there, we found a cute little pub to have a drink and lunch at. Aggie even went out on a limb and tried some chicken curry; she said it was great. We were going to do something called the Underground City but we talked to one of the waitresses at the pub and she said it wasn’t worth it. We were unaware that you had to pay to go to this underground city and we thought it was literally like an underground city. The waitress told us it was more like a museum… so much for that. There is a little café in Edinburgh where J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series so Pat and Aggie and I went to check it out. It really wasn’t anything to see but it was still cool to be where Harry Potter was brought to life. The rest of the afternoon we just kind of walked around and enjoyed the little shops and all the cool architecture. And you ask what we did to entertain ourselves that night at the hotel? Well we played cards of course! It was another great night of friendly cards and drinking. I couldn’t have asked for a better night.

And now we finally come to today (Friday the 15^th) which means I’m almost caught up! As I write this I am currently on my third train for the day (I only missed one and it wasn’t even my fault, but I will get to that eventually). This morning was a sad one. After our last full Brit breakfast we were all taxied to the airport. I was told it would be easiest for me to go to the airport and then just take a bus to the railway station. The taxi to the airport was included with the tour so it was just as easy. So after lots of sad goodbyes and hugs I was on my own. I had such a great time with my family it really made it hard to say goodbye. I will be back home with them in less than 2 months but it was still hard. I put on my strong face as I hugged them all but a few tears were shed when I was on the bus back into town. The airbus arrived at Waverly station a few minutes before 8 and I looked at the monitors and saw there was a train leaving at 8 for Glasgow so I scurried to platform 10. Before I could get on the train I was stopped by the ticket people. Sometimes you can buy your ticket after you get on the train and other times you have to buy them before you board; of course this had to be one of those times. I quickly bought my ticket and made the train just before to took off. It was a short ride back to Glasgow and then the fun began. I had looked up my route before we ever left for Scotland so I was pretty sure I needed a train that took me to Warrington Bank Quay (whatever that was). I looked at the monitors and I didn’t see anything that had that name… hummm… now what? I asked the closest guy that looked like he worked there. I asked what plate form for Warrington and he asked me where I was trying to go and then explained I needed to be at the other Glasgow station… great! How do I get there? Well thankfully there was a bus that goes between the two stations and if you have a ticket already for the trains, the bus doesn’t cost anything extra! So I hopped on the train and a few short minutes later I was at Glasgow Central. This was the same station we came into earlier in the week so it at least felt familiar. I looked at the monitors again and still didn’t see anything that said Warrington. However, I did see one to Crew so I thought maybe I would jump on that one since that was the way we came. Instead of jumping right on I asked and I was told I had to have a specific ticket for that train so I needed to take the original route I was looking for. The lady told me it was the train leaving from plate form 2 going to London Euston. I had a few minutes so I paid my 30 pents to use the rest room and then boarded the train. The train ride was just over 2 hours long and as we got closer and closer to London the train got fuller and fuller. I had general tickets which didn’t reserve me an actual seat so eventually I had to get up and stand. That wasn’t too bad since we were only about 15 minutes from where I had to get off, or so I thought. I was supposed to arrive at Warrington at 12:20 and get on a train to Chester at 12:26 and it was 12:21 when I looked at my watch and we still had one stop to go. I was getting really anxious as they announced they were being delayed because of speed restrictions in certain parts of the tracks. Great… it was 12:28 when we finally arrived in Warrington and I asked right away if the train to Chester was gone already and he told me it had pulled out just before we pulled in. Awesome… Oh well, at least there was one every hour so it wasn’t too much longer.  Once I was on the train to Chester is was all smooth sailing. I had done that route before so I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew the train I was looking for was Holyhead so there was no guessing. So it took 2 buses, 4 trains and 8 hours for me to get home. I really shouldn’t complain because the rest of the family will be in transit for at least 9 more hours. Right now they should be getting close to the USA. Then they have a 6 hour layover in Chicago before they can get to Dubuque. That would drive me crazy knowing they could drive home in less than 4.

I’m pretty sure everyone had a great time and I know they were all ready to go home. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye but I was ready to come back and be done traveling for a little bit. They asked me if I was ready to come home and I really don’t think I am. There are a lot of people and things I miss, but I’m not done exploring yet. I know when June 4^th comes around I will be ready. Until then, I’m going to keep enjoying myself! I have this next week free and there really isn’t anyone around campus. When I got back the parking lot was pretty much disserted, so we will see what kind of trouble I can get into. If the weather is nice I might go climb Snowdon again tomorrow.

Until next time…

~Amy

Scotland so far!

What an amazing time this past week has been spending time with my family. I wish it didn’t have to end and I wish I wouldn’t have gone so fast. I was waiting and waiting for them to get here and I knew it was going to go faster than I wanted it to. Oh well, we had a great time while it lasted. I apologize for not posting more often; I’m sure there were a lot of people who were patiently waiting to hear about our experiences. We were so busy that it was hard to keep up with everything. I tried to write the blog as we went but there was no internet access at the hotels and if there was we had to pay extra to use it for a few minutes. So, I tried to at least type up what we were doing each day, but needless to say, I fell behind. I hope you enjoy the following experiences. They may be a little scrambled because some were written as we traveled and others were written after the fact.

On Saturday the 9^th we left Wales and headed north to Scotland. Before we left for the day we did a little last minute exploring of Bangor. The family hadn’t been to the pier yet so we wondered that way. The pier is home to the scones and I couldn’t let the family come to Bangor and not have a scone. The day was one of the most beautiful days I have witnessed since I have been in Wales so they were really in for a treat. The tide has been exceptionally low since the family got here so as we were walking to the end of the pier it seemed like there was no water in the Menai. By the time we walked back from the pier the tide was coming back in. Everyone enjoyed their scone and the oh-so-rare view of the mountains that over shadow Bangor.

After everyone said their goodbyes to Les we headed for the train station. We were there plenty early because we weren’t sure how busy it was going to be with classes just ending for the three week Easter break. Everyone had to pick up their tickets except me, so I wanted to make sure we would have plenty of time; we did. We sat on the platform for about an hour before our train came. We enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and I think I even got some sun on my legs J.

After we got on the train I knew it would be as busy as it was. I have taken the train on a Saturday before and it always seems quite busy, at least between Bangor and Llandudno. The family all had reserved seats but I just had a general ticket. I told them that probably wouldn’t matter but they insisted they would be fine. We got on the train and of course it was packed. They all did manage to find a seat but not the ones that were printed on their ticket. There was really no space for the luggage so we left it sitting near the front of the car. I stayed with the luggage for a few stops but eventually found a seat. We switched trains in Chester and then there was a short ride to Crew. Once we switched in Crew we had about a 6 hour ride to Glasgow. The ride up was very beautiful and so green. I think everyone, including myself, thoroughly enjoyed the ride north and all the beautiful scenery. As we got closer to Glasgow the train got emptier so we enjoyed all the space. Mom, Dad Steve and I even enjoyed some four-handed euchre.

We arrived in Glasgow around 9 and the town was booming. It appeared we were right in the middle of all the action. There were people wandering the streets having a grand old time. We really didn’t know where the hotel was so we asked around and found out we were not far and it was super easy to get to. Steve and Judy jumped in a taxi while the rest of us took off on foot. Up a small hill (at least compared to the ones in Bangor) and then down another street we soon arrived at the Thistle hotel. Steve and Judy had arrived before us and had us all checked in. We headed to our room and I was in awe! From this point on we were part of the CIE tour of Scotland and I was pretty sure we were in for a treat by the looks of the room. The outside of our door said “Executive Suite”. We opened the door and I was faced with the largest hotel room I had ever been in on a family trip. There were two huge queen beds. a huge flat screen TV, a comphy couch, tables, chairs and more. The only down side was internet was not included. You could buy 90 minutes to be used for a 24 hour period. I found it really hard to believe since the hotel seemed pretty fancy. Oh well. After we got all settled in we went to check out Steve and Judy’s room and Pat and Aggie’s room. They weren’t as lucky as we were because in each of their rooms they had two single beds. The rooms were still nice; they just didn’t get to enjoy the ginormous beds. Needless to say, the party was in our room that night.

Our group actually arrived in Glasgow a day before the tour began so we had some time to enjoy the city. We were going to grab a few beers from a liquor shop across the street from the hotel but as soon as we said that the shop closed. Humm, now what to do? Well the next best thing of course, go to the bar. There was a bar in the hotel so we went down and had a few rounds.

The next morning (Sunday the 10^th) we decided to go wandering around town. The tour didn’t officially start until 2:30 that afternoon so we had plenty of time to get into trouble. Before we could find trouble, we found a Catholic church, how convenient! I’ve noticed the Catholic churches are much more common in Scotland. We found out there was a family mass at 10:30, plenty of time for us to enjoy a walk, have some breakfast and then make it in time for church. We wondered around Glasgow from awhile and found some very beautiful architecture. We also found a few churches that were transformed into other things. We also managed to wander into a not so nice part of town but we hightailed it out of there even though we would have been fine since it was so early in the morning. After our walk we went back to the hotel to enjoy a “full Brit” which was a very hearty breakfast. It even included black pudding (aka blood sausage) and haggis (a very traditional Scottish food that I don’t actually want to know what it is but I do know it is cooked in a sheep’s stomach). After we got all ready for the day we went to mass. The church was the most beautiful Catholic church I have ever seen. There were multiple different types and colors of marbles used to decorate the front of the church. There were also beautiful mosaics of the last supper and other religious figures that decorated the church. The mass was a traditional mass; nothing different than we would experience every Sunday back home except for the heavy Scottish accents. We were also lucky enough to experience to the music from the grand organ that was placed high above our heads.

This is where the blog is going to stop for now. We had internet access tonight for a little bit so I thought I would post what I have so far. The next time I will post will be after I arrive back in Bangor. I have one more day with the family tomorrow in Edinburgh and then the rest of the family will head home on Friday. Sorry there isn’t more, we have been having too much fun for me to sit and blog.

Until next time…

~Amy

Judy's Honorary Blog

I asked Judy to to be an honorary author for my blog. I knew it would be kind of boring from my perspective because I have already experienced and written about everything they have done. It took some convincing but she eventually agreed. So, here is her experience from the time they left Iowa until the time we left for Scotland. I will prick up the blog from Scotland on when I have a chance. We have been having so much fun it is hard to get time to sit down and blog. Enjoy!

Amy asked that I write as a guest on her blog giving my impression of our trip to Wales and Scotland so far.  Where do I begin?  There is so much I could tell you but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum so I don’t bore you all to death.  It truly has been an adventure to say the least.   We took off out of Dubuque on a cloudy, dreary Wednesday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. and winged our way to Chicago.  Once above the clouds, we hit beautiful sunshine and could look down on puffy white marshmallow clouds. 

Since we had a bit of a layover before our flight to Wales, we decided to find something to wet our whistle, so we found a little bar and celebrated the start of our vacation with a nice cold glass of beer.  Once our flight was called we got ourselves settled in for the 8-hour ride to Manchester, England.  We were served a snack and shortly after, our dinner.  Then it was time to settle in to try to get some sleep, but how do you sleep when you’re not tired yet?  Once night settled in, it was a little easier to catch a few winks.  I could only doze off and on due to the excitement and anxiousness related to flying because I’m not really a big lover of flying, I’m sorry to say.  No sooner had I dozed off, and night quickly turned to day.  Even though my watch only said midnight our time, it was actually 5 a.m England time.  Believe me though my body was telling me it was only midnight.  We touched down at exactly 7:18 a.m. to a very misty, cloudy England day with a temp of only 50 degrees. 

Now came the fun part!  We had to discover how to get to Amy in Bangor, Wales, by taking the train system.  After some confusion and having a little difficulty understanding the thick English brogue, I finally got proper directions on how to board the train for Bangor.  The challenging part though was finding the correct platform for boarding and then having to change trains 3 times before we got there.  With the help of everyone, we soon became ole’ pros at taking the train system and finally arrived in Bangor at 12:30 p.m.  

What a beautiful, quaint, eclectic little town.  It looked like something out of a Hansel and Gretel book.   We began walking in search of The Garth Guest House, which was to be our home for 2 nights.  We walked and walked and walked.  Finally, after about 12 blocks, we found the quaint little bed and breakfast we would be staying in but alas, the proprietor of the property was nowhere to be found.  No one answered the doorbell to our dismay as we stood in the mist wondering what to do next.  Julie decided to stop next door and see if anyone was home.  Since arriving in country we found people to be very helpful in answering any questions we might have so it couldn’t hurt, could it?  An elderly gentleman came to the door and said he knew Les and Rita, our hosts well but did not know where they could be so being the friendly gentleman he was, he quickly invited us in out of the rain for a cup of tea or coffee.  We told him we did not want to impose upon his day, but he insisted we come in out of the rain.  He proved to be a very nice man and made us immediately feel welcome in his home, serving us coffee and sharing some of his life history, which was quite interesting.  

Finally, our host arrived home and we proceeded to check into our B&B.  Steve and I and Aggie were given a small room on 2^nd floor with 3 twin beds in it, while Pat was given her own room, and Pete and Julie were given theirs.  Fortunately, we picked a room that had its own bathroom.  Sorry to say, Pat, Pete, & Julie had to share a bathroom with other guests.   

We were meeting Amy at 5 p.m. in a local pub so immediately freshened up and took off walking to find the pub called Yates to join Amy for dinner.  As we approached downtown we came upon a very old church and immediately stepped back into history when we walked into an old Cathedral named St. Deiniol (St. Daniel) Cathedral.  The Cathedral was made entirely of very old stone, and we discovered it was built in the early 1200’s.  It was absolutely too beautiful to describe with old frescos depicting the life of Christ, a very old cross hanging from the ceiling, and a very old story to go along with its old edifice. It really was like traveling through a time machine back to the 13^th century.  We even heard the old pipe organ playing.   

We finally wandered on to meet Amy and her 2 good friends, Riley and Sheilagh, to have dinner, and to discover what ales, lagers, and hard ciders tasted like.  Julie, Aggie, and the boys really enjoyed an ale drink called Carling while I decided I really enjoyed the Strongbow hard cider with black current.  Yum!!!  We each had a sandwich with chips (really French fries), each trying something a little different.  Pete tried the Bangors and mash, which is really sausages and mashed potatoes with onion gravy.  I had a steak sandwich with a sweet onion relish sauce.  Believe me boys and girls, the beef is certainly not good ole Iowa corn-fed beef, so anybody growing corn-fed beef can be very proud with what you supply to the American population.  To say the least, beef was not a favorite of mine. 

We then proceeded to wonder around town hitting a few pubs here and there.  Amy took us down to the pier, which is a pier leading out over the Menai Strait, a body of water that runs through the town of Bangor.  On our way back to the B&B we stopped at a few more pubs called The Tap and Spile and the Shipyard along the way, meeting some very exceptionally friendly people along the way.  We even ran into our B&B host at one pub who promptly bought a round for all of us to celebrate our Wales adventure.  One gentleman even taught us a little Welsh, but sorry to say, I don’t remember a word of it now.  He even told us about an old Welsh town with 52 letters in it.  What fun!!  Needless to say, we all slept quite soundly that night.

The following morning we awoke to a somewhat cloudy day.  I was quite excited as Amy was going to play tour guide and take us to 2 of the exceptionally well-preserved castles in the area.  But first, we were going to experience a full English, which is a breakfast consisting of fried eggs, bacon (which to me was really ham), 2 sausages (which were more like a blah, mealy hot dogs), pork n’ beans, sautéed mushrooms, a grilled Roma tomato, toast, and OJ.  Pat and I also noticed that when you ask for coffee, it is usually not perked coffee but instant.  I am guessing since the English are tea-drinking people, real perked coffee is not a top priority. 

We proceeded onto the bus station to purchase our tickets and head out to Beaumaris Castle.  Oh my God…there really are no words to describe what a beautifully preserved castle it is.  This castle is located on Anglesey Island and was a fortress built by King Edward I for defending the coast line.  This castle was built around 1289.  We entered the castle over the moat filled with water sporting beautiful swimming pairs of swans to create a Romeo and Juliet feel about the entrance.  Pictures just had to be taken and I started snapping away in every direction trying to capture the feeling I was having about this place.  When we think of the United States having old things, we can only go back about 200 years in history, but imaging seeing something anywhere from 800 to 1000 years old!!!  I imagined myself as a knight running (even though I can’t run anymore) up the tiny, narrow stone stairs to the top fortress to defend my king, pointing my bow and arrow through tiny rectangular openings in the sides of the castle, and throwing my enemies in the dungeon.  I know it sounds far-fetched, but imaging what really happened there is astounding and imaging whose footsteps you might have stepped in was awe-inspiring.  King Arthur and Sir Lancelot lived in these ruins.  It is truly one of those things if you have a chance to experience, you must.  We crawled around the fortresses and discovered every nook and cranny possible.  What fun!!!

We were transported back to Bangor by bus and settled on eating at The Fat Cat Café for lunch.  I had a meal of a Belgian waffle with caramelized hot sauce over bananas and ice cream.  Yum is all I can say!  Steve tried a mackerel sandwich.  Holy mackerel!!!  He is an adventuresome eater though and had to try something different.  I don’t think he was too fond of it though, too fishy tasting, he said.  I noticed some of the more popular cuisines in Wales are mushy peas (smashed up peas that look like baby food), the bangers and mash, soups are all pureed, and fish and chips (French fries).

After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed over to the Caenarfon Castle.  I’m sure glad we went to see Beaumaris Castle first because this one was even more exceptional.  Again, we crawled around and to my 3 daughters, believe it or not, your old mother walked up or I should probably say crawled up, 142 very steep stone steps to get to the top of a tower that overlooked the entire castle.  That was quite a feat for me to those of you who know me.  I am not a very physically active person, so this was quite a challenge for me especially with only being able to hang onto a rope as a stair rail.  I climbed and climbed and then crawled up the last 10 to 12 steps.  I was totally exhausted once I made it to the top but it was totally worth it.  I felt like I should have shouted, “Romeo, Oh Romeo, where art thou Romeo”.  But alas, my Romeo was standing right next to me.  The view was stupendous.  This castle also was built sometime in the 13^th century and in the center of the courtyard is a large circle floor where Prince Charles was invested as the Prince of Wales, which simply means he was endowed the title of Prince by Queen Elizabeth.  This will also be the place where William will be given the title of Prince once Charles has taken over as king upon Elizabeth’s death.

Some of the interesting things I noticed about Wales is that green ivy grows everywhere…up trees, in the ditches, over fences, in sidewalk cracks, everywhere and I mean everywhere.  Chimneys are also very unique in Wales and England.  Most houses sport anywhere from 1 to 4 chimneys, sometimes even more, each sporting very different looking tops…some looked like hen and chick flower pots, others like royal crowns, some like turned over soup bowls.  Some had wire cages over the tops to keep the gulls from nesting on them.  These chimneys led to fireplaces throughout the house.  Years ago each house had a fireplace in every room, therefore for each fireplace, 1 chimney was needed. 

Speaking of gulls, they are everywhere.  Sometimes while walking around I felt like I was in a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, “The Birds”.  They are everywhere and pooping everywhere.  We had commented numerous times that we had all been extremely lucky no one had been gull pooped on.  We spoke too soon…on the ride back from the castle, Steve got gull pooped on.

For those farmers out there reading this, you make your fences all wrong.  You need to take the rocks from your fields and build your fences.  Paddocks or blocked off sections of fields are cordoned off for quite large herds of sheep to graze in.  You can see sheep everywhere you look.

Some words we found interesting were nappies, which are diapers; when someone graduates from school, they pass out; to rent is to let; to exit an area is way out; restrooms are toilets; yielding the right away is give way; an elevator is a lift; a car park is a parking lot; it is anti-clockwise and clockwise, not counter-clockwise; putting a sprint on is getting a move on; and a detour is deviated traffic.  There were others but too many to mention here.  Oh and by the way, if you think gas (petro) is expensive in the U.S. you should have to buy it here…it’s 135.9 per liter, which is approximately $9 or $10 per gallon!!!

Well, I hope I haven’t bored all of you too much, but I have so much to tell and not enough time.  We haven’t even gotten to Scotland yet but I will let Amy tell you about Scotland.  We are having an absolute blast, and I am treasuring every moment here as I am sure I will never return, so am trying to capture every moment to memory.  Everyone take care, and I’ll see you when we get back to the good ole’ USA."

Stay posted for the Scotland experience!

Until next time...

~Amy

Were a royal Family

Friday was a day of castle going for the Dupont (and Esser and Rotzoll) family. I act like I know what I’m doing when it comes to local travel in northern Wales, but really I’m just winging it. I was pretty sure I had the bus system figured out but I asked at the station just to make sure we were heading in the right direction. Our first stop was going to be Beaumaris and we needed to take the 57 or 58 bus. We waited at the “D stop” where they should both stop within a few minutes, and sure enough they did. Our bus driver was super cool. He was a big help and could tell we were a bunch of tourists. He did a commentary while we drove from Bangor to Beaumaris and I think everyone really enjoyed it.

We arrived in Beaumaris and went right to castle exploring. Everyone thought the mote around the castle was pretty cool. I had been to the castle before so I tried my best at giving an educated tour. I really suck with all the history details but I know the year to remember is 1283. All of the Norman castles we built starting after 1283. We walked around the walls and then through the castle itself. (I feel like this part of the blog would be better from one of their perspectives because I have already been to the castles and explained what they were like and how I felt about it. Judy is taking detailed notes on everything they have been doing so I should have her do a guest blog; I will see if I can talk her into it because I’m sure it would make it more interesting.) After the castle we were going to go to the cute souvenir shop but it was closed, bummer! We went and got ice cream instead. Then we walked down to the pier, but they were working on it so that was kind of a bust too.

After Beaumaris we headed back to Bangor to catch a bus to Caenarfon. We decided we were hungry so we stopped for lunch at the Fat Cat. It was pretty tasty. (I don’t eat out much in Bangor, so I wasn’t really able to tell them where we should and shouldn’t eat but I think we did ok.) We were going to jump on the 5 bus to Caenarfon but 10 pulled up first and the sign on the front of the bus said Caenarfon too so we ended up taking that one. When we arrived at the bus station I wasn’t really sure which way to go because when I went there we came from a different direction and I just played follow the leader; I wasn’t really paying attention to where we were going. A local heard our dilemma so she pointed us in the right direction. It was pretty easy. All we had to do was walk around the corner, haha! I made the family sit through the extremely corney but educational video in the castle. It gave all the history that I really couldn’t remember. Everyone kept asking me questions but I never really had good (or correct) answers for them. I told Judy if there was anything she did in the Ceanarfon castle she should climb to the highest tower; the Eagle’s Nest. You can see forever in every direction from up there. She did manage to make it and I’m pretty sure she was happy she did. She was such a trooper! We hit a few of the gift shops and then headed back to Bangor.

That night I took them to a little hole in the wall restaurant for the traditional fish and chips and mushy peas. We were all stuffed by the time we were done eating. I even think I enjoyed the fish this time (it was the same place I went a few weeks ago). It was a Friday in lent so I thought fish and chips were a pretty good idea. That night we spent time in the B&B dining room playing the good old game of euchre. Dad and Pat and I versus Steve, Aggie and Mom; we got creamed every game I think. It was pretty funny, and it didn’t really feel like we were even playing euchre. We kept getting distracted with random things, but it was still fun.

Once again, they decided I wasn’t capable of walking back to my room by myself. So, everyone but Judy decided to walk me home. This ended up being a good thing. Dad and Steve hadn’t yet seen my place and they hadn’t walked bitch hill, so the girls thought they should. After we got to my room we decided we were still thirsty and we still needed to celebrate Aggie’s “birthday”. So where did I take them? Patty’s pub of course! We had a round of beers and then Aggie decided we needed to do a jager bomb for her birthday shot. After that I was ready for bed. They actually let me walk home the rest of the way by myself and then they made their way back down the hill.

Until next time…

~Amy

Thursday's Op and the Arrival of the family

So, I’m sure you all want to know all about the family and what we have been up to. I am writing this on the train to Glasgow to start our tour of Scotland. I am going to try to get caught up on the blogs since I have 6 hours. So I need to start where I left off. On Thursday morning all I could think about was how the family was going to make it from the Manchester airport to Bangor. It shouldn’t have been too hard, but they are from I.O.W.A (Idiots out wandering around) so I could help but worry. Needless to say they made it no problem (but I will get to that later).

So back to Thursday. I knew we would be doing some water activity because that is all we had left on our list of things to do. So, in knowing we would be playing in the water, I wore my swimming suit, I’m sure glad I did. The day was pretty crappy/rainy/misty/hazy when I got up. So a typical Welsh day. Sad par was, I told the family the forecast was supposed to be beautiful. You just can’t trust the forecast around here I guess! Anyways, Llion told us we were going to be playing in the Menai Strait and it was up to us on the equipment we wanted to use. We could take the canoes out or the kayaks. Since we had done the canoes already we voted to go with the kayaks. Now, I’ve been kayaking before but these kayaks were unlike anything I had been in before. These were sea kayaks so they were narrow and long. We had to sit in the kayaks on land and adjust where the foot plate was and then we launched.

The day out of the Menai was filled with lots of paddling on one side of the kayak. My kayak liked to drift to the left so my left arm got a hell of a workout trying to correct myself. The kayaks were all pretty spinny and sensitive to our paddling. It took most of us quite awhile to get used to it. By the time we paddled how I was able to go in a straight line for the most part. We were paddling with the tide, or so Llion told us, but that was iffy at times. The Menai Strait is like a river but it is connected to the sea so it changes direction of flow with the tides. Everywhere there is a stationary object in the water, the water is flowing in one direction on one side and the opposite direction on the other. This gave us a chance to play around and do some fun stuff. We got to learn how to paddle into the ‘eddies’ as they are called and swing our back ends around real fast and make like a u-turn with the changing direction of the water. We paddled quite a ways and the water wasn’t doing exactly what Llion it to be doing so we stopped for lunch. After we finished lunch we headed back out, and by this time the water had changed directions. It was really nice because we got to move with the current. We did some more playing around in the water. There was one spot where the water was really churning but Llion didn’t warn us. It was hard to see that the water was churning until you were in it. Llion said all of our faces were priceless. We all did fine though. We used all the techniques Llion taught us and no one managed to capsize. Leaning is a big deal when kayaking. If you lean the wrong way it is really easy to capsize, but most of the time you use the leaning to your advantage to help your turn. Eventually, all 8 of us held onto each other’s kayaks and we just floated with the current. It was really relaxing and calming. We all just kind of sat there and shot the shit. All we really needed was an ice cold beer and the day would have been perfect. I think Llion would have joined us too. Once we got close to the dock there was a man made tunnel we could paddle into, so we did. It was really cool and Llion told us at one time if was used as a swimming pool. After we docked, Riley and I decided we wanted to get wet. We had wet suits on so we figured we may as well put them to good use. So Riley and I jumped off the end of the dock twice. They water was freeing but it was so much fun.

The whole time we were floating I kept wondering if the family had managed to find their way to Bangor. If all went well they would have arrived on the train at 1:30. The train goes over one of the bridges we paddled under and a little after 1:30 I brought up the fact that if they made it they would have been on that train. I shouldn’t have worried about them because as soon as I got back to the center my phone rang and it was them. I was never so excited to hear my mom’s voice. She told me everything was ahead of schedule and they actually got into Bangor earlier than they planned. Les (the guy that runs the B&B they stayed at actually wasn’t there because I told him it would be around 2 when they got there. So, like the friendly people they are, they started wandering around and the guy who lives next to the B&B let them in. They sat there and shot the shit until Les came back. They have no problems making new friends in new places.

So after I got back, I got all cleaned up and finally met them at a pub around 5. Everyone looked great and of course they were enjoying a nice cold drink. We enjoyed a nice meal at Yates with our nice cold drinks that tasted oh so good after a hard day’s work (well travel and kayaking). We were trying to decide what to do for the rest of the night; take a guess what they wanted to do (and I can’t say I disagreed)? They wanted to hit some pubs and keep drinking. I knew of a few good places. We hit up the discount booze just in case we needed it to drink at the B&B. We dropped off the booze and then headed toward the pier. The sun was just setting so I thought it would be beautiful. It was already closed but they got a taste of the beauty of Bangor. The day actually ended up being quite nice after the rain went away.

After the pier we stopped at the Tap and Spiel pub for a drink. While there we played a game of pool. I had played pool over here before and it just isn’t the same. The balls and holes are smaller and there are red and blue balls instead of the multicolored stripes and solids like we are used to at home. I warned them that the last time I played, it was a never ending game, but we tried anyways. Just like the last time, it was a never ending game. It was mom and I versus dad and Aggie. We did have a lot of fun, but it felt like we played FOREVER! The family swore that Les said to say his name at the Tap and Spiel because they knew him, but they must have been wrong because no one seemed to know who Les was. We headed back towards the B&B when we walked past another pub; when we looked in the window there was Les! So we stopped in and had a round with him. It was a cute little place where we sat and shot the shit with some locals. Judy even found a few that would speak Welsh for the camera. We then made our way back to the B&B to have a few more. Eventually we were asked to keep it down; we just don’t know how to not have a good time! Aggie, Pat and Mom refused to let me walk home by myself, even though I had done it a million times before. So they walked me up Bitch Hill. Then I was worried that they wouldn’t be able to find their way back to the B&B, but they managed.

The half day that I got to spend with the family was awesome! The next post will pick up right where this one left off.

Until next time…

~Amy