Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Back to the Motherland
Yesterday I got back from my world-wind trip to England and Ireland, where I spent 7 days visiting family and friends. I am exhausted and unfortunately sick, but I figured if I don't write a recap of my trip now, it won't happen. So here it goes...
My mom and I flew to London on Monday, got there Tuesday. We stayed Queensborough Terrace, which is near to High Street Kensington. We just had to walk through Hyde Park to get to 56 Prince's Gate. My mom and I took a leisurely walk through the park and made our way to the London house to say hi to Jenny Ryan and to give my mom a tour of the house. Afterwards we went to the V&A museum (one of my favorites) and then took a short cut through Holy Trinity Brompton to get to Wagamama's for dinner.
The next day I took my mom to all of the touristy places. We did a little shopping at Harrod's and then had high tea at Laduree where I got my favorite dessert EVER! We hopped on the Underground and made our way to Buckingham palace, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and the National Portrait Gallery (one of my other favorites). We grabbed some dinner at Pret and made our way back to the hotel because we had an early morning.
At 6 am we left our hotel in order to get a train to Luton from St. Pancras Station. Even though I thought we were giving ourselves plenty of time, we were a little rushed and made our flight with only about 5 minutes to spare. My aunt Annie and her husband Paul met us at Knock Airport and drove us to my Granny and Pop's house in Mount Assumpta. We talked and hung out by the fire sipping tea to warm ourselves up. My cousin Rory and his girlfriend Amy stopped by to watch the horse races on the television. Annie's friend Michelle then drove us to the Knockranny Hotel and Spa in Westport where we stayed for 2 nights. My mom and I checked in, ordered room service, and then made our way to the hotel bar to visit with the McSherry cousins- Gary, Neil, and Rory.
Friday, March 16 was Niamh and Gary's wedding. The church service was held at Ballintubber Abbey (the same place where Pierce Brosnan was married) at 1 pm. Many people arrived early so of course we made our way to the pub across the street. Sort of ironic. After the service everyone made their way to the pub again to have a drink, or two, and watch the races. Around 5 pm we drove back to Knockranny where the reception was held. First there was a cocktail reception, with plenty of delicious glasses of champagne, and then the regular reception with dinner and dancing. The dinner was absolutely delicious. I think there were about 9 courses, so I was very full after the 2 hour dinner. Neil, Rory, Gary, Niamh, and the fathers all gave speeches. And when the speeches were over, that is when the dancing began- starting off with an Irish jig of course!
On St. Patrick's Day my mom and I flew back to London and just chilled out in our hotel room. On our last day, we took a train to Cambridge to see St. Edmund's College (the college where I was accepted). We walked through St. John's College which is absolutely beautiful. No wonder they chose to film parts of Harry Potter there. We then made our way through the quaint town stopping in Cath Kidston and Whittard's. Before making our way back to the hotel, my mom and I met up with my friend Sophie in South Kensington for dinner at the South Ken Creperie.
The trip was short, and we certainly packed in a lot in the few days we were there. I am so thankful that we were able to go to Niamh and Gary's wedding and catch up with family and friends. It was definitely worth it!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
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