Kayaking at Lake Quinault

I took a weekend and got out of town a few weeks ago to enjoy Lake Quinault with my Mom (in the middle) and sister Katie (on the left). We had a great time and had unusually hot dry weather (keep in mind this is in the Quinault Rainforest). We took the kayaks across the lake and got fried on the way back. Of course we forgot to put on sunscreen, and were in these weird kayaks that you sit on top of and as we came back across the lake, it got really sunny. It was super hard work to steer without rudders so we got a great workout. My grandparents used to own a cabin on the lake when I was young, and it was so good to get back out to the lake.

We drove around the North Shore of the lake, it is so beautiful! We passed by the newly remodeled Lake Quinault Resort and it was beautiful. And had very reasonable prices. On the last day we were there, we took a small hike and it was so different from all the other hike I have taken out at Lake Quinault. The trail went past a homestead from back at the turn of the century and then into the woods, but the wood were really open and spacious.

Austin, Texas

What a great city!!! I was in Austin a few weeks back for a friend's wedding, and had a blast. I had the worst time getting down there and found a great link to some great travel tips, but the city is as good as I have always heard. Just like my friend Scott said, the blue island in the red sea. And he wasn't joking!

We stayed in the coolest hotel in the city, Hotel San Jose, and were even thinking about how we could set up a hotel like it in Seattle. Any time you go to Austin, you have to stay here. And definitely order the room service breakfast, it is amazingly presented!

Oh yeah, and I also stayed at the Austin Motel for the first few days, it was ok, but I would definitely recommend the Hotel San Jose for a small splurge. I did a ton of shopping and ate too much bar-b-q and Mexican food - oh yeah and it was ridiculously hot and humid!!! And I even ran into a distant relative at the watering hole we went to to get some reprieve from the stifling heat.

I am back to blogging!

Ok, so I am finally back after an 11 month hiatus. Lots has happened since my last time posting, so forgive me for missing some things in the mean time. But I intend on keeping this updated in the near future and I look forward to hearing from my friends from near and far!

I took this photo when I was in Portland a few months ago and it kind of sums up tmy life as of the last few years. From Seattle, to Maryland for grad school, to Canada, to South Africa, back to Maryland, and then off to London and then back to Seattle. But now that I am back in Seattle, things are good, and I am finally settling in. Keep me posted on what you are up to when you have a chance and I hope you get a taste of what i am up to too!

Bonmahon - Where my ancestors are from

Just before I left for Ireland, I got an email from my Grandpa telling me about where his grandparents came from in Ireland. And it just so happened that I was heading along in that direction on my roadtrip. So we headed towards Bonmahon and I knew that it was a small village. But I didn't expect to drive through it without knowing that I driven through it! It was so funny, we had to stop and turn around to get back to the town! It consisted of about 6 houses, one shop and that is about it. I couldn't believe how small it was! But the countryside was so beautiful. And it was right down the road of the ocean! I had to get out and take a photo by the one sign that said the name of the town. The funniest part was that we had seen so many signs pointing us in the right direction, from both directions, and then when we got there, we had no idea we were there!

Kissing the Blarney Stone

It was surprisinly scary!! You have to lay down on your back, then scoot over to the wall and lean backwards, while being held in place by that lovely character there in the photo with me. I wonder how millions of photo he is in across the world... And it was over so fast, that guy has the process down pat! But the grounds of the castle were great too. There was the wishing steps, where you have to walk up and down backwards with your eyes closed. I was so occupied with making it up the stairs that i forgot to make a wish! It was so fun exploring the grounds. Giants were suppoed to live here back in the day sometime ago, and from the size of the plants, I think I might just believe it!

The Gap of Dunlohe

After a great night's sleep in the Neptune Hotel in Killarney (which I totally recommend to anyone passing through the city), we headed out to the Ring of Kerry for a hike. We did a 4 mile hike through the Gap of Dunlohe, a beautiful valley between two mountains. The scenery was amazing, and there were tons of sheep. The traditional way of taking in the views is by horse and buggy, but that option was a bit spendy, and plus, it felt so good to get out and have a hike after 2 days of sitting in a car for so many hours. It is so amazing that driving can be so stressful and exhausting!! The drive was so beautiful, but the roads were soooo tiny!!! And there were so many tour buses and they tend to take up more than their fair share of the road!

The Dingle Peninsula

After the trip to the Cliffs of Mohar, we headed south along the coast to check out the Dingle Peninsula, just north of the very popular Ring of Kerry. We opted for this less popular spot, and we picked right. It was beautiful and very picturesque. We stopped of at this pub along the side of the road when I saw the sign over the door - Micheal O'Neill, considering that is the name of my uncle! We considered stopping for a Guiness, but decided we needed to continue on our trip since it was almost dark and had to find our hostel which was still about an hour away in Killarney. Apparently the peninsula is best experienced on foot. You can walk around the place in about 7 days, mostly along the amazing beaches. Maybe next time I will try it out that way.

Irish Countryside!

For the following 4 days, Maria and I hired a car and drove around the south coast of Ireland. We drove from Dublin to Galway the first night, then continued on to the Cliffs of Mohar (the second photo). The stone walls in the countryside were amazing and the ocean is so beautiful.

Not sure what i expected, but there were so many people at the Cliffs of Mohar (or Mohair as Maria liked to call it). Loads of tour bus and the wind was insane!! We were warned before we got there not to get too close to the edge, as the wind was amazing!

Dublin!!!

The week after I was done working, I flew to Dublin to meet up with my friend Maria, who I met here in London. He is now living and working in Dublin for 6 months and we decided to go traveling around Ireland for a few days. I spent 2 days in Dublin and we attempted to go the Guiness Storehouse, but ran out of time to do the tour, so just went to the gift shop and took our picture outside. I got to see her life in Dublin, went to a party with her work friend and even had dinner with her new guy. We had a great time!

Done with my job

Ok, so it was a few weeks ago, but this is the street that my office was on (well it is still there, but I am no longer there). It was about a 5 minute walk from Liverpool Street station - really close in to the city center.

It't REM!!!

For the month of July, there was a pavillion erected in Hyde Park, next to the Serpentine Gallery. It housed lectures and events celebrating London in architecture, politics, art and everything I guess. It was designed by Rem Koolhaas and Arup, and the day I went to visit Rem himself was there mediating a discussion. The talk was soooo boring, but it was exciting seeing him in one of his own buildings!

Ghost Cabins are finished!

I got an email from a friend that went up to visit the Ghost site in Nova Scotia and she sent me some photos that I would like to share. When we left the site last July, only one cabin was finished (just the structure) and the other three were just barely started. It is so exciting to see them finished! The new Ghosties lived in our cabins for this year's Ghost project for two weeks. Apparently they were quite comfortable. I can't wait to see them when i got back up to visit in 2010!

Sorry it has been so long!!!

After a long hiatis of being very busy with family in town, and also just being lazy...I am back. I hope you enjoy seeing some new photos of new trips and such that I have done recently. This is a photo of me and Mom sitting in a pub across the street from the flat that they rented while in London.

Today is my last day at work. I will be taking the month of August to travel a bit before heading back to Seattle via DC in the first week of September. My team went out for breakfast this morning before work, what a great way to start the day!!! And we are going out for leaving drinks tonight after work, the whole office this time, well at least everyone is invited.

I am excited about traveling out of the UK! I am going to Ireland to visit my friend Maria who is living in Dublin for 2 days, then we will rent a car and travel south to see the sights for 4 days. Then I am coming back to London for 2 days, and will be off to Paris for about 5 days after that. I have always wanted to see Paris, so I am sooooo excited! Then it is back to London to pack and see those things that are left on my list of things to do before I leave. And i just made my plane reservations last night, so i head back to DC on the 27th of August. I will probably be there for about a week, packing and repacking my stuff that is in storage before shipping it back to Seattle and stepping on yet another plane to come home myself around the 5th of Sept. Can't wait to see you all!!!! Hugs and kisses! Laura

Tourist London!

Mom and Dick came to visit for 10 days and we did tourist London - and we saw sooo much. The weather was sooooooo hot and there is no a/c anywhere here, espeically in the public transport. We all made it through, many, many, many bottles of water were drunk to stay hydrated.

We saw all of the big sites, Tower Bridge, the Crown Jewels, the Changing of the Guard, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Portabello Road Market, Leister Square and so serious amounts of walking and walking and walking. I had almost all of the days off that they were here, minus the days they popped up to Edinburgh.

It was so good to see Mom and Dick, it feels like it has been ages since i last got a proper hug. When they got into town, I met them at the airport and gave Mom a huge hug!!!

Kew Gardens New Greenhouse

This is the reason I went to the botanic gardens. It is the newest addition to the gardens, and I think it is a tropical or desert flower exhibit, but honestly, i didn't spend much time looking at the few flowers that are inside. I loved the building, it was great. Looking at it over the other flower beds and across the water, it is leaf shaped. It is by Wilkinson Eyre, who I really wanted to work for them. Maybe next time...

Kew Gardens

So amazing!!! I went out to Kew Gardens to see the new greenhouse (see the next entry), and I am so glad that I went, it was so beautiful. It is the British National Botanic Gardens and this greenhouse was built in the 1890's, when lots of these plants were, well planted. There were amazing lillipads, rose gardens, huge 100 year old trees, and cactus's. It was an amazing way to spend the day.

Looking out over Oxford

I went up to one of the highest spots in the city (not too hard, it is quite flat) which was the top of the cathedral. It had some amazing gargoyles up there. I ran into some tourists from Virginia up there too, it was crazy! That big building is Kings College, the main courtyard.

Hogwarts (Oxford University)

I visited Oxford for the day a few weeks ago, and am just now getting around to putting up some photos.

It was a fun day, but a bit disappointing at the same time. Oxford University is made up of many colleges, and they are all sort of seperate, not sure how that whole thing works. Each of the colleges are open to the public during very specific hours during the day, like 2-4:45. It is so limited, and to top it off, you have to pay to get in. I went into Kings College, the most famous and biggest of all the colleges. It is also where they filmed the movie, Harry Potter - it is the magical cafeteria.

World Cup 2006

It is finally over...and English football fans don't know what to do with themselves!!! The premiership games rolled into the World cup, and now they have to wait for a whole month before it starts up again.

I am so glad I was over here for it. I heard that the games were only showed on Cable in the states. Over here, the final was carried on 3 different broadcast channels, and I would venture to guess that about 3/4 of all of the viewing public was actually watching the game.

As much as they love their footie over here, they also love to tear down their favorite players too. The England team didn't do so well, and were basically banished when they returned home. All of the players were apologizing in the press, over and over. It was really weird. But I guess I am just used to a team that doesn't do well, so I wasn't too bothered that they didn't make it to far. I must say, I got some pretty good teasing about the US team. But no one really expected much out of them to start with, so it was alright.

07/07/06

Today is the one year anniversary of the London Bombings. I barely remember about them happening last year. But for the last few days, it has been all over the news and then yesterday, a tape was released showing one of the bombers from Al-Jeezera. My flatmates and I had a discussion about it last night and they were saying that they were going to stay away from the tube today just to be safe. I was saying that of all days, I am sure that today there would be really good security on the trains and busses (they didn't buy it by the way). I am sure since I didn't go through that whole thing last year, my attitude is a bit more relaxed about it.

So when I got up this morning, I was running late of course and decided that in order to make it to work on time, i had to take the tube (I noramlly take the bus, but it take about 20 min longer). It wasn't till i was well on my way to work when I saw some guy reading the newspaper with a headline about the 07/07 bombings, that I remembered about the conversation we had last night. I had a slight panic, until realized how many other people were also riding and felt a tad bit better. I was definately glad to get off the tube at my stop. And then i realized that one of the bombings happened at the next stop, Aldgate Station. Very eerie feeling.

Luckily nothing happened and after thinking about it, I did see much more police presence at al l the stations, but they just seemed to be looking around, and not really doing to prevent any attacks. I would have thought there would be bomb sniffing dogs or something. But I arrived safely and everything seemed as normal as possible. Made for a weird start to my morning.