Ali's Sweet NEW Ride

So, as we all know, my wife ROCKS. Generally she goes unrewarded and usually doesn't complain. So in payment for years of hard work and dedication at her job, she has got a just reward. A sweet 2008 LR2 which is a Land Rover. Enough said, know that she rocks and this is her sweet new ride. Thanks ED!!!

Anniversary Flowers!

This past weekend Ryan and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary. Ryan surprised me with 2 doz. extra long stem roses, 2 doz. orchids and a bunch of huge pink flowers that were really pretty, but we didn't know what they were called! It was amazing! I've never received so many flowers! Guess what Ryan doesn't know is that every year he'll have to out-do himself... Guess he better get saving up for next years flowers... ;)

More flowers...

And the orchids...

Thanks RY!!!

Our Friend Phil

While on our trip we met another couple on our bus tour that turned out to be kindred friends. We had SUCH a fun time with them! Ryan and Phil had a great time teasing our tour director and making fun of the millions of history lessons she tried to give us. We did a lot with Phil and Ros and when the trip ended, we were so sad to say goodbye. Phil and Ros live in Austrailia - obviously far away from our little Huntington Beach. We grew very close to them and it was strange to think that we would probably never see them again. Here are some pictures of our dear friends that REALLY made our trip even that much more exciting.

This little pub was in Dunmore East, outside of Waterford - yes home of the famous Crystal factory, also home of the saying, "by hook or by crook." Phil here is modeling for us in front of the thatched roof Hayes Pub. This pub has been family owned and opperated for over 100 years! The previous owner lived to be 100 years old and was not fond of tourists. She died so we got to go visit... While at the pub we listened to the live music of Richy Roberts. He was so entertaining that we bought his CD. We still listen to it and love every minute of it!

As you can see Phil doesn't look like the kind of guy that would be touring Europe by bus. He looks like he should be touring on a Harley - which in fact he does love to do, and is the reason he and his wife Ros came on this trip.

Ros was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease not too long ago. She, obviously, wasn't too happy about the diagnosis. Phil found her one day crying in their bedroom. He asked her what was wrong and she said, "I am never going to see Paris!" He told her that if that was all she wanted that he would sell his beloved Harley and use the money to finance the trip to Europe.

When sacrafices are made, blessings are given. Just like every previous year Phil purchased a $50 raffle ticket as a donation to the MS research organization. This year was different though, the grand prize was a Harley. Guess who won!!! Phil won the grand prize, a NEW Harley Davidson!!! He procedded to sell his new prize and use that money to go on a trip to Europe. He was able to keep his beloved Harley that he so willingly offered to sell to make his wife Ros happy.

They were a great example to us and we enjoyed the trip so much more with them as our travel buddies. We hope to see them again someday... in Australia 2008!

Coventry and York

OK here we are in Coventry. It is known for two things. Lady Godiva, whose Naked romp on horse back gave birth to Peeping Tom. And second for the church that got blasted during a WWII German bombing run. It was a great time.









These pictures are of the Old Cathedral that was blasted by the Nazi's in WWII. It is quite scenic and they have a memorial there as well . I loved this quote below. I thought that it was moving.




Here is the memorial stone in the floor of the Old cathedral. It is quite beautiful.



Directly across from the old cathedral is the new one. This statute on the wall is over Michael putting Lucifer under his feet, and so you know according to this statute. Satan is Hung!!! I got a picture of it, but I wasn't allowed, Sorry Lynn.

This is the view of the stain glass inside the cathedral over there. It is quite stunning. You were supposed to pay to take pictures inside. Ya right. No way I was going to pay three pounds for pictures. My tourism money is paying for enough. So bugger off. That is more or less how the conversation went.

Here is the round stain glass over the west? entrance in York. This cathedral was awesome. The whole town of York felt like a Charles DIckens landscape. It seemed to be the most pure place that we visited. We wished we would have had more than a couple of hours to stay there. Unfortunately we didn't. What can you do? We enjoyed the time that we did have. Guy Fawkes lived in York and Nov 5 is Guy Fawkes day, as well as our anniversary. It was interesting he tried to blow up parliment.

This christ on the cross stain glass stood out to me. It is interesting how there are items that are so far from our common beliefs and then others that parallels them. The stain glass was awesome. I think we stayed in the cathedral for several hours. It was breath taking and huge. It took sooo long to build that there are several styles of architecture on the outside as well.

I loved the way that the building could stand alone. This little ally shows how unsquare the architecture really is. This river is just on the ouside of the town walls. It was scenic and there is a guy rowing in the back ground. It was very pictureesque.

Galway and the Cliffs of Moher

Galway, is located on a huge bay on the western shore of Ireland. It is very scenic and beautiful. The Stream to the left had some fly fisherman in it, I suppose fishing for trout but we didn't have the chance to ask. Just up the road from this river was the local cathedral.
The stain glass here was quite awesome and, really, only the church in York had prettier stain glass. From Galway we continued south along the coast and every once in while a castle like this is on the side of the road.



















From there we reached the Cliffs of Moher. I think they look like the cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride. It was very inspiring the way they had that little look out castle. I loved the vantage point that we had here. Had we enough time I would have enjoyed walking out to the point out in the distance. But still I find that the view of that castle gives good proportion to the size the cliffs actually are. They were awesome. The two pictures below are on the way from Galway heading south. The one below on the right is the infamous Galway Bay.




This castle was on the bay as well, it was real low tide so you could see way out. Then I don't know if you would have figured it out by the photo alone, but Ali had a runny nose. I have (being married to her) seen her at her high points and low points and I think this would fall right there in the middle. (Ryan got sick too, but as you can see he didn't want to include the photos we took of him when he was sick in bed...) The joys of taking a bus tour... When one person gets stick, the entire bus gets sick... one poor soul at a time. All in all, we still had a FABULOUS time!

Dublin, Ireland

Look, A DOOR. This doors was once the front door of King John Edward the 3rd of Scotland and 47th of England. He is known for his massacre of the Serfs. Wait that would have to be King George, since these are Georgian Style homes, sooo.

OK that is just a lie, however, our tour guide took us to see about 400 doors, and each one had its own unique story and that is all. Unlike the states, the door is the only thing a famliy can do here to be unique. So there is some excellent craftsmanship. The city is known for a couple things. The River Iffy, Trinity College, and our favorite, The Guiness Factory. All were very fun to see and tour. Near our hotel was Temple Bar, which is a small gathering area for locals to do their thing. It was like 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica. Below is a picture of one of the buildings that was there.



These Statutes were outside of our hotel and were a memorial to those that suffer from the Potato famine. They consisted of a group of emaciated individiuals. As I looked at them all I could think of was John Belushi on SNL when he went through his luck of the Irish Spiel. However, on a more solemn note, Roz had family who went through the famine and had written a letter to her family in Australia, calling them out saying that they should get off their fat butts and send them some money since they had nothing. The severity of it really came to life as she shared her personal experiences.

This is the view from the Gravity Bar. This is the best view in all of Dublin. On the top of the Guiness Factory, is where this bar is located. You can see the whole city. It was a great view. I was glad that Ali allowed us to go to the factory. Below is Ali in front of the St. James gate. It was fun. To get to the factory we walked in place of taking a taxi, it was about a two to three mile walk. Phil did it well even though his leg was hurting. He ended up drinking our free beer that we got at the end of the tour.


On the walls there were quotes written. I'm not sure if they were over the place where the person was from, however, it added to the whole atmosphere.

The Brazen Head. The oldest bar in Dublin, it is rumored that Robin Hood had a pint here. The front is just a facade and the real bar is behind. It was cool to see a bar that is older than the U.S. I wished we would have had a chance to get inside, but we were lucky to get this picture as we drove past.

This is the Liffy. As the Brits call it the Iffy Wiffy Liffy. The cool thing is that the tide in Dublin is about a 12 swing, if not more. So at low tide as seen here you can see all sorts of things on the river bottom. Bikes, Shoes, Bodies, whatever. However, when the tide came up there was only about a meter of clearance. The better thing was that they had boats that were made like unto a dish that could still go under the bridges at high tide. They were bizzare looking.

Scotland

Scotland, what a great country. These shots are from the castle overlooking Edinburg. The Edinburg castle is a great one, in terms of inherent beauty. It is located on the side of a cliff and from it one can see for miles. The road leading into the castle is called the "Royal Mile" There are shops up and down, where you can buy all sorts of gifts. The castle starts like all castles should, at the front gate and then corkscrews up to the left.

All the way up there are Turrets that overlooked the city and down onto Prince's blvd.


Here is the Ceremony of the Haggis, it is quite spicy. The guy on the Left was the announcer and more or less entertaining. It wasn't until this night that I learned that the Scot like the Acordian too. Who would have thought it. I figured them to be more manly than that.

Ali even tried the haggis. I was suprised.








So like the other countries over there the stain glass is impressive to say the least. This one was a standout to me. I like the bible story that was included and before the actual stories were replaced by the apostostic teachings of the catholic church.

This one here is of Mel Gibson. Just kidding. Although they are quite proud of Braveheart over there. I'm sure they would have done more in the day had they known about the press they would be getting now. No this is WILLIAM WALLACE, yes the same who gave my fore-fathers " the Johnstone Clan" a castle since they were so good at killing the British. If you have met the a true brit you will know why anyone would want to kill them. HAHA This was found in the church that was in the compound of the castle. It was a tiny church but nonetheless beautiful

The Royal Mile leads up to the front gate of the Castle in Edingburgh and it is like the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica, there are shops and street performers everywhere. But rather than have that obnoxious black guy who paints himself silver and puts a whislte in his mouth, this here play the Bag Pipes. That is much much better

Now this is a cannon. Seems like it wouldn't be very practical, hence why it is in Scotland. That is a british joke. See that is why we hate them. Ali is there just for perspective. Thanks babe. In situations like this I would tell her to go and act like Vanna White. Here however she was too cold to put her arms up.