The Travel Journal (part two)

12:30pm, 3.18.07

We are about to leave our "home" at the Motel 6 and head back to the O'Hare International Airport. We do have to be there for about five hours, but supposedly there are lots of cute shops (spending money, just what I need) and that's good. Hopefully I will be able to find out the balance on my card--I definitely did not expect a two day unfunded layover when I planned my budget, Still, we're happy, rested(ish), clean, and about to fly overseas to take the train to Wales. (Mold, Wales, to be exact).

4:10pm, 3.18.07

Sitting at the airport. We board at 5:40--at least, we are supposed to. We are warm, fed, and comfortable, though I look forward to being all those things whilst flying over the Atlantic. Also free food and drink will be an excellent amenity, as everything here is overpriced to the extreme. I still have plenty of money, so I don't have to worry, and it definitely won't go as quickly when we aren't "paying to survive" as one girl put it. The enormous unfairness of it all has yet to really hit me. I just hope we can be practically reimbursed.

6:15am, 3.19.07

Landing in the UK! At last we are over London (Heathrow) after a seven hour (sleepless) flight. But after breakfast and coffee, I am excited and ready to be in a new country. This morning we saw the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean--except all we could see was a pink horizon line and a sea of billowing grey clouds. Down we go!

1:00 3.19.07

Dublin! Heathrow was an appalling mess. We were so so excruciatingly tired and there were hundreds of people yelling in all different languages. Then only six of us got on one flight--the rest are coming in a couple of hours. Now we are riding the bus to our hotel with Matt--out tour guide! Ireland is beautiful, and we now know where our luggage is. I have mine--I nearly cried when it came around the conveyor belt. Surely this trip will finally be good.

10:09, 3.19.07

This has been a day of intense ups and downs. D, B, E, and I were set loose in Dublin on our own, We went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, then the Long Room (most unbelievable library, high vaulted ceilings and floor to ceiling ancient leather bound books. The long hall was lined with marble busts of literary figures, and the room smelt of knowledge. It was heaven.) We then shopped for souvenirs and all was glorious (if painfully cold). But then we were picked up by our bus only to find that the group left in London had split again.

Only five of them got to Dublin, the rest would be stranded for the night. It is disgusting. This journal has been positive for the most part, glossing over the reality that this trip has been terrible in so many ways. We put so much money and so many dreams into it, and it gave us heartache in return, as melodramatic as that sounds. I have now been awake for over two days, isn't that strange to think about? We ate a "traditional" (meat and potatoes) dinner and went to the famous Temple Bar for some lovely cider and not-quite-so-lovely Guinness. I need to crash, but we have a 5:45 wake up call, and we're taking an early ferry to Wales tomorrow where everyone else will meet us. We hope.

I think I will divide this into two more posts, Wales/Stratford and London. Think lots has happened already? Are you in for a roller coaster or what? Seriously, I don't know what we did in former lives, but the universe has had her vengeance in triplicate.