London

I had about three nights in London before I flew to Orlando. I really didn't do too much, just a lot of walking, taking in the city, one last time. I went back to Covent Garden one day to see the street performers and enjoy the neighborhood again. Visited all the eclectic boutiques I could find.
On a whim, I went back to the shop that sells discount theatre and musical tickets and decided to go see "Thriller Live" at the Lyric Theatre that night. It was fantastic! It's actually more of a concert that follows MJ's career from the Jackson Five hits, up to Bad. There were about six talented vocalists both male and female in the show, including a very young boy singing Michael's J5 era songs. The vocalists all had varying dancing abilities and were backed up by fantastic dancers. The song selection was inspired and kept the crowd up and clapping their hands at times, other times the mood was very sentimental, especially during "I"ll Be There" and "Man in the Mirror". Because they had so many vocalists, some of the songs we performed with a twist: for example "The Way You Make Me Feel" was sung by the very attractive high heeled female vocalist, and she was followed around on stage by a group of male dancers that are all dressed as Michael from the video, trying to win her affections in vain. During "Smooth Criminal", the most talented dancing vocalist only dances while another sings from the side of the stage. Once or twice, the young Michael came back on stage to duet with his older self, maybe to emphasize the hopeful, somewhat child-like message of a song like "Heal the World". The band was spot on, no updated interpretations of the songs, and the dancing was incredible! Every once in a while, like during the numbers "Beat It" and "Thriller", the dancers would incorporate some of the classic choreography (do you remember the knife fight dance?). The live performances also gave me a better appreciation of some of the songs - I was surprised how much I liked "Dirty Diana" live, as it's not really a favorite of mine. Anyhow, the show really put me back in touch with the days when I had not one, but two! Thriller albums and wore leg warmers because I was so sure I was going to be Michael's back up dancer some day (if I could just figure out the Moonwalk). Haha
The last day, I visited a couple of exhibits that had just opened, "Watteau: The Drawings" at the Royal Academy of Arts and later "The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900" at the Victoria and Albert Museum (which was partially organized by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco).
That night, I met up with Phil (who had been nice enough to show me around the last time I had been here) for a couple of pints at a hidden pub in the middle of a commercial district. The entrance to the alley it is located in is practically invisible until you are in front of it. As Phil says, very Harry Potter. We had dinner at a restaurant called 'Smiths' of Smithfield. It was the best meal I'd had in London, thanks again Phil!
The next day, I took the metro to Heathrow. Sad to be going, happy to be heading home. Hopefully, I'll be able to get "Wanna Be Starting Something" out of my head soon :).

Just walking around...



Piccadilly Circus






The Lyric Theatre, sooooo excited!



Dinner before the show, yes, Italian again :)






The Royal Academy of Arts






Sir Joshua Reynolds, an 18th century painter. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy.



Lord Wellington, one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. He defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.



The Wellington Arch



Apsley House, location of the Wellington Museum




Back at the Victoria and Albert Museum



The "hidden" pub



Passing on the love; "Let's Go Western Europe" was an invaluable guide during the last couple of months. I hope it's just as useful for the next traveler!



Hmm good time to go, I guess



My last breakfast in London, I went all out!



Luckily, I flew through Iceland just a few days before the last volcanic eruption in Grimsvotn. This was the second time I had flown IcelandAir and I have to say it is one of the most customer service oriented carriers I have ever flown. The onboard catalogue has a lot of very cool local artisan items (a big departure from Sky Mall) from as well as videos promoting tourism in Iceland.

I had a layover in Iceland for a couple of hours.



The very serious man below is DJ Margeir. He makes the playlists for IcelandAir. A band, Gus Gus, was premiering their new album for the first time on IA's flights. You even can buy and download playlists you like.



This looks cool in a catalogue, but would I wear it in SF?



Getting back to the States was a long trip. I arrived in Florida around 9pm... exhausted but happy to be home, and ready for some sun!



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Cliffs of Moher aka The Cliffs of Insanity

The tour to the cliffs is run by the MaCoole family. It starts out west very early from Dublin by bus and gets to the family farm near the village called Oughtmama by noon. First, you can feed a calf who thinks it's a dog, and two lambs (there were a couple of other tours to the cliffs, but these guys had me with a picture of a baby lamb on their brochure... well played MacCoole Tours!). Afterwards, you go for a scenic hike on the Burren Mountains, and come back to a cottage for homemade pie and Irish coffee. The cottage belonged to the grandmother of the family, and there were pictures up in the living room going back generations (there is one of our guide's great aunts with their famous cousin, Gregory Peck.) One of the best moments of the day was when our guide had the group lay on the ground to quietly "take it all in for a minute".
The ride out of Dublin was very scenic. A hundred shades of green. Endless miles of farms and fields with horses, sheep, cows, cottages, the occasional castle. It was showering off and on throughout the day, but nothing that stopped our group from seeing the sights! Actually, that is probably why we kept seeing vibrant rainbows throughout the day. Also interesting, out west is where people speak Irish as well as English, and village signs have both languages on them.
The Cliffs of Moher are spectacular and have been filmed in quite a few movies, most notably (in my childhood memory anyway) in the Princess Bride!
Our trip back was equally as scenic, and we were back in Dublin by 9:45. I was surprised to realize that it was still light out! Back at the hostel, the guys at reception were cracking jokes about the Queen coming to Dublin for the first time in 70 years. I mentioned that I had tried to see Dublin Castle the day before and that it had been closed in preparation of her visit. "Well, at least some goods' come of it, they're going about and painting things! - ha ha". Obama is also coming visit the city and they were pretty animated about that as well, and wondered if he'd come to look up his Irish ancestry.
Turns out, three days after the queen departs, Obama will meet the Irish president and prime minister and visit the tiny town of Moneygall, from which one of his ancestors emigrated in the 1800s. Moneygall barely has 300 inhabitants and they are delighted at the prospect of welcoming their "most famous son."
Here are some pics from the tour.

The baby calf. Remember, don't tell her she's a cow.






omg






Ridiculous! I want a lamb! How do they get along with cats?!






Our guide, John Connolly, has a B.A. in Irish Heritage. As we walked up the limestone mountains, he educated us about the history of the land, the wildlife, the flora, and how fairy tales played a part of everyday life back in the time when the laws of the villages were all handed down orally.




































Traditionally, if you had a trouble or a wish, you would have come to this tree and tied a prayer onto it. John pointed out that many people of different cultures have the same practice, even though they had never been in contact with one another. A woman in the group from South Korea confirmed that it was a tradition there as well.


















Not only did our guide have a B.A. in Irish Heritage, he also makes a mean Irish Coffee.












Here we are!



































































Killing time before our bus takes us back to Dublin. The only way to do it in Ireland.







Soyeon, me, and Sinead. We met up at the hostel and took the tour together. She is very funny and sweet, and I hope she makes it out to S.F someday. She was off to Croatia the next day!







Haha not taking the Royal Visit too seriously.






One last look at Ireland.... Erin if you ever want to go, I'll come back with you!





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