DUBLIN
Friday 15th April
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| Mum and I at the Memorial Garden Dublin |
I left Gemma in Clonmel with the O’dwyers as I headed to Dublin to meet up with my mum. Thank you Jeanette for making so much extra effort After I missed my first bus , she raced me around to make sure I got on the next one!! I mostly just slept through the hour bus trip. Walking through the main street of Dublin looking for your mum who you haven’t seen in about 3 months has a strange feeling like being lost as a child in a large shopping centre (though without the freaking out and tears). After sitting for a bit, we headed up to memorial gardens and then wondered back down O’Connell Street via the GPO where we posted some postcards and continued towards Trinity College and Temple bar. We also saw Christ Church and St Patricks Cathedral.
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| The Memorial Garden |
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| Mum using the Dublin GPO |
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| The Spire |
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| The Spire Plaque |
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| Trinity Collage |
The following day we had made plans to catch the train to Malahide to visit Malahide castle and the coast. Conveniently the train station was just down the road and the trip wasn’t too long. The castle was a lovely stroll away from the station, about 10 minutes through a very green forestry path and by parking and sporting fields. We stopped for a moment to watch some kids playing a game of hurling. I think we get the gist of the game, even though the kids were still at the age where they all clump together and rather than play strategy. For the tour of Malahide castle there was just the two of us as most of the rush had been though in the morning. It was an audio tour which would play in each room as we entered.
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| Malahide Castle |
The following day we went to the Hugh Lane museum, also known as the Dublin City Museum which is well known because of its particular interest in Francis Bacon an Irish Artist. There was an exhibition which showed his works, history as well as staging of his workshop – VERY messy – the best artists are! Lol
We wondered back through the centre of Dublin to find Dublin castle and spend some time in the gardens there and the chapel before having coffee is a cute boutique style outdoor/indoor shopping market. We finished the day visiting Louie in Ireland by shopping at Brown Thomas – a high end retail outlet.
PARIS
Monday 18th April
Our excitement to be on our way to Paris was soon joined by stress. There were moments where I needed to stop and just take a deep breath to handle the situation. if walking though Dublin main street looking for your mum gives you a feeling of being lost… so too does that of being in a foreign country unable to speak their language and not knowing where you need to go or even where you are! Eventually we were able to figure it out and find our hotel taking a brief moment to put all our stuff down and appreciate our room before heading out for breakfast at 2 in the afternoon. Our hotel was quaint and ‘very French’ as my mum likes to put it. The owner would greet you with Bonjour and encourage you to use the French words too. (not something my mum had time for when we’d been up since 4 and not eaten) outside our window was a roomy balcony with black iron fencing, you could look down to the street below and out to the Paris city sky. For the rest of the afternoon we strolled down to the river Seine and along the banks toward Notre Dame eating ice cream and discussing things we could do over the next few days. We’d purchased a bottle of French wine during our walk as well as Cheese and Crackers which we consumed as dinner (having such a big late lunch and all there was little need for a large dinner) and chocolate for dessert. I enjoyed my wine sitting in the bath reading the tourist guide book and looking out the above bathroom window to the starry Parisian night sky. (How many people can say they have enjoyed doing that)
The crackers we had, well the only ones the store had was unlevered bread… so at one point mum pointed out that we had just had communion - we couldn’t help but laugh.
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| Balcony |
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| The Street down from our balcony |
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| The River Seine |
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| Notre Dame |
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| Ice Cream by The River Seine |
Tuesday Cassandra was coming in and we were meeting her at her hotel before going to breakfast. Again stressful difficulties when you’re taking the train to that station for the first time and trying to figure out where exacting you are in reference to the map. Thank goodness for lovely hotel attendants who are very helpful. A classic ‘French’ Breakfast in a divine little restaurant/café just around the corner, and just another corner to The Louvre. During breakfast, two fire trucks pulled up and parked on the road directly in front of us and the fire crew got out and went for a morning run. Oo La La the fire fighting eye candy with ‘Fire and Rescue Paris’ on the backs of the shirts a lovely morning treat.
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| Breakfast |
Tearing our eyes away from the French fire men we continued walking and observed the Louvre exterior, Taking a few photos, before we got to the entry and discovered that it was Closed on Tuesday. I’m not sure if this is a common thing- for the Louvre to close randomly, but I asked the attendant and confirmed that it would be open tomorrow. Altering our plans, we headed to the Eiffel tower. By this time (11ish) it was warming up, and it was expected to get to 24 degrees Celsius; so Mum and Cassandra stood in line at the East Pillar, while I stood in line for water and an ice block for each of us. (Tip: if you’re going between the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, the water and the key rings the men walk around with are cheaper at the Louvre. – Or were at least that day. And see if any of the water bottle guys have iced ones) there were sooooooooo many people. I shouldn’t have been surprised, I’m meant to research things like this for Uni Course work, but it was funny to see Sooooo many people coiled around in lines to catch the lift up. Our line moved quicker than we expected and we were up the top in no time. Amazing the view and the surreal-ness of being up the Eiffel Tower was grand. First we looped the 2nd floor, taking photos from all angles and noting the information which detailed the distances we were from other countries; Particularly Sydney which is : 16962 Km away. Continuing to the Top Level we purchased a champagne Flute and again did the circular loop; Photos and Oo La La’s all round, taking time to look out from all angles.
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| The Eiffel Tower |
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| The Eiffel Tower |
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| Sydney is 16962 Km from The Eiffel Tower |
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| London is 343 Km from The Eiffel Tower |
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| The Champagne Man at the Top of The Eiffel Tower |
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| Mum and Aunty Cass having Champagne on the top of The Eiffel Tower |
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| My Champagne on the top of The Eiffel Tower |
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| Champ De Mars and Ecole Militaire from the top of The Eiffel Tower |
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| View from The Eiffel Tower |
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| The River Seine from The Eiffel Tower |
Coming back to the ground, we grabbed a Croissant and continued to the grassy area between the tower and Ecole Militaire finding a park stone bench to sit on while we ate. By this time the wondering around had began to take its toll, and the foot pain had long kicked in, hence, making the next route, Cassandras Hotel. We had a Tea/Juice and checked emails etc, Mum and I wondered back towards the river Seine beyond the Louvre to see if the boat had a port close by of us to join an evening tour. Unfortunately, we couldn’t locate and put it off until tomorrow afternoon. We could see the Eiffel tower from the Louvre and we stood for a little and watched it Sparkle before returning home for thing night.
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| The Eiffel Tower standing back on Champ De Mars |
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| Croissant in front of The Eiffel Tower |
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| In front of The Louvre at night |
Wednesday’s main goal was to enjoy as much as of the Louvre as possible. Joining the line at about 10 am we had 2 hours to wait; again moving faster than expected - I guess these popular tourist spots have tried to make the lines the best they can. This place was massive. Picking up a map as soon as we got in there and trying to figure out where we were, what we could see in our area and how to get to other areas we wanted to see. Risking sounding like a tick the box tourist I’m going to list a few things we saw.
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| In front of The Louvre |
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| Cassandra in The Louvre |
The Mona Lisa was defiantly an experience. the crowd heading towards it just continued to grow, and we were herded into the room like cattle and all you can see is this massive room full of paintings but a massive crowd clustered around to see the smaller than expected master piece. Squishing into the crowd you ask yourself “surly they can organise this better to there is like a viewing line or something” but I feel that this is part of the experience to see the Mona Lisa. The absence of personal space, as the air thickens, everyone in the crowd making the same comments (or assumes to be the same if they didn’t speak English) about being squished in, or wow she’s smaller than I thought she would be. I think that adds to the excitement when you finally get to the front and have that little be more space to have your picture taken with Mona and look at her directly.
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| Squished in to see The Mona Lisa |
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| Mona Lisa |
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| In front of The Louvre |
We could have walked from the Louvre to the Arc De Triomphe Etoile however at risk of killing my mums feet again we cheated and caught the metro. Grabbed a takeaway, late lunch and enjoyed it sitting on the side of the Arc De Triomphe watching the cars speed around and writing a few post cards.
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| Arc De Triomphe |
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| Arc De Triomphe |
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| The Eternal Flame |
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| Mum and I having Lunch on the Arc De Triomphe |
Thanks to the facebook I had discovered that the franks were arriving in Paris with Monica, Sarah, Maya and her cousin today and I had arranged to meet with them for dinner. The French Phrase book mum had borrowed of a friend from work came in handy as I translated the menu to an Italian restaurant. The group of us wondered the area before calling it a night and the boys escorted me home. I like that I was able to meet these guys in Paris... pulling the “we’ll always have Paris” lines.
LONDON
Early morning we flew out of Paris and into Luton meeting Cassandra in London to leave our luggage at her hotel before exploring London for the afternoon. We started with Buckingham palace; walking through St James Park we could see the preparations for the Upcoming Royal Wedding. The Queen was home for our visit but soon left for Windsor Castle. The Orangery at Kensington Palace for afternoon tea; we arrived just at the right time to avoid the extended cue. I had been here before but I brought Aunty Cassandra and Mum back because I knew they would appreciate having High Tea on Palace grounds; which were particularly beautiful as the flowers had bloomed in the spring. Following tea we walked towards Portobello road through Notting Hill for a bit of shopping. Unfortunately the Markets were just about all gone by the time we got there, but enjoyed the outlets off the street on the way. Winding down the day and embracing British culture we had another cup of tea back at Cassandras hotel before we said goodbyes as she had a tour then her flight home the next day. Mum and I Were on our way to Hatfield.
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| St James's Park |
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| Buckingham Palace, Cassandra and I |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| Kensington Palace |
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| Mum , Kensington Palace |
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| The Orangery, Kensington Palace |
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| High Tea in The Orangery, Kensington Palace |
It felt good to return home to Hatfield after being away for a few weeks. Mum got to experience the mess gem and I left our room in on the early early morning and the Lovely Green Sheets which Gemma and I had been given at the start of semester, the walk down to the Co-Op for last minute food. She was particularly interested in the single pint milk carton – excited to take it back to her class and use for measurement lessons. The Following Morning we enjoyed a Leisurely Breakfast in the sun on the Picnic table Rachel, Sonia and Maria had stolen from people up the way the night before. This table steeling rivalry has since continued. Mum Vacuumed (very thoroughly) washed up, and we put on 3 loads of washing (the most Gemma and I have ever done at one time was 2) we even used the dryer! (Gem and I are cheap and always hang our clothes up) then we did a little tour of the campus, went shopping and had coffee at the Galleria (the local shopping brand outlet)
Saturday we did a tour of Windsor Castle; it was a public holiday so the place was packed, with a line continuing around the corner of the entry gate. We even managed to be included in the Evening Prayer at the St Andrews Cathedral inside the castle. I haven’t mentioned yet, but it’s been a Large part of travelling with mum; it’s that she comes with Captain Bear. To explain: she is a teacher and at the school she teaches there is a bear which a class can ‘win’ for the week if they are the most well behaved during a school assembly. During her final week before holidays her class won it. So Captain Bear has been travelling around some of Europe, having many iconic photos and sending post cards to the kids in the class. You appear totally normal and sane when you pull a bear out of your hand bag in the middle of a tourist location and take a photo of it with the famous back drop. By this time I had gotten use to it and began asking for the bear when I saw a photo opportunity. As we were standing with one of the royal guards in Windsor castle, just 4 people around, we finish photos of our self and whip out the bear. Surprised, the guard held back his laugh. I don’t know that he often had a photo with random teddy bears. As we take the photo, we reassure the guard that we are not crazy and that it’s for the kids. Do Guards discuss the random things the public do to them in a lunch room??
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| Mum at Windsor Castle |
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| Mum at the entry to Windsor Castle |
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| Windsor Castle Garden |
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| Captin Bear At Windsor Castle |
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| Windsor Castle |
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| Infront of the Round Tower at Windsor Castle - The Queen is at Home |
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| Captin Bear and Mum Write Postcards |
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| St Andrews Cathedral |
For Easter we slept in had a lovely breakfast outside on the picnic bench that we continue to steel before heading into London for St Pauls Cathedral. We attended their Festal Evensong in the afternoon, the place was packed. Changing it up after the traditional service we lined up for Hillsong London. Their Easter service was very powerful, and again packed like most churches on Easter Sunday. Mum made the effort to say hi to Cathy and Gary Clarke (the senior pastor). They use to go to church with us many years back and it was interesting to catch up.
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| St Pauls |
This year ANZAC day was the same day as Easter Monday this year, and we spent most of the day hanging out at home getting ready to pack mum up; before making ANZAC Biscuits at night. Thank you Shannon for letting us borrow your oven J the next day we spent the most of it getting into Heathrow Airport so mum could check in and leave here stuff at the Hillton. A moment to rest and have a coffee before returning back into the city for Harrods.
It was nice to have my mum visit me here in London and travel part of Europe with her and Aunty Cassandra. Go to and see new places and things as well as get to show here placed I have already seen yet enjoyed showing them off. Mum I hope you enjoyed Ireland, France and England, especially my home in Hatfield.
