Just to make myself feel productive...
I finished planning my UK trip this evening just to cheer myself up after the crap work (less) day. This is going to sound very ambitious, but I've promised myself that it'll work out just fine. So, here it is, the itinerary for my trip to the UK:
Wednesday, June 25th --Move out of apartment, catch bus to Dublin (preferably for early afternoon). Crash dear Cait's house in preparation for the trip to London.
Thursday, June 26th-- Ryanair flight departs at 5:55 pm. During day, I might get Brazilian waxed depending on meeting plans and such. (and that's of course, if I don't get it done beforehand during a day trip of some sort). Arrive in London, crash the wonderful Cait's friend's or brother's house (can't remember at this point what the finalized plan was there).
Friday, June 27th--get some sort of ride to the SCA event be it via bus, train, broomstick, etc; Coronation site opens at 4 or 5 I seem to recall. Don't know how long it will take or how we'll entertain ourselves up to that moment, but we shall come up with something.
Saturday, June 28th--still at Coronation. Probably water-bearing. (and Afterwards, the revel!)
Sunday, June 29th--arrange transportation back to London where I'll be staying at the Athena Palace Hotel in London (had real trouble finding b & b or guesthouses available for my dates there).
Sun, June 29th--Thursday July 3rd--stay in London. I want to see the Museums, take a daytrip to Stonehenge, and take in at least one show. I assumed that 4 days was enough time for all that. In fact, I may even have time to shop.
Thursday, July 3rd--Catch bus or train to Cardiff, Wales. Check in at NOSDA @ the Riverbank (it's a hostel and nicely priced). explore Cardiff.
Thurs 3rd--Sunday 6th--hang out in and around Cardiff. I will explore the city and possibly take a daytrip to explore further reaches of Wales.
Sunday, July 6th, Nottingham/Sherwood Forest. I will take a train or bus up and spend the day/evening at Nottingham. I will then retire to the local Jury's Inn Hotel for the night.
Monday, July 7th--I catch a plane from the East Midland Airport near Nottingham all the way up to Inverness Scotland. I'll arrive there at 2:20 PM via RyanAir. I shall then check in to the guesthouse I've found accomodation at (I sent out 5 e-mails earlier checking for availability...I will send out more if I have to...should know definite accomodation by tomorrow or Wednesday). I'll probably go to the Castle and hang around the City for the evening.
Tuesday, July 8th--still in Inverness, I plan to take a daytrip to Loch Ness and other sites of interest (they rarely visit just one). There's a really cool combined cruise/daytrip that takes a boat out looking for Nessie (I know it's cheesy and cliched, but I have to go b/c that's how I roll).
Wednesday, July 9th--quick trip over from Inverness to Edinburgh, where I will remain until Sunday, July 13th. I'm staying at Afton Guesthouse there. I haven't planned anything too specific there yet. I've been told I should just walk around the city at some point, and so I shall. I know there are cool historic sites and other stuff within short distance, and there are also probably some neat daytrips...I'll have to figure out for sure what I want to do once I get there. (Hey...at least I know what cities/general areas I'm going to be in now...that's farther than I got before). Anyway, planning the trip day by day beyond this would be just a little TOO OCD.
Sunday July 13th I'll be coming back to Galway. I'm taking a flight into Dublin from Edinburgh and then a bus from there to Galway. I also need to book a one night stay at one of the local b & bs before much longer so that I have crashspace for the night of the 13th. The morning of July 14th I have to get my happy ass to NUI Galway bright and early so that I can be transported along with the other souls of the doomed to Carraroe for the Irish language course.
Final Note: From July 14th--August 16th I shall be hidden away in a rural Irish village. I don't know how the phone and internet signals are there, but my ability to contact people will probably be somewhat limited during this time. I will have at least two Sundays off that I know of, but otherwise it's all day (and well into the evening). This is like linguistic bootcamp. They take us out into the fields first thing in the morning and return us late in the evening (often as late as 9 pm...that's a long fucking day!) anyway, that's all I have to report for now. All I can say, is enjoy my company for the month of June b/c it'll be difficult to contact me for a while.
Oh, and to my dear American Friends: I'm coming home on Saturday, August 16th. I'll arrive at Little Rock Arkansas late that night (around 11 if I recall correctly). SIU resumes its semester on Monday, August 18th (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!)
This will be rough and I apologize if I come off as mentally disturbed, terminally angry, or just plain dumb.
Wednesday, June 25th --Move out of apartment, catch bus to Dublin (preferably for early afternoon). Crash dear Cait's house in preparation for the trip to London.
Thursday, June 26th-- Ryanair flight departs at 5:55 pm. During day, I might get Brazilian waxed depending on meeting plans and such. (and that's of course, if I don't get it done beforehand during a day trip of some sort). Arrive in London, crash the wonderful Cait's friend's or brother's house (can't remember at this point what the finalized plan was there).
Friday, June 27th--get some sort of ride to the SCA event be it via bus, train, broomstick, etc; Coronation site opens at 4 or 5 I seem to recall. Don't know how long it will take or how we'll entertain ourselves up to that moment, but we shall come up with something.
Saturday, June 28th--still at Coronation. Probably water-bearing. (and Afterwards, the revel!)
Sunday, June 29th--arrange transportation back to London where I'll be staying at the Athena Palace Hotel in London (had real trouble finding b & b or guesthouses available for my dates there).
Sun, June 29th--Thursday July 3rd--stay in London. I want to see the Museums, take a daytrip to Stonehenge, and take in at least one show. I assumed that 4 days was enough time for all that. In fact, I may even have time to shop.
Thursday, July 3rd--Catch bus or train to Cardiff, Wales. Check in at NOSDA @ the Riverbank (it's a hostel and nicely priced). explore Cardiff.
Thurs 3rd--Sunday 6th--hang out in and around Cardiff. I will explore the city and possibly take a daytrip to explore further reaches of Wales.
Sunday, July 6th, Nottingham/Sherwood Forest. I will take a train or bus up and spend the day/evening at Nottingham. I will then retire to the local Jury's Inn Hotel for the night.
Monday, July 7th--I catch a plane from the East Midland Airport near Nottingham all the way up to Inverness Scotland. I'll arrive there at 2:20 PM via RyanAir. I shall then check in to the guesthouse I've found accomodation at (I sent out 5 e-mails earlier checking for availability...I will send out more if I have to...should know definite accomodation by tomorrow or Wednesday). I'll probably go to the Castle and hang around the City for the evening.
Tuesday, July 8th--still in Inverness, I plan to take a daytrip to Loch Ness and other sites of interest (they rarely visit just one). There's a really cool combined cruise/daytrip that takes a boat out looking for Nessie (I know it's cheesy and cliched, but I have to go b/c that's how I roll).
Wednesday, July 9th--quick trip over from Inverness to Edinburgh, where I will remain until Sunday, July 13th. I'm staying at Afton Guesthouse there. I haven't planned anything too specific there yet. I've been told I should just walk around the city at some point, and so I shall. I know there are cool historic sites and other stuff within short distance, and there are also probably some neat daytrips...I'll have to figure out for sure what I want to do once I get there. (Hey...at least I know what cities/general areas I'm going to be in now...that's farther than I got before). Anyway, planning the trip day by day beyond this would be just a little TOO OCD.
Sunday July 13th I'll be coming back to Galway. I'm taking a flight into Dublin from Edinburgh and then a bus from there to Galway. I also need to book a one night stay at one of the local b & bs before much longer so that I have crashspace for the night of the 13th. The morning of July 14th I have to get my happy ass to NUI Galway bright and early so that I can be transported along with the other souls of the doomed to Carraroe for the Irish language course.
Final Note: From July 14th--August 16th I shall be hidden away in a rural Irish village. I don't know how the phone and internet signals are there, but my ability to contact people will probably be somewhat limited during this time. I will have at least two Sundays off that I know of, but otherwise it's all day (and well into the evening). This is like linguistic bootcamp. They take us out into the fields first thing in the morning and return us late in the evening (often as late as 9 pm...that's a long fucking day!) anyway, that's all I have to report for now. All I can say, is enjoy my company for the month of June b/c it'll be difficult to contact me for a while.
Oh, and to my dear American Friends: I'm coming home on Saturday, August 16th. I'll arrive at Little Rock Arkansas late that night (around 11 if I recall correctly). SIU resumes its semester on Monday, August 18th (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!)
This will be rough and I apologize if I come off as mentally disturbed, terminally angry, or just plain dumb.