So when I had an opportunity to go to England and Ireland with a couple of my girlfriends, there was no way I wasn't going to go! This was back in the 90's, and like I've mentioned in other posts, those were the good ol' days for airline employees. We got some really great deals on travel, and for this trip, we snagged round-trip tickets on British Airways for $150 each. British used to fly out of Anchorage, and we had a local ticketing agreement with them (yes, we used to have these paper things called tickets) and even scored business class on the way over.
First stop was London and we enjoyed all the tourist sites and a few off the beaten path spots too!
We went to London's original Hard Rock Cafe, which was exciting because it was before there was a Hard Rock Cafe in every corner of the world. I splurged on a denim jacket (which I still own and occasionally wear, it's a freakin' collector's item by now!)
Of course, we had to go to Picadilly Circus , a tourist trap but one of the most vibrant parts of the city and a fun place to people watch! We loved exploring Madam Tussaud's Rock Circus, which was a walk-through wax museum of all the great rock icons.
After spending a few more days in the English countryside, visiting my friend Colleen's grandmother, who was born in Shanghai, raised in Hong Kong, and was one of the most interesting people I'd ever met, we headed to the Emerald Isle.
Crazy as it may sound, Ireland felt like home to me. The people were warm (which was a good thing because Ireland in November is decidedly NOT warm) and Dublin was charming. We explored castles and wandered city streets.
One of the most memorable things we did was a tour of the Guinness Brewery! Best of all, the tour ends with a free pint. I was never a dark beer girl, and I'd only ever had Guinness from a can, which was really horrible and bitter. I wasn't excited to try my free pint, but I was pleased and surprised to find it one of the best beers I've ever had. Coming fresh from the brewery, the flavor was mild, delicious and well, we had more than the one free pint.
We closed our trip with a visit to the town of Wicklow, home to Wicklow castle and where parts of the movie "Far and Away" were filmed. Unfortunately, we chose a Sunday to go there and there were exactly two places open, a pub where we had lunch, and a hotel where we sat and waited for the bus. It was beautiful countryside and a perfectly clear, but cold (coastal Ireland, cold cold cold!)
Funny story about that, I somehow misread the bus schedule and thought the bus departed from Wicklow back to Dublin at 6pm, when it really left at 4pm. Despite years of reading military time, I somehow didn't look closely at the bus schedule, so we ended up having to sit in the hotel bar and wait another two hours for the 8pm bus. My friends did not think it was funny at the time, but we laugh about it today.
There've been many trips since then, many memories that I cherish. There's nothing like trips with girlfriends to solidify connections and create lifelong bonds. Our circle of friends has expanded over the years, making it harder for all of us to fit those "girls trips" into our busy schedules. But when we do manage it, there's never a dull moment and events that leave us with stories to tell, or sometimes secrets to keep (what happens on a girls trip, stays on a girls trip!)
I'm lucky to have my friends, who always accept me for who I am, even if that means sitting an extra two hours to wait for a bus. And I'm lucky to have seen so much of the world with them.
We closed our trip with a visit to the town of Wicklow, home to Wicklow castle and where parts of the movie "Far and Away" were filmed. Unfortunately, we chose a Sunday to go there and there were exactly two places open, a pub where we had lunch, and a hotel where we sat and waited for the bus. It was beautiful countryside and a perfectly clear, but cold (coastal Ireland, cold cold cold!)
Funny story about that, I somehow misread the bus schedule and thought the bus departed from Wicklow back to Dublin at 6pm, when it really left at 4pm. Despite years of reading military time, I somehow didn't look closely at the bus schedule, so we ended up having to sit in the hotel bar and wait another two hours for the 8pm bus. My friends did not think it was funny at the time, but we laugh about it today.
There've been many trips since then, many memories that I cherish. There's nothing like trips with girlfriends to solidify connections and create lifelong bonds. Our circle of friends has expanded over the years, making it harder for all of us to fit those "girls trips" into our busy schedules. But when we do manage it, there's never a dull moment and events that leave us with stories to tell, or sometimes secrets to keep (what happens on a girls trip, stays on a girls trip!)
I'm lucky to have my friends, who always accept me for who I am, even if that means sitting an extra two hours to wait for a bus. And I'm lucky to have seen so much of the world with them.
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