Bloopers

I am now nearing the end of my stay here in Europe.  Most of what I have yet to do and see here revolves around writing papers, finishing group projects and studying for exams.  My schedule is completely insane and I am pretty sure my head may explode at any moment.  However, I'm guessing that pictures of me stressing about classes and finals would not make for a very exciting blog.  Sooo, I have decided to have a little fun with this blog entry.  I'm pretty sure I may make some enemies (2 in particular), but I will do it anyway for your viewing pleasure.

As you know, I spent the second week of my travel break galavanting around the continent with my mother and auntie.  They were kind enough to tell you about some of our adventures here.  In reviewing my blog, I have discovered that there are several stories and pictures that they "forgot" to include.  I shall now devote the rest of this entry to telling you "...the rest of the story" (yes, I did just quote NPR). 

London

The truth is... we had a blast in London.  The three of us thoroughly enjoyed all of the sights, monuments and culture there was in this great city.  It seemed like everywhere we turned there were beautiful buildings and statues to see.  My mother and auntie explained one of their posts that we got to ride the London Eye.  Pictured below, it is essentially a giant (extremely stable) ferris wheel that gives its passengers the chance to experience the true beauty and scope of London.

For me, this was a no brainer... of course we were going to do it!  Well, the two of them had "decided against it" prior to my arrival.  On the first day of our trip we took a tour that offered a ride on the eye, but they chose to get tea instead!!!!  They were too scared of the height and potentially rocky cars.  Eventually I was able to force them to do it and they had a wonderful time (no rocking).

There were other crazy moments in London, like the time my faithful companions tried to get themselves arrested and "forgot" to pay their bills.  I would tell you about those stories, but I am looking forward to a happy Christmas season too much.

Dublin

The true craziness began when we arrived in Dublin.  On our first excursion they declared that they had no interest in looking at maps or planning our trip, they would rather I took care of all that.  My dear auntie even tried to make me use my "feminine charms" to convince the waiter to help us out.

At Dublin Castle their behavior escalated towards being uncontrollable.  They did not find the castle entertaining enough just to look at or walk through...

First, Aunt Jill began falling down all over the place and throwing her belongings.  My guess is that she was acting this way merely to get my attention.

Then, even my mother's usually good behavior deteriorated when she decided it was amusing to climb into the castle's guard shacks and make funny faces.

If you have doubted the factual nature of my stories thus far, the next two pictures should remove any question of their truth...

Here is my auntie playing with her food.  A milk mustache?  I think not.  This would be her showing me her GUINNESS mustache!!!

Oh, mother.  I am afraid you are setting a very bad example for your impressionable young daughter.  

Yes, they told you about the night we went and saw Irish step dancers at a pub where we could pour our own Guinness.  What they left our was the number of glasses  they poured...  

**Note: These photos were staged.  No mothers were intoxicated during the taking of these photographs. **

As I conclude this "tell all" blog entry, I begin to fear for my safe return to the States.  For this reason I must tell you that while there is some truth to most of the stories I have just related there is also a hint of fabrication.  I found these pictures far too entertaining to simply provide you with the "real story."  To be honest, I often coaxed my auntie and mother to play along and act out ridiculous scenes for my pleasure.  I hope you enjoyed my stories and will not think less of them (or me).

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, think of me when you are eating your delicious turkey and cranberry sauce.  Know that I am incredibly jealous!!!