What's the word for super green?

I'm just going to say it: Ireland is like a storybook.

Sometimes the cliches are accurate.

I was allowed to ride a retired top level event horse along a country road with stone walls around green fields filled with sheep and cows, went horseshoe hunting with a rambunctious Rhodesian Ridgeback and a spaniel who should properly be called a mer-dog.

I was feeling a little bit like a Canadian Sarah Brown #internationalvelvet . 

This is probably a good time to mention Workaway.info -- it's the only reason I'm able to be adventuring. The website allows hosts to list their needs and then workawayers(like me) can contact them to see if they might suit each other. If you like the idea of helping people while experiencing another part of the world, earning room and board with your time and energy, check out the website. 

On another note:

You know that saying "if you don't like the weather in Ireland, wait 5 minutes"? 

It's true.

Also, UK money is weird. Those are all £20 bills -- they are all different colours and have different designs.

Oh, and just so you know, none of the photos used in this post are filtered. Yeah.

Hi Ireland

Travel day.

London to Belfast; an hour flight but almost 10 degrees cooler. Hallelujah. And there's rain too!!

When I flew into Gatwick, I was underwhelmed. It was small and seemed both old and unfinished, which takes a certain kind of talent. However, LEAVING Gatwick is a completely different story. Once you go through security, imagine the south terminal with a little bit of Metrotown.

Jamie Oliver has a restaurant there.

Harrod's has a mini store.

It was a pretty odd experience. 

Now I'm staying near Belfast in the beautiful Northern Ireland countryside, and I've already learned a new card game

Out of Time

My last day in London.

You all shouldn't be surprised to hear that I hate rushing. The most sure way to forget something is to be frantically get things done.

You all also probably know that I'm a procrastinator. These 2 aspects of my personality...don't really work well together.

I will sum up: I had a list of things to see and do in London, and I could have probably gotten them all ticked off, but I would not have enjoyed it. Therefore, I am truly content with what I did see, and look forward to my next visit in order to experience the rest.

Today was Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I did not shell out for the tours -- £25 for the ToL tour?! -- but I really enjoyed walking around outside and I think I got some great "stock" photos.

The one in the middle I thought was a pretty serendipitous, considering the name of this blog.

...ok, so I also went to Oxford St. Can someone please explain to me why there needs to be 3 H&M stores within a 5 block stretch??? No? well, then have a layout of my new sunglasses(Primark baby), a cool HP-esque street, and a crappy blurry Selfridge's -- taken from the bus. You're welcome.

London Boil

That's me.

Look, the simple fact is that it is torture to walk around a unknown city in the summer. Between the tourists and figuring out directions, I had to make my day short and sweet.

The Tate Britain, home of the Turner collection. JMW Turner is my favourite landscape artist and early impressionist. His use of yellows and oranges make my stomach do the rollercoaster thing.

And it just so happened that the Westminster station was my stop. Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye -- well, across the water. 

Autumn has started in London, Westminster Station looks like an Escher building, and there's always room for another photo of the HoP.

Dinos and a Deli

I turned 33 in London; I think that's awesome enough on it's own, but add to that the Natural History Museum and Ottolenghi's, and it's just almost too good. The museum had more than just dinosaurs of course; I have more photos of taxidermy than I thought I would ever have.

To call Ottolenghi's a deli is to oversimplify, and maybe even do it a disservice. Fresh salads and proteins with mediterranean flavours, delectable pastries, and a very personable staff. I have 3 of their cookbooks, and knew that I wanted to go to one of their locations while I was here. I'm so glad I did!

The only thing that would have made it better is if my favourite people were there too. You all would have loved it, and I missed you.

The Sadness of Living out of a Suitcase

I indulged my book geekness today. I don't think I have ever walked more.

Daunt Books, Foyle's, Forbidden Planet, various secondhand bookshops, and the British Library. There's a certain kind of sadness about being a reader and knowing that you cannot buy books.

Daunt is a classic bookshop, all beautiful wooden built-ins and railings. They have an interesting way of organizing their international books: the middle photo shows Mexico, with the non-fiction(travel, history, art, etc.) on the top shelves, and fiction written by Mexican authors or taking place in Mexico underneath. Needless to say, very different from Chapters!

Foyle's is the Chapters of London, with this store being like the late Robson & Howe. Forbidden Planet is a Sci-Fi and Fantasy geek's dream; figurines, clothes, memorabilia, and lots and lots of books. There's a stretch of Charing Cross Road between Oxford St. and Leicester Square which has quite a few bookshops, more if you go down some side streets.

My requisite salute to HP followed my first tube trip. King's Cross and the way to the Express, then the British Library, which while beautiful, was too much a research library for me.

Regent's Canal and Camden Lock: very nice walk, although I wish I'd gone in the morning when I was fresh. By the time I got there, my feet and legs were burning and my phone was at 20% --

Note to self: don't forget the battery pack.

Camden Lock is like Pike Place Market in the summer, on the weekend.

I kinda wish I had a river boat though...

My generous hosts shared their dinner with me, and their special cheesecake, as an early birthday supper. I feel very lucky to have met these lovely people.

The Question of Culture and The Ultimate Vacuum of Time

Jet lag ate half my day.

I have no functional experience with jet lag; the last time I was in Europe, I was 11 and mostly on a train. I slept when I was tired and that was that. 

I had hoped that my "overnight" flight (which I nearly slept right through) would flip me over. Unfortunately, after 4 hours, I woke up at 1am and couldn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours. When next I woke, it was 1130. I have never slept until 1130, ever.

So, breakfast at 2, dinner/supper at 7, and 1/3 of Regent's Park in between. With a stop at the Doctor and the Detective's flat.

Also, Is there such a thing as "The Shock of No Shock"? What I mean is this: I am 7 time zones and 7500km away from home -- and yet, everyone speaks the same language, eats the same food, wears the same clothes, is experiencing the same weather...It very much feels like I stepped sideways into alternate version of home...there's a bit of waiting for the other cultural shoe to drop.