Ireland: Day 2 - Dublin in the Day

Saturday was pretty tame compared Friday.  We woke up a little after 8 to get ready.  Breakfast at our hostel was pretty lame.  They offered toast, some weird cereal, and more toast.  Highly disappointing, but I guess we shouldn't have expected more.  We had a pretty solid plan for the day; Guinness in the morning, lunch, city walking tour, anything else we want to see, and then back to London.

The Storehouse opens at 9:30 and we arrived around 10.  It was decently busy for being so early.  We flashed our tickets and they let us right in.  It should be known that the Guinness Storehouse is a self-run tour.  There are no tour guides, just arrows on the floor guiding you through.  The tour takes you through the process of finding the ingredients, preparing them, and then eventually crafting the perfect pour.  Each ticket (for people over 18) will get you one pint of Guinness.  So it may have been 11AM in Dublin, but it was 5 o'clock somewhere, so I will let that justify my 1.5 pints.  We took our pints in the Gravity bar, which is at the very top of the storehouse.  The bar a 360 degree bar with windows everywhere, so you get the perfect panoramic view of the city.  It's very, very cool.  Basically you pay for your ticket that gets you into this amazing bar.  It's slightly over priced, but I would pay it just for the experience.

Me enjoying a pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar.

Me, Jessica, Abbey and Bailey

The wonderful view!

We spent way too much time in the Gravity Bar, so we had to breeze through the gift shop, and make our way to where the free walking tour begins at city hall.  On the way we had a rushed lunch at a local pub.  I got a chicken wrap and chunky chips, and it was delicious!  So much better than the toast I had had for breakfast.  We made it to the walking tour just before it was about to leave.  Our tour guide was a young Irish man who knew a lot about Irish history and the city.  I swear to you I learned more in those 3 and half hours than I would have in a classroom.  There is something about being there, and seeing things for yourself that help them settle in.  We didn't see quite as much of the city as I was expecting, but it was still a very good tour that took us all the way across the city, hitting some key areas.  We of course tipped the man when the tour was through.  He deserved it.

Dublin Castle

Trinity College

We ended at a park, but it was starting to get a bit nippy outside, and since the tour ran longer than expected, we made our way back to our hostel to rest and pick up our bags.  It’s hard to describe how tired I was.  I wasn't so much physically tired.  It was that my brain was fried from being overwhelmed with the awesomeness that is this country.

We got back on a bus to the airport, and luckily had a little of importance happen on our journey home.  I did acquire a Carlsberg glass to add to my glass collection.  Now all I really need is a beer glass from Scotland and I will be happy.

All in all, I would have to say that Ireland is a lot like Iowa.  It has a more interesting history, and some bigger cities, but it's the closest thing to home that I have experienced so far.  That's probably why I enjoyed it so much.  That's all for now.  Stay tuned for my last week of classes and work before Spring Break 2010.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Ireland: Day 1 - Cliffs of Moher

I thought getting up at 7:30 in Rome was tough, but that was nothing compared to our first day in Ireland.  I was awake at 5:45, running around the hostel in an attempt to get ready.  I barely had any time to straighten my hair, but I needed it because when I woke up my bangs were flipped up in every direction possible.    We were on the road, walking towards our tour stop by 6:20.

We had booked the Paddywagon Tour day trip to the Blarney Castle, and it turns out that Jessica, Abbey, Bailey, and myself were the only ones on the trip.  Everyone else was heading for the Cliffs of Moher.  We climbed aboard our tour bus and were off by 7 AM.  Our first stop was in a small town so people could grab breakfast and a toilet.  That's when our tour guide, Eric, approached us.  He said we had the choice to go to Blarney or to go to the Cliffs.  He made a case for the cliffs saying that it would be a great day for the cliffs, but an odd day for the castle, and that if we went to the castle we were basically going to kiss a stone that was covered with the slobber of hundreds of thousands of people.  We had heard this before, but somehow, coming from our Irish tour guide it seemed to sink in more, and we decided to change our minds and go to the cliffs instead.

On our way to the castle we stopped at Limerick to take some pictures of the Treaty Stone and the castle that was across the river.  It was a very quick stop before we were on our way again.  We took another short photo stop at the Blarney Woolen Mills to see a castle and check out the gift shop.  I got my Ireland shot glass there.  This time, when we left, we were off to the Cliffs of Moher.

The treaty stone.

The signs are in Gaelic and English.

It's hard to describe just how beautiful Ireland is.  We saw the country on the perfect day.  There was a blue sky, rolling clouds and small breeze.  Absolutely gorgeous.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Easily, Ireland has become my favorite country.  The people are friendly, the country is beautiful, and you don't have to go to far to find water.  Absolutely picturesque.

This guy is just playing a round of golf by a ten pound castle ruin left by Cornwall.  No big deal.

The Cliffs are the the number two tourist attraction in Ireland, right behind the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, and that's probably only because it takes a more of a trek to get to the cliffs, but trust me, once you are there, you won't regret it.  My friend Shay asked me how many times I could take a picture of the same rock.  When the rocks are the Cliffs of Moher, I could take pictures for the rest of my life.

I added this one to freak out my mom.

Another pic that is sure to freak out my Mom.

We left the cliffs and headed along the coast towards the a small town called Doolin for lunch, if we wanted it.  Our stop was the Fitzpatrick Bar, and there I had my first taste of Jameson.  I tried to get Smithwicks (an Irish lager) but they were out, so Jameson it was.  That's when our tour guide approached us.  He said since we were good sports about changing our tour he was going to hook us up with free tickets to the Guinness Storehouse.  Bonus!  How can we pass that up?

From Doolin we traveled north up the coast to what is known as the Burren Code.  It's an area where all the rock from the ocean floor has been pushed up to the surface after millions of years of pressure and movement from the tectonic plates.  Another great view.  From there we left and went back to Dublin, making just one more short stop.

Me at the Burren Code.

We were back in Dublin at around 7:30 PM, and although we were pretty wiped from the hectic day, we still had the night to experience.  I was told before going to Dublin that it is a "stag and hen" place, meaning bachelors and bachelorettes.  They weren't kidding.  The girls and myself made up our own sort of pub crawl for the night.  The first place we went was hopping, but left after one drink.  The second place was really popular as well, but seemed like more a business after-hours sort of place, and the service was quite frankly a little rude.  Bailey tried to order an Irish car bomb in a round about way so as not to say "car bomb" but the server said, "A car bomb?  We don't do that shit here.  Only the real ones."  Buzz kill!  So we left.

We then walked around until we found the VAT House.  That place was ready to party.  Inside we were joined by no less than three bachelorette parties.  One took the cake though.  The women all wore shirts that said, "1 bride, 9 hens, and No cocks.  Dublin 2010."  Clever if you ask me.  The women were between the ages of 38-43 but they knew how to have a good time.  But they weren't staying there the whole night, so when the bachelorettes left, so did we.  Our next & last choice was completely random but they had live music, no cover, and a very convincing door man.  There we met some CUTE English cousins their with their dads celebrating one of the fathers birthdays.  We had so much fun talking with them, but sadly the night had to come to a close.

It's pretty clear that you go to the country for beauty and serenity and Dublin for a party.  I would go back to Ireland in a heartbeat if given the chance, and hopefully someday I will.  We still have one day left to go in Ireland, so stay tuned, because that will be my next post.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Traveling to Ireland

Dublin loomed in the back of my mind the whole day.  I had a short checklist of things to do, the biggest being that I needed to pack.  I knew Ryanair was strict about carryon size so I was a little worried.  I was mainly worried that they would stop me, check my bag and then make me pay €30.  I have only heard horror stories about Ryanair up to this point, which made me nervous.

We didn’t have BES on Thursday, which meant I got to sleep in an extra 30 minutes (woot!).  Our Cotemporary Britain class was all about how Britons live.  We focused on class and status mainly.  I discovered why there are no trash bins inside the city of London.  Apparently the government took them out because of bomb scares.  It still amazes me how clean they can keep the city without trash bins on the streets.  I know they have street cleaners, but still.  We talked a lot about traveling habits and the development of the middle class.  It became pretty apparent that what we see in London is not typical of England.  London is an oddity amongst the nation.  We all knew this, but it’s hard to separate sometimes.  Just like when someone goes to New York and that’s all they see, they wouldn’t have a good picture the entire nation, just New York.

After class Bailey and I got her money exchanged and then indulged in some Tortilla goodness.  It had been two weeks since I had had a burrito and man it tasted good.  But alas, I still had to pack.  It took me forever and a day to find my lock.  I freaked out a little bit.  You can’t stay in a hostel without a luggage lock unless you want to get your things stolen.  At three we got on our bus to Stansted Airport.  It took 105 minutes to get there, but luckily we budgeted enough time.

My group didn’t have as many difficulties as others who used Ryanair because we were able to learn from their problems.  First things first, you must get your visa checked and your boarding card stamped if you are not a member of the EU.  Without it, they will charge you.  We then went through security, where miraculously I wasn’t searched.  After that it was just waiting for our gate.  Stansted seems like a good, decent airport.  It’s pretty simple in its layout but completely functional.  I would hate to be there on a busy day though.

Our flight only took 45 minutes and we were in Dublin by 9 PM.  Getting to our hostel was the next challenge.  We decided to take public transportation because it was the cheapest option.  Right away we found out how friendly everyone is in Ireland.  A man helped navigate us to the correct bus, and once on the bus, an older man told us what to see, eat, drink and how to get to our hostel.  Don’t even get me started on the accent.  It’s official now.  My favorite accents go in this order: 1) Irish 2) English 3) Australian.  That man and his accent were just adorable.  Whenever they want to say a “th” it actually comes out as “ta-ha.”  So when they say thirty, it sounds like “t-hurty” but very quick.  That’s just one example, but I love it.

This is Dublin's Four Courts and it's right across the street from our hostel.

Getting to our hostel was a bit of a walk, and it was raining.  My bag was soaked when we got there.  Luckily my cameras managed to remain dry.  We checked in and made it our way up to our room.  It was a bit of a struggle for me because the elevator decided to close on me every single time.  Even thought it was only 9:30 at night there were girls in our room trying to sleep.  A bit of advice, don’t try to sleep in a hostel before 11.  Before 11 people are allowed to be loud.  You can’t expect much else.  We went to bed between 11-12 because we had to get up for day trip on Friday at 5:30 AM.

Thus ends our first day.  The magic really begins on Friday with our day tour.  Stay tuned…

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Internship: Week 7

This week has been extremely eventful.  I got the full wrath of English transportation on Tuesday and spend the weekend in Dublin (teaser).

Monday started out like all the others, up early, off to work.  I did a lot of work on the tdg Twitter page and got us some new followers and solid RTs (retweets for you newbies out there).  I also started a strategic plan for a client that I will turn in next week.  Suni and I ate lunch at the Clerkenwell Kitchen where I enjoyed my first fish cake.  Monday was just a good ol' day in London.  I spent most of my night trying to find people to go to Birmingham with me the next day.  Patrick is still out of town and Suni had a meeting pop up, so she had two train tickets to the Food & Drink Expo on Tuesday.  Suni said I could bring a friend if I could wrangle one.

Cue Tuesday.  I woke up so I could meet Suni at Euston train station.  She had to get my tickets and then pick up someone for her meeting.  I had about an hour to wait before my train left, so I wandered around the train station trying to find a coffee place that would make me a frappe.  Costa Coffee would, but it was creamier than my preference, altogether not bad though.  The train takes about an hour and a half to get to Birmingham, and the genius that I am, forgot to bring some form of entertainment.  The Expo was right by the train station in Birmingham so I didn't have to navigate anything.  I wandered around, took lots of pictures and sampled a bunch of foods.  Everyone wants to know where I am from and what I am doing here, which gets a little old, but I understand their curiosity.  I wonder sometimes if I should just try my British accent out on the natives to see if they can tell.  They probably would be able to tell and then I would be incredibly embarrassed.  More to the point, the Expo was fun but I was out of there at 1 PM with feet aching because I wore healed boots and hadn't sat since the train.

desert sushi is one of the delicacies I saw

These were some fun kids drinks.  They made me smile.

My train back to London didn't leave until four, so I bought some train tickets into Birmingham's city centre hoping to find the Cadbury World.  Apparently I didn't do enough research because Cadbury World isn't located in the city center, it's located on the city outskirts, and I found this out from a mall booth salesman.  He seriously walked past 20 people through a crowd to get to me.  Do I look gullible enough to buy just anything?  I should put my mean face on more often.  I shopped for a while in the Bullring shopping center and surrounding markets and then I went back to the train station.  This started the journey from hell.

First things first, the train my ticket was for, couldn't leave because of signaling failure, so I had to take a different completely packed train.  That train took 1 hour and a half to get 2 stops outside of the town.  From there we had to get off and take another train in London.  To sum it up, my 90 minutes train ride turned into a 3 hour debacle that was topped off my a huge mass of people at Euston Station and a fire scare.  I knew it was a fire because the sirens and loud speakers all blared, "Will Inspector Sands please report to the information desk" Sands is an old theatre code for "Fire."  I was in a right fowl mood by the time I got back.  I listened to some music and calmed down before hitting the hay.

Wednesday was the usual.  We got our take-home midterms in advertising.  Not really excited to complete that, but it will get done.  Art was held at the V & A museum and we learned about decorative arts.  Only one more set of classes before Spring Break!  Really excited about it!

Thursday begins my journey to Dublin so I will dedicate a post to that.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Rome: Day 2 - The Vatican and river walk

Even though our feet were sore from walking all day, and our new dorm mates were loud as heck when they get ready for bed while the rest of us slept, we slept pretty well and got up with the break of dawn.  Jess, Risha and myself were out the door and headed for the Vatican by 8 and were in line by 8:30.  The line to get into the museum was incredibly long.  We waited for an hour and a half to get in and paid €8 with our student discount to enter the Vatican Museum.  Believe it or not, the line behind us extended a solid half a mile at least, so our spots were relatively good.

It's a tapestry of the famous fresco The Last Supper

The figures look like the are 3D right?  But they aren't.  They are painted on.

We walked through a few galleries and saw some amazing artwork before we made out way towards the Sistine Chapel.  To get to the Sistine Chapel you have to pass through even more galleries, and we passed tens of tour groups that seemed to hold up all the free floaters.  The place was congested beyond belief.  I took in everything as best as I could, but honestly it was a little overwhelming.  There was so much beauty and talent in the artwork it would be hard not to be overwhelmed.  When we finally made it to the Sistine Chapel I felt like I was in a dream.  There was just no way that I was actually seeing this incredibly famous piece of art with my own eyes.  I would say that we marveled for a solid 10-15 minutes before taking out leave.  Sadly, pictures are not allowed so I have none of my own to share.

Now everyone should pay attention.  There are two exits.  One takes you back to the museum and the other leads to St. Peters.  I didn’t notice the first so we headed to St. Peter’s unknowingly.  Once we reached the courtyard there is two lines to chose.  One was towards the Cupola (the top of St. Peter’s) and the other was towards the Pope’s tombs.  The tomb line was shorter so we took that one, but once we got in we realized that the only way out was St. Peter’s and there was no way to get back in if we wanted to go to the Cupola.  So moral of the story is queue for the Cupola if you have the time.

We gave Risha some time to explore St. Peter’s and then we all headed out to find some food.  Just two blocks from the Vatican we found a mom and pop Pizzeria, literally.  An older boisterous woman and her quite husband run the pizzeria.  We were looking at the outside menu when she stormed out and practically yelled at us in Italian to sit down “Prego!”  I felt like she was my Italian grandma.  I ordered pizza and it was fantastic.  The one thing I learned is that Rome is not a credit card place.  It was the second place of the day that didn’t accept credit cards.  So if you want to go, make sure you have ample amounts of cash.

After lunch we headed towards St. Angelo’s Castle where we parted ways with Risha.  She went in to explore but we decide to walk the grounds quick and take to the Tiber River.  No one was on the river even though it was a beautiful day and there was a great waking path.  As we learned, the river is a little sketch.  I’m a pretty sure only tourist and people looking for privacy go to the river.  There was one point while we went under a bridge that my spidey sense went off.  I could feel a person on the other side, so as we passed I decided to have a look and you’ll never guess what I saw.  Holy biscuits Batman!  There was a man there but he was enjoying his own company, if you know what I mean.  Being the sheltered girl that I am, I was stunned into silence, but we just kept walking.

Our river journey ended on a good note at the Isola (Island) where got gelato for the last time and enjoyed the river.  From there was walked back to the Monumento a Vittoria Emenuele where the police squad had gathered for reasons unknown to us.  We decided to take a seat in the nearby foro and watch the events unfold.  It turns out that there was some sort of water march that stretched probably 2 miles long.  The police were just there to make sure the monument didn’t get touched and keep the peace.  It was a peaceful march from what we saw, but from there we had to leave to go back to the hostel, gather our things and head to the airport.  Our time in Rome had come to an end.  Two days is clearly not enough time in the great city.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it can’t be seen in a day.  I wish we had more time, but such is life.  We saw, probably 90% of the most famous places, and all in all I would call it a resounding success.

Our last gelato

The island

Polizia!

The Water Walk

Alex, our hostel owner, really liked me.

The train back to the airport was crazy busy and we barely made it with less than a minute to spare.  The guy who sat across from us had the most pained look on his face the whole time.  He wasn’t in pain, that’s just how his face was, and it was quite comical for me.

Once at the airport we went through security, where I was searched, AGAIN.  Then as we boarded the EasyJet flight I was chosen AGAIN for the random bag and body search.  Do I really look like a terrorist?  Is it the blonde hair?  I want to know why I am always the one to be searched.  Warning to the wise: don’t travel with me if you want to get somewhere quick, because I (with the help of brilliant security) will hold you up.  It’s really remarkable.  Not too mention that the bag lady seemed very puzzled by my deodorant stick.  It keeps me smelling fresh lady!

Minus the minor security headache our journey home was pleasant.  I enjoyed a pear cider on the plane, Mac n Cheese at Vandon, and then crashed into an amazing and dreamful sleep.

O Rome, I will miss you.  Pip Pip Cheerio!

Roma: Day 1 - Colosseum and so much more

Rome: a city full of passion and leisure.  It's hard to describe how truly great this city is.  Some places take you by surprise while others just don't live up.  Rome is exactly how you would expect it to be, but in an amazing way.  I don't see how anyone could leave disappointed.

There is so much city pounded into the city that I swear, around every corner, there is a beautiful historical sight or a gorgeous fountain.  We saw a lot on our first day so this post might get a little long, but trust me; there are lots of pretty pictures to help get you through it.

As it was our first full day in Rome, Jess and I wanted to start early, so we got up around 8.  Our breakfast consisted of Nutella and bread.  Although it was simple, I couldn't complain because it was free and Nutella is freaking delicious.  If you haven't tried it, you should.  We were out the door by 9 and our first stop was the Vatican.  The Vatican museum (which holds hundreds of pieces of art, a spectacular Raphael collection and the Sistine Chapel) was closed so we walked around St. Peter's square and St. Peter's Basilica.  I have never seen anything so ornate in my live.  You could sit in St. Peter's for years and not discover all the delicacies that it has to offer.  We were simply in awe.  The recently deceased Pope was still on display in the Basilica.  That was a little weird to see but there were plenty of people there paying their respects.  We had to wait in a huge line to get into the Basilica, but it moved really quickly and didn't have to pay to get in.  That was a bonus we weren't expecting.

From St. Peter's we took the Metro over to the Colosseum.  Here's a bonus fact, if you buy a ticket to the Colosseum, that same ticket gets you into Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum for free, but it doesn't go the other way around.  We ate gelato before we did anything.  Gelato was the staple of our diet if you can't already tell, but seriously, it's Rome, so how can you not eat gelato?  We also really wanted a jumping picture in front of the Colosseum, so we scouted for suitable photo takers.  The people we chose were strangely enough Iowans from Sioux City.  Small world, right?  They were really nice, and we took photos for them to return the favor.

Arco di Constantino

Jumping awesomeness

Gelato at the Colosseum

Here's another bit of advice before I move on: Get the Rome Pass!  It gets you two free admissions, all other admissions are discounted, free metro travel, and you get to skip the lines all for €25.  Well worth it.  We didn't get the Rome Pass cause we thought about it too late but it would have been really nice to have.  Seriously, it's a good deal.

Anyway, I wish I had done more research on the sites before I was there because everything sparked my curiosity and imagination.  The whole time my mind was running wild with daydreams of time when these sites were at their prime.  Visions of Gladiator were at the forefront in the Colosseum.  I will admit though that I enjoyed Palatine Hill and the roman forum a little bit more than the Colosseum.  Yes the Colosseum is freaking fantastic, but I felt more engrossed on Palatine.  Plus there was one great spot with a view over the whole city: simply beautiful.

Inside the Colosseum

Roman Forum.  Crazy, I know.

After leaving the forum the sites blasted by us.  We saw the Foro Traiano, Foro di Augusto, Foro di Nerva, mercati trainanel, colonna Traiana, Monumento a Vittorio Emhiesaezia, Palazzo Venezia, Chiesa del Gesu, Area Sacra, and the Pantheon before we sat down to eat.  The only place we entered was the Pantheon and it was free.  If we had more time we might have explored other places as well.  The Pantheon is really quite simple but exquisite all the same.  Inside we saw Raphael's tomb and that was very cool along with great dome ceiling.  Sadly, half of the outside was under construction so we didn't get the best view of it.

Monumento di Vittorio Emanuele.  It's also an emigration museum.

The Pantheon

Raphael's grave

We left the Pantheon starving and headed to a little place called Agripa's Wine Bar and Restaurant.  We had the bruschetta for a starter, and I ordered pasta with ewe's milk cheese, bacon and Artichoke.  It was delicious!  We also ordered the house wine, and I have never tasted better house wine in my life.  It was a white, smooth but lacked the bite that puts me off from so many other wines.  I give it two thumbs way up!  I did, however, make the mistake of not trying to order in Italian and just pointing to the menu.  Our waiter seemed a little put off by that, but he didn't see or hear me trying to say it for the 10 minutes that I was sitting there before he came.  I forgot that people find it offensive when you don't at least TRY and for that I apologize and will remember to do better in the future.  Other than my little slip up, we had the stereotypical Italian meal set right in the center of Rome.

We left dinner, fully satisfied and went off for some more sightseeing.  We saw the Palazzo Madama, Piazza Navona, Palazzo Montecitorio, Palazzo Chigi the Trinita dei Monti, the Spanish steps and ended the night at Piazza del Popolo.  There are way more obelisks that I would have expected.  I felt as though there was one in every other Piazza or Palazzo.  Ever since I read Angels and Demons I associate obelisks with pagan gods and didn't expect them to appear so frequently in such a catholic city.  

The Spanish Steps

That's me on a lion fountain.

Piazza del Popolo

We decided to circle the Piazza.  There were a lot of street venders and other sorts of salesmen waiting to pounce.  One man carrying Roses ran up to Jess and myself and thrust roses upon us even though we said "NO" a million times.  After thrusting them upon us he said "No problem. No Problem." So we started to walk away when, like the gypsy from Paris, he ran back and demanded money.  So we gave the flowers back and he looked utterly dejected.  No means no man.

We circled the Piazza del Popolo and saw people climbing these stairs.  Being curious creatures we followed and discovered the Pinicio.  It's a sort of garden that leads to a terrace that overlooks the city.  Night had set in and Rome is astonishing at night.  I'm not sure my pictures do it justice.  It would have been nice to see the garden behind us because it was filled with statues (DaVinci's I believe) but it was too dark to explore that area.  Instead we grabbed gelato and enjoyed our view.

A weird development happened throughout the day.  When we first left our hostel people would automatically talk to me in English, but as day turned to night, a Polish man (or at least I think he was Polish) began speaking to us in Polish, and Italians started off by speaking to us in Italian.  I'm not sure why?  I was one of probably only 20 natural blondes in the entire city, which should have been a giveaway to anyone at anytime.

With our gelato finished we went back to our hostel.  It was about 8 PM when we got back and it was all we could do to shower and get into our top bunks.  We did make a friend though.  Her name is Risha.  She's a really smart girl also studying abroad, but she trumped us by studying electrical engineering at Cambridge.  We bonded over the musical Wicked and random things, so by the end of the night she was going with us to the Vatican in the morning.  I love meeting new people!  Besides making friends, I had to semi fend-off our hostel owner Alex.  I had to explain that I was from Iowa and not Ohio while he showered me with kisses on the cheek.  I'm pretty sure he didn't know my name so he called me "Beautiful" and very creepily wished me sweet dreams.  The other girls found this to be hilarious.  All I could do was sheepishly smile and laugh about it.  Alex is a good guy, but wow.  That's all I can say.

That was Day One.  Enjoy all the pictures.  Day Two is on its way.  Be prepared.

Pip Pip Cheerio!