Visit from my parents

Dienstag 13.01.2009
Spät an diesem Abend habe ich meine Eltern am Flughafen Gatwick abgeholt. Mit dem Mietfahrzeug hat sich mein Dad sogleich in den Linksverkehr gestürzt und uns mit Navigationsgerät sicher ins Hotel in Brighton gebracht.

Mittwoch 14.01.2009
Am ersten Morgen haben wir uns gemeinsam mit Priska auf den Weg zum Seven Sisters Country Park gemacht. Das Wetter war genial: viel Sonnenschein und strahlend blauer Himmel.

Mum, Me & Dad auf dem Weg auf den ersten Hügel!

Me & Priska vor den weissen Klippen der sieben Hügel (seven sisters).

Mein Vater auf dem Weg zum Strand. Cooles Bild, oder?


Unser Ziel hiess allerdings Margate. Deswegen lag noch ein weiter weg vor uns!

Donnerstag 15.01.2009
Heute war unser erster Stop im wunderschönen Städtchen "Canterbury".


Anschliessend haben wir das Castle und die Kathedrale in "Rochester" besucht und uns ein wenig umgesehen.


Übernachtet haben wir in Clacton-on-Sea! Aus der Meeressicht-Buchung ist dank Regen und Nebel leider nicht viel geworden :-( Deshalb haben wir auch nicht viel (ausser einigen Pubs) von dieser Küstenstadt gesehen.

Freitag 16.01.2009
Am Freitag sind wir schliesslich nach Meldreth gereist! Dort warteten meine Weihnachtsgeschenke darauf geöffnet zu werden ;-) anschliessend haben wir das gesamte Gelände und meinen Arbeitsort besucht. So konnte ich meinen Eltern einige meiner "Residents" zeigen und ihnen meinen Job ein bisschen näher bringen.

Kurz vor der Abreise in Meldreth haben wir noch den Null-Grad-Meridian besichtigt :-)



Samstag 17.01.2009
Das ganze Wochenende haben wir schliesslich in London verbracht. Am Samstagmorgen waren wir auf Sightseeing Tour (Buckingham Palace etc.) während wir den ganzen Nachmittag mit Shopping im Picadilly und Oxford Circus verbracht haben.


Sonntag 18.01.2009
An unserem letzten gemeinsamen Tag haben wir den Riverside Walk entland der Themse gemacht, den Tower of London sowie die Tower Bridge besichtigt!


Und nun möchte ich mich noch für alle lieben Geburtstagswünsche bedanken! :-)
Merci und bis bald

Melanie

Holidays in Ireland

Monday 29.12.2008
I arrived at half past one in Dublin, Andrea was already waiting. We had to hurry to catch the two o’clock bus and were running through the airport. Fortunately we made it and we were quite early in the city centre, where our hostel was. We spent the whole afternoon in Dublin, went on a sightseeing tour around the city and bought the first souvenirs. In the evening we went out to the Arlington Hotel with Irish live music and dance!


Tuesday 30.12.2008
On Tuesday started our bus tour up to the north! We left Dublin at eight o’clock in the morning and recognised very surprised, that we were just five people: two Canadian, two Swiss and the irish driver. That is why we fit into this very cute VAN:


This was also our first stop in Drogheda. It is a very nice city and has got a beautiful cathedral. Inside the cathedral you can see the head of Oliver Plunkett who was fated to die in 1961 as a defender of the Catholicism.

The next stop was in Monasterboice to visit the historic ruins. This place is very famous for its round tower and for its 10th century high crosses.


It was amazing in which good condition everything was!

Adam, our driver, told us a lot about the Northern Ireland conflict. But we were a bit shocked when we first arrived in Belfast anyway. You can see everywhere houses like this:


Even when we went out to a pub in the evening, a few Irish people started to tell us everything about the conflict. It still seems to be a current subject... We spent the evening in a traditional Irish pub called “Robinson” with live music again – it was just great!

Wednesday 31.12.2008 – New Years Eve
This was the most beautiful day in my opinion! We drove along the coast from Belfast to Derry. The first stop was to see the famous Rope Bridge, which was rebuilt a long time ago and still can be used in summer.


The next stop was to see the Giant’s Causeway. It was very impressive!


The evening we spent all together on a tour through the pubs and night clubs in Derry. At eleven o’clock we already celebrated “Swiss-new-year” and one hour later the “Irish-new-year”. It was great fun and we had a good time!

Thursday 01.01.2009
We left Derry very late in the morning and went to drink a cap of tea first of all! The only stop we made was to see the Slane Castle. It was freezing and very windy, that is probably why I have got the flu now. The castle was still in a more or less good condition and we could climb up to the rooms, even if it was a bit dangerous.


Friday 02.01.2009
We spent this Friday again in Dublin. We went to see the Dublin castle, the Christ Church, the Saint Patricks Church and much more. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go into the Guinness Brewery.

Saturday 03.01.2009
We had to leave quite early on this morning to catch the 11.15am flight. “Goodbye Ireland, it was a very nice and interesting week!”

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U für alli wo jetzt nüt verstande hei: ig ha mini Irland-Ferie mega gnosse, vieu schöni Sache gseh u trage drfür ä Grippe drvo!

Liebe Gruess
Melanie