Bye! Ciao! Adios! Au revoir! Auf Wiedersehen! M'asselema! Do videnja! Farvel! Vaarwel! Khairete! Na razie! Adjö!

Well, unfortunately, this is Good-bye... but only for now! :-)

I could not have ended my trip on a better note. The last few days with family and friends that I have not seen in years of even knew was absolutely incredible! Followed by a beautiful morning walking through Kensington Gardens and Notting Hill before making way to Heathrow for my return flight back to the US - awesome!

I honestly can't believe that my trip has ended. I have had such an amazing experience!! The people I have met and the friends I have made are incredible and
the cities, new and old, rain or shine are fabulous!

My world wind journey has given me a new perspective on life and living and I hope some of you walk with the same perspective after all this reading! :-) The world is a beautiful place and we need to take care of it and enjoy it!! Like all the Europeans I have met or observed - they WORK to LIVE unlike the majority of us who LIVE to WORK. Let's spice it up a little over here in the USofA and take a moment everyday in our busy working lives to actually smell the roses! - enjoy your loved ones and see the world! Even if you can't afford the time or money to travel to far and exotic places, take an evening stroll or enjoy the local park or beach - that is a vacation in itself and you deserve it!!

Well, I guess this is me signing off. Thank you all for checking up on me from time to time. I hope you enjoyed my site as much a I enjoyed updating it!

Until the next adventure...

Take care!

Rachel

Dublin & London

Dublin and London, the last two cities on my worldwind tour. Both amazing and just as I remembered from my last visit about 8 or 9 years ago..

Both cities are bustling and I was able to have a distinct visit in each place.

In Dublin, I again met up with my bold, yet reacquanted friend Mike and his brother Brian. We had a fabulous time! We started off the evening in a swanky hotel bar lounge then headed down the street for fantastic authenic Irish Music. After singing the night away and having a few beers, we decided it was time to dance the night away and we turned to Mc Finny's (i think) where the dance party was going all night long. It was great! As we ended the night, we hailed a cab. This cab driver, James O'Giamian was the BEST cab driver I ever had in my entire life of catching cabs! He moved here from Bermuda, (I believe) 9 years ago and he is fantastic!! He had the best smile and was full of laughter. He sang great music and jammed with us the whole way home! Awesome! After dropping us off, he agreed to come back the following morning to pick me back up, as my flight to London was the next morning. WAHOOOOO!!... and sure enough.. 11:30 on the dot, James shows up blasting UB40! I loved it!! We sang the whole way to the airport!

If any of you make it to Dublin, I have his cell .. CALL HIM!!

London... London was great. I arrived last night around 6:00 after all the travel time and immediately race down to Liechter (Lester) Square and popped into a show... last night's cheap tickets were to Cabaret. It was so great and i have never seen it before, so it was perfect! Really great music and extremely funny!! This morning I made my way to Westminster and hung out with Big Ben and Westminster Abby. Then I made my way down the Thames River - beautiful! - and Popped into the Shakespeare Globe Theater for Love's Labours's Lost for £5! Awesome!! not only the price, but the show was unbelieveable! It was 3hrs and you would have never known. For those of you that have seen Shakespeare in Love, it was at that theater! Open roof, balconies, awesome!

After the show, I continued down the Thames River to London Bridge where I met up with my cousins (my mom's grandmother's sister's daughter) Mary, husband Pat and their daughter Claire and her boyfriend John. It was great!! The only thing missing was Martin & Francis (my other 2 cousins!).. but it was great! We were able to catch up and enjoy a fantastic dinner on the river with an Amazing view of the London Bridge.

After dinner I was able to enjoy London via moonlight. This city is beautiful, despite being so expensive!!

Well, that is it for now, pictures to follow shortly!

Cork, Ireland - The Fam

Cork, Ireland.... Where do I begin? Ok, well, how about the beginning -

** This is a long one... But worth the read! ** :-)

We all know I am a big family person, so I am sure it is not a surprise to any of you that I want know where "I" came from. So, that is what I did, I headed to Cork where my grandparents were from. There I meet my extended family, some of them, I have not seen since I was a teenager and some I have NEVER met or knew existed...
it was absolutely an amazing experience and a beautiful couple of days!

I stayed in Cork with my cousins - Pat, Garry & Shane. Pat is my grandmother's brother's daughter and this was great and what a memory she has! My first day we all went out to dinner and caught up on family life. The next day, she told me fascinating stories and showed me where she grew up, where my grandparents used to hang out and where they would stay when they came back to visit, which was every July for the entire month! We went all through Cork City which is beautiful and then we headed down to Cove. Cove is a magnificent little town on the water. It was here, in Cove, that my grandfather left for America with his brother and my grandmother followed shortly after. It was this little port that was also the last European port for the Titanic before it too headed for America. After taking a walk down Irish Immigration lane, Pat and I made our way back home for a yummy homemade dinner and a couple of pints at the pub. That night, I also made a few calls home to my mom and my aunts to get my barrings straight on my grandfather's side and unfortunately it was not as successful as I had hoped. But that didn't deter me. They did all remember the same house on a corner that was believed to be one of my grandfather's niece's and luckily, Pat and her fantastic memory was able to take us there.

The following morning, Billy and Amy returned from their wedding on their way to the airport. There were able to see and meet Pat, Garry & Shane as well as our other cousin, John (Pat's brother). It was great! We all had a lot of laughs catching up and then they were off and Pat, Garry, Shane and I headed to Whites Cross,in County Cork to my cousin's house.

I couldn't believe what I saw when I arrived. A small, run down house with an actual notice on it saying that they were tearing it down. Oh no! A dead end! Well almost a dead end, there was a name on the notice, so i took it down for future research! As I stand in the middle of the road taking pictures of this house that was once apart of my family, a small, beat up red car turns the corner almost hitting me and saying, "Ya know they no longer live there!" and I said that unfortunately I knew that and then randomly I asked him if he knew where they went and he DID!!! I couldn't believe it, the stars were aligned and all was perfect. He pointed me down the street, saying they lived across from an estate and then peeled away. I literally jumped up and down in the street with a loud "WAHOOOOOOO!! We found 'em!!" and jumped in the car and Garry turned around and pulled over right in front of the estate. Of course I ask, should I go and knock on the door and before anyone answers me, I am out of the car with Patricia chasing after me. At first I knocked on the wrong door and the gentleman kindly pointed me to this beautiful, huge house next door.

Slowly walking next door, I start to get that nervous yet excited feeling, like it is the first day of school, wondering if anyone will like me. Pat and I walk up to this amazing house and ring the bell. A gorgeous, young blond answers and I asked her if she was who I thought and hoped she was and she said yes!! I tell her that i am her cousin from America and she gives a huge hug and welcomes us inside! Once inside, her mom, my grandfather's brother's daughter, Sheila greets us and I explain to her that I am her uncle's granddaughter from America. She too give me a hug and begins to introduce me to her husband and children - all 13 of 'em!! Each one just as beautiful or as handsome as the next. Before we know it we are sitting on the couch having tea and cookies and catching up and Garry & Shane are recruited from the street to join us. I show them pictures of my family and ask about hers and about my grandfather and his 10 siblings and she fills me on everyone!! Who married who, who has children, who doesn't, where they all live, etc. Absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe the fountain of knowledge she was. My family tree was starting to grow and seriously, my hand could not keep up with all the info pouring out of her. I was like a little kid in a candy store asking for more and more. Moments later we are exchanging family info and snapping a few photos. I am one happy little camper! We say our good byes and we are on our way. As we leave I am beside myself and Pat informs me that the graveyard where my Great Grandparents (on my grandmother side) are buried is just around the corner so they take me there. It too is beautiful on these rollng hills and a perfect ending to an astonishing afternoon!!

We wrap up the day and night at the local pub where my cousin John and his wife Ann and daughter Adine join us. It was great because I haven't seen then since I was 18 or so!! Awesome!!

A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Ireland with Billy & Amy... Kilarney, Ring of Kerry & Blarney

As I said in my last posting, I feel like home here in Ireland. It may be because I have been here with my family. It may be because of my heritage or it may even be the fact that everyone here is super friendly, I have no idea. All I do know is that I love it and I can't wait until I get to come back.

I met my brother Billy and my sister-in-law, Amy, in Kilarney on the 11th. Despite the damp and dreary weather, we hiked the Gap of Dunloe, hit up Ross Castle and checked out the magnificent land surrounding the Muckross House. The whole time, we were mesmerised with Kilareny's beauty. The rolling hills, the lakes, rivers and waterfalls would have anyone in a trance. We hiked through the largest leaves anyone has seen and dashed in and out of the minefields of horse poop and puddles all the laughing with each other and at each other and catching up on the latest details in our lives as well as on the latest gossip... Nicole Ritchie is Pregnant and Reese Whiterspoon and Jake Gyl broke up! What has the world come too! :-) Later that night, we headed into town for an unbelieveable meal at this Italian Cocina. Mmmm! Mmmm! GOOD! Mussels, Wine, Bruchetta, Pasta, Dessert... WOW oh WOW... YUM! and after we enjoyed great live Authentic Irish Music! Awesome! Once guy from the crown even jumped up on stage with his hermonica and started jamming with the band!

The following morning, we headed down south through the ring of Kerry where we boarded our ferry to Skellig Michael. Skellig Michael (meaning Michael's rock), is a steep rocky, green, island about 15 kilometres west of the coast of County Kerry. For 600 years the island was an important centre of monastic life for Irish Christian monks. An Irish Celtic monastery, which is situated almost at the summit of the 230-metre-high rock, was built in 588, It is one of Europe's better known but least accessible monasteries. Monks lived in stone 'beehive' huts (clochans), perched above nearly vertical cliff walls.

The island is beautiful and I almost didn't make it there to see it! If you read my last entry about the Aran Islands, you will know that ferries and I are not exactly friends and with a longer journey on a smaller boat with rockier waves, lets just say I was NOT at my personal best and after losing my breakfast more than once I was thrilled when my feet were firmly planted on the island - needless to say, so was Billy, Amy and probably the rest of the boat! :-)

The hike up Skellig Michael was tough, not as intense as Cinque Terra but pretty tough and steep but absolutely beautiful! There are these amazing little bird, the Puffins that live on this island and although they won't exactly come up and sit on your lap, they aren't afraid of people either and they make a funny noise to remind you that they are there, just in case you didn't see them! (keep in mind there are 20,000 of them on the island!) We learned the history of the island and the monks that used to live there from a guide that actually lives on the island!! 3-4 rotate in and out every two weeks. Quite amazing. Then we hiked about halfway down and enjoyed a delicious lunch before departing the island. And thank goodness, the ride back was not nearly as rough as the ride going over!! Although it was touch and go for a little while there, I was able to make it back with any incidents!! YAY!!

That afternoon and into the night, Billy, Amy and I enjoyed each others company with some surprisinly declicous nachos a few irish pints and an amazing view before dinner and calling it an early night.

Rise and shine - Friday the 13th - we hop out of bed and jump in the shower for today is a big day! Today, I am off to Cork to see my family that I have not seen since in at least 10-15 years while Billy and Amy head to a friend's wedding in Kinsale where Amy too is about to see and meet friends she too has not seen in 10-15 years.

On the drive down south to our respective cities, we decide to of course, hit up Blarney and kiss the Blarney stone! We drive through this Blarney and make our way to the Blarney Castle which in itself is not too grand, but nice! We climb the tiny tiny stairs to the top of the castle, lay on the floor in front of the stone, lean backwards and SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!!! We kissed the stone and all three of us acquired the gift of eloquence!!

A few moments later... I arrive in Cork and Billy and Amy are on their way to Kinsale.

Galway & Aran Islands, Ireland

Ireland is beautiful and amazing. I feel like I am at home here. It is quite a unique feeling.

My journey to get here was really interesting. After running with the bulls in Pamplona, I took the night train to Paris where I was to fly into Dublin. After arriving in Paris at 6:14am, I was to take a local train to Beaveax (i know i spelt that wrong) a little tiny town outside of Paris arriving at 7:30am where my flight was at. And of course, the one time in the history of my train travels the train is late, is the one time it cant it be! 1hr 1/2 or so later I arrive in Beaveax at 9:40, my flight is at 9:55... UGH.. i race to the shuttle bus and of course it never shows and the taxi line is empty despite calling the taxi co. numerous times. My flight is now gone. Knowing i am in quite a pickle, I politely ask this couple and their daughter if they speak English, and thank heavens they did and how on Earth can I get to the airport. They basically inform me that I up S#*t's creek and that their transportation system is nonexistent.... GREAT!!! but have no fear, they will drive me to the airport!! WHAT!!?!? i tell them that i will happily walk if they just point me in the right direction .. and they laugh and say it would take me forever, especially with my bags.. so, we are off!! and about 20 or so minutes later we arrive at the airport where i acknowledge and laugh about the distance.. They were super sweet!! and saved me!!

With all flights to Dublin gone, except the one at 11:00pm that night, I opt for the flight to Shannon at 6:00 and spend the day in the airport. Upon arriving to Shannon, all the annoyance of missing my flight went immediately out the window, when I popped outside and was greeted by the most stunning Rainbow I have ever seen in my life! It was so clear and vibrant that a smaller fainter rainbow appeared just next to it. Absolutely unbelievable!

That evening I made my way to Galway. I love this little town. The people are so friendly, actually EVERYONE in Ireland is so friendly, I took a look around town and despite the rain, i had a lovely time.

The next morning i took a ferry over to the Aran Islands. About an hour west of Galway by bus then another 45min or so by ferry. With the rain and all, and the swaying of the ferry, lets just say I was NOT WELL on that boat!! But once I got my sea legs back and arrived on land, i was swell! I rented a bike and checked into my hostel (which is basically a B&B) and enjoy the island. It is only about 9or 10 miles long and about 3 miles wide. So awesome! Even though it was raining like crazy it still felt unbelievably calm and comfortable. And i decided to stay the night there, b/c i wanted to hang with the locals not the tourists and i am so glad i did! After touring the island in the rain i desperately needed to dry off, so i headed back to the hostel and threw my clothes in the dryer and read and relaxed. It was so great! Then I walked up the street to Joe Watty's, famous on the island to read, write and have a couple of beers as well as mingle with the locals. And the locals i did find!

Patty O'Quinn - he must be in 70s.. born on St. Patrick's Day, a fisherman born and raised on the island. He plays the accordion and is in a band. Has 4 children and i quite the jokester.

Brendan - Born in Galway, also a fisherman and contractor. Looks up to Patty like crazy and is very sweet.

Martin - from Poland, living now on the island for almost 2yrs. A contractor, painter, bike assistant, basically you name it, he is, to get by and loves it!

The rest of the bar was filled with a couple of tourists, including my new friends from Madrid who live in Cork! They were actually staying at the same hostel as me. And we had a blast!

The following day, i got up early and again biked around the island and hiked to all the spots. BEAUTIFUL and SUNNY!!!! YAY!! (I have not seen sun in ages!!) then took the ferry back to Galway, and LUCKILY it was a smooth ride!

Upon arriving in Galway, I walked the Duchas, the longest seaside walk in all of Ireland and at the end, you "kick the wall" for good luck and to prolong your life. It is a breathtaking walk. Afterwards, i was starving!! So, i popped into this pub for a some dinner and this couple was playing beautiful Irish Music. She on the violin and he on the accordion. And after a few moments and elderly lady asked to borrow his accordion and play. And boy of boy could she jam on it!! Her equally elderly friend or sister looked at her in amazement! It was hysterical!

After that, I head outside where I randomly run into Mike Fitzgerald and his brother Brian!! I literally have not seen Mike since I took him to my High School Christmas Formal my junior year of High School!! UNREAL! and it is as if no time had passed. He is getting his masters in Dublin and was on a mini vacation with his brother. So FUNNY!! Needless to say, the three of us caught up and were laughing the whole night!

The next morning, I took the first bus down to Kilarney to meet up with my brother Bill and my sister-in-law, Amy.. such a blast!

Why Would You Run With the Bulls... Are You Crazy?

"Not me, said Aimee... she is!! I am just along for the ride!"

That was how a quick conversation went on the Metro in Paris. And yes, I suppose I am a little crazy, but ya only live once, right!?!?

OK.. so let me backtrack a little here....

Leaving Paris was easy, getting to Pamplona was going to be a little hard since everyone under the sun wants to be there for the 24hr party for a solid 8 days. So, Aimee and I booked a room at this FANTASTIC OUT OF THIS WORLD town, San Sebastian and we take the night train down. First off, this is probably my FAVORITE place! I know I have said that before, but honestly, this place takes the cake! Beautiful, clean, fun, great food and amazing people. It seriously has it all.. and they are also in crazy sale season, so if I had money or room to carry it, I would shop my little heart out, because everything is awesome!

Anywhooo.. back to the trip... :-)

We arrived in San Sebastian on the 6th.. the day the festivities are to start. we check into this pretty great hostel/B&B and settle in on enjoying San Sebastian before we literally take the Bulls by the Horn in Pamplona. Aimee quickly checks e-mail to learn that she has to change her flight so she can be back Sunday night for work on Monday.. UGH.. I am flying solo! So, that day we hit the beach, I go surfing!! YAY surfing!! And then we hunt the town for seafood on the water before Aimee has to take off, but low and behold CIESTA was in full effect which we totally forgot! So, we went into town, we did enjoy our seafood and salad at a surprisingly yummy place, just not on the water... then of course we picked up a few ice cream cones on our walk back and head to the train station and said our good byes. And Aimee reminds me "If you trip or fall, stay down! stay down!!" I laugh and tell her no worries, i will stay down!! and poof, Aimee is off!

7-7-07 ... the Running of the Bulls!! (also coincidentally, it is my 7yr anniversary of living in Los Angeles) anywho.. I wake up at 4:30 and take a car from San Sebastian to Pamplona, a quick litle drive, maybe 45min and i arrive. The streets are filled with a sea of people still partying from the night before. It is insane! I make my way throught the crowded streets and check out the route. It is slimmy with beer, urine and god knows what else. I see people slipping all over the place. I pray that street cleaners are going to come through (luckily, they do.) I then make my way down to the bulls (the tamer brown ones are visible, the black bulls are not). There, I meet two extremely fun brothers as well as first timers from Dublin. Together we take chat about the route what we think is best, etc.. they decide on one spot and i chose another on Mercaderes Street (a little less dangerous, if that is possible.) As I make my way up the street, I meet Paul, from Seattle and Mike from Oregon, two seasoned runners. Each have done it over 30 or 40 times. Paul and I become fast friends and he advises me that a certain spot on Mercaderes Street is best and to wait to run when I see the herd of people, not before. I agree.

At 7:45ish they bring in a statue of San Fermin and start to pray and chant. This was really quite interesting. Paul and I head down with Carlos, another first timer and check it out. Then we make our way up the street and around Santo Domingo we are gated in just like the bulls. Over 3000 people smooshed in the street.. it is seriously insane! I snap a few pictures and quickly tuck it away in my moneybelt thing and then i turn to see 6 police officers throw out 3 guys for having cameras. (It is a safety thing.) Then we hear a loud noise, that ends up to be nothing, but the ammateurs think it is the first firecracker and they start to panic and push there way forward. At 8:00 the run is suppose to start, but today, it started at 8:05. They open the gates, I follow Paul the best i can and he again reminds me of my location and when to run and then we are separated by the crowd. I make my way to Mercaderes Street and hug the inside wall as "my spot". The first fircracker goes off (letting us know that the gate to the bulls is open)... my heart is beating like crazy... i wait while the fools that have no idea what they are doing start to run... then the second firecracker goes off (this lets us know that the bulls are in the street) people start running like crazy... i wait like Paul said. Then just around the corner, is see the huge crowd of people coming, i start to run, but honestly, i don´t think i felt my legs moving. I don´t know how far i went, but i look to my right and a cow is next to me leading the bulls and that is my clue to get the heck out of dodge and i jump into a doorway and this guy, (Robbie who is later introduced) grabs my hand and arm and tucks me inside. I turn to see all 6 bulls race past me in a blur. Robbie says that´s it, let´s go! But i rememmber Paul telling me that everyone always thinks that is it, but there are always 2 left that they all forget, so i let Robbie know this and shortly we see them go by, so we dart out into the street and start running after them, towards the ring. As we are running, we hear "Look Out!" and turn behind us to see 3 hefer cows heading our way. (They are the "clean up cows" so to speak, so if there are any bulls left, they will push them forward.) Again, we dash into another doorway, then take off behind them after they pass. Within seconds, we hear firecracker go off, the Bulls are in the ring... wheww! then shortly after, another firecracker goes off letting us know that all the animals are in the pin.

Still running, Robbie and I reach the ring and literally hi-five each other in disbelief! We did it!! I RAN WITH THE BULLS IN PAMPLONA!! after a quick picture, I head back towards the meeting point with Paul and on my way, I run into my two irish brothers! Awesome!! They too loved it and where they were, the more dangerous part, they actually saw a guy get "horned" in the leg and dragged! CRAZY!!

A few moments later, I am at Txoco, the restaurant/pub where all the professional runners hang out and I see Paul... He gives me a hug and congrats me on my first run and we chat about how we did. I tell him that i still can´t believe that i did it. So unbelieveable!!! He then introduces me to Jose Antonio San Samanadore, a deaf runner who has done this for years and years, and Paul tells him that i just completed my first run and he too gives me a hug and congratualtes me. Jose is a real pro and gave Paul wise running advise years earlier that was later passed on to me and i thank him! After a few exchanging stories and laughs i say good bye and head back to San Sebastian.

I end my day here with a great nap on the beautiful beach after all, I am POOPED! and can anyone blame me!??

8:05 - 8:08 that was the total time of the entire run!!
These six bulls are selected from Spain's top breeding ranches and the run is called an encierro.

Couple of quick side notes...
***6:30pm tonight.. those 6 bulls are used in a Bull Fight and later killed...
***Robbie is in the B&W, the Irish Brothers are in the vertical pic and Paul & Jose Antonio are in the horizontal pic
***one of Paul´s friends has a pic of the street i am on , i think i am in it, running, well in the doorway, once i get it i will post

Well that is it for now. My super crazy adventures are on hold, well except for the adventure of meeting my extended family in Ireland. Tonight i am taking the night train to Paris then Flying to Dublin then off to Galway.

Til then........

Love you!