Harlaxton & London

Katie is here!

On Thursday morning, I left Dublin for London and made my way out to Harlaxton to see UE's manor and everyone who is there for the semester for a few hours before they had to leave for Lake District. After they left, we went out on the town in Grantham.

Harlaxton Manor


Friday, Springer and I made our way into London and walked around the Theatre District for most of the afternoon and that night went to a play called The Woman in Black. That was really cool. It was a thriller with two guys and it was really good.

Saturday, we got up semi-early and went to TKTS and scored tickets to the matinee of Cabaret and I bought a ticket to Phantom that night. Both shows were phenomenal. For Cabaret, we had really good seats, so that was cool, but for Phantom I was in the very last row of the top balcony, but I still enjoyed the show.

Sunday morning, I got up really early and made my way to Heathrow airport to pick up Katie who was flying in from Zambia. It was so good to see her! But I think she got shorter in the past year and a half. So, we bummed around the city for a while visiting McDonalds, The National Gallery and the sites...

London Eye

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

And the Tower Bridge

Sunday afternoon, we got tickets to The Lion King and that was really cool. I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a theatrical experience not to be missed. After the matinee, we met up with Springer and Meg and we all got some Italian food for dinner.

Monday, we got up and just kinda bummed around London a bit more and met up again with Springer and hit Shakespeare's Globe and Pizza Hut. (Buffet for 4.99!) We killed some more time around the city and made it up to Gatwick Airport and had a picnic of Orange Juice, Dr. Pepper, Vita-Snacks and Gummi Colas before our late flight back to Dublin.

We didn't get back to my apartment til about midnight and we made some Hoops (Bad Euro Spaghettios) and hit the sack. We were so exhausted from all the travel, walking with huge bads and train problems. Today, we're getting our fill of internet and going grocery shopping at Tesco later. We might be going to Galway this week, but I guess it depends when Joe comes in on Friday.

More Meier Adventures to come...

Belfast, Northern Ireland

This past weekend, we ventured up to the UK with Arcadia. We were in Belfast from Friday to Sunday. We got in Friday night and they gave us dinner at a hotel. Afterwards, we went to a few pubs including "The Crown" which is the oldest pub in Belfast. After that, a huge group of us went across the street to this place that had music and a bit of a dance floor, so we all were out dancing Friday night.

Saturday morning came too early when we were put on a bus up to Giant's Causeway. It's an area on the northern coast of Northern Ireland that has all these geological formations. There are all these rocks that have split into hexagonal shapes. It was crazy. Of course, the more popular version is that a giant named Finn McCool lived there and decided to fight a Scottish Giant. Well, he chickened out and hid in the baby's crib. When the Scottish giant walked over the bridge made by the stones, Finn's wife told him that Finn was out, but he should see their new baby. Taking one look at the size of the baby, the Scottish giant didn't want to stick around to see the size of his father and ran back to Scotland, pulling up all the stones behind him.






After we grabbed lunch in Portrush, a small town nearby, we drove back into Belfast where I took a nap before dinner. After dinner, we came back to the hostel and tried to figure out what to do. We all (a huge group of Arcadia kids) went out on the town to a pub called Auntie Annie's and upstairs was a club that had music and dancing. So, for hours we were there cuttin' a rug until we were all so exhausted that we had to go back to crash. Drinks were expensive and the pound made them even worse, so I wasn't drinking at all that night. The five pound cover cleaned me out of all the sterling I had. But it was still a lot of fun. I took a lot of pictures of people dancing.

The next morning, we got up to go to a lecture on the murals of Belfast. Ever since there was tension between the Loyalists and the Republicans, there have been murals to promote one or the other. After the lecture, we got a bus tour of the city to see the murals and other sites around Belfast. We finished the tour and hit the road back to Dublin and arrived around dinner time. It was a fun trip and I'm glad that we went with everyone from Arcadia. We all kinda do our own thing for the most part, so it was fun to all be together and go out together.

Thursday I leave Dublin for England where I will spend Thursday night at Harlaxton Manor (UE's British Campus) and then I'll stay in London a few nights. Katie comes in on Sunday morning and I can't wait to see her. Then on Monday evening, we'll return together to Dublin and possibly take the bus around Ireland for a few days and be back by Friday when Joe comes from the US. We'll then celebrate St. Patrick's Day here in Dublin on Saturday before heading off on a European conquest of Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy the following week. It's going to be awesome, but I don't know if Europe is prepared to handle three Meier kids at once.

Buffalo are Here!

The other day, I bought a bag of "Buffalo Flavoured" Hunky Dory chips and this is the excerpt from the back of the bag which I found amusing...

BUFFALO FLAVOUR — Buffalo are here!
You've seen buffalo grazing the plains of North America in countless Westerns, but would you believe that these mighty animals which can weigh up to two tonnes now graze the plains of ... Co. Meath. Yes, Ireland has a buffalo ranch. But don't expect to hear beating drums or see smoke signals in the vicinity of these buffalo. These hairy giants are farmed in much the same way as conventional cattle (except stronger fences). So now thanks to Hunky Dorys, you can saddle up and try a taste of the wild west.

Ingredients: Buffalo Flavour Seasoning

Suitable for Vegetarians


What?!