Fish and Chips and Black Pudding

I would like to start this post off by saying although Nick and I do get to travel to fun places and do fun things I feel like we "earn " it in one way or another. As many of you know Nick travels for his work and in doing so he earns LOTS of points with Delta and Marriott and Hertz. This is where the rewards come into play and we travel using these points. On some occasions I get to go with his work. SO how do I feel like we earn it you ask? Nick for one spends many nights in hotels, works long hours to the point of exhaustion and then has to get up early the next day to fly to the next city and worst of all, he has to deal with Distributors! Although he does get some play in, its mostly work and as for me, I spend many nights alone. Coming home to an empty house, going to bed alone, eating alone. You get the point. A LOT of alone time. Although having Prez helps :) and THAT is how I feel we earn it. Anyway, On to our amazing trip!

For Nick's work they took the top ranking distributors on an incentive trip to Ireland for a week. Nick and I went out a week early and spent 6 days in England. "Killpack", originally "Killpeck" is from England so Nick was very excited to go for that reason. That and the Royal Family. ( I don't get his fascinations sometimes) He stayed up and watched Princess Diana's funeral service for three hours on the computer while we were there. But anyway, neither here nor there. We had a great time in England. I will walk you through our pictures and tell you about our trip!

ENGLAND


The first night in England it was down pouring! We walked to the Buckingham Palace to check it out.


We found these sweet cut outs at a souvenir shop. Everyone tells us we should be them for Halloween. How do you like Nick's Prince William smile?

Westminster Abbey. It was interesting to walk through and learn about the history. I also think it's weird that it's a burial/place of Royal marriages. I don't know how I would feel getting married in a place full of decayed bodies. :)

Where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge come out after they were married. It was fun seeing it on TV and then being able to see where things took place in person.

London Eye. It was cool to be able to see the whole city but I don't know if it was worth the price. We learned that London is VERY expensive while over there.

View from up top

Of course I needed a picture of one of these.

Yummy! They had delicious chocolate! Nick and I were happy to eat this over their less than appetizing food in London.

Tower of London. Where the Royals lived back in the day and it was then turned into a prison with torture chambers and animals and such. It was very fascinating!

Tower Bridge. They used to allow people on top but then people were committing suicide off it so they put a cabosh on that.
William Shakespear's Globe theater. Was originally built in Stratford Upon-Avon but that one burnt down and it was rebuilt here in London. I am sure you all knew that from your history classes :)

Buckingham during the day.

Thriller Broadway. "It's close to midnight something evil lurking in the dark" It was entertaining but I don't know if I would go to it again.

Driving on the left side.... it was interesting to say the least. Nick made me drive to appreciate his driving and let's just say we went on a little baja ride on the sidewalk. You can't help but steer to the left when cars are passing. Especially on their narrow streets!

I absolutely loved this little town of Bibury! Very picturesque! The cottages there were over 400 years old! Crazy!

Don't ask

Chillin by the creek in Bibury

Amazing right? This doesn't even give it justice.

Our breakfast they made us at our B&B. We requested a traditional English breakfast and apparently that consists of cereal, fruit, and a little scrambled eggs. oh and little dry toast. Who knew! It was pretty consistent with the rest of our dining experience in England. :)

Williams Shakespeare's birth place. I learned a few things about him that I didn't know. Or rather about his time. Did you know that "Sleep Tight" comes from back in his day when they slept on ropes and had to tighten them every night. Interesting eh?

Shakespeare's final resting place.

Billy Elliot Broadway. Our last night in England we wanted to do something fun so we bought these tickets about 1/2 hour before it started. We made it on time!

IRELAND
I kind of fell in love with Ireland while there. The people were super nice, the food was delicious and flavorful, the city of clean and the country side was amazingly beautiful. I even felt safe and ventured out on my own one day when Nick had to work. I LOVED it there.


Guiness Factory in Dublin, Ireland. We got to explore the factory and learn how beer was made. At the end we went to the top of the building and everyone was given a free pint of beer. We opted for the Coke.

Irish men jumping off the bridge and swimming to the next bridge. They were jumping for a cause like MS or something like that.

In case you wanted to see one up close.

Grafton Street. One of my favorite street in Ireland. It had a bunch of shops but probably the real reason it was one of my favorites was the ice cream parlor Mmmmm.

Told you it was beautiful. The whole time there I kept thinking to myself as we would go different places that it would be a perfect place for a photo shoot.

The first night that the distributors came in Nick and his coworkers had to dress in these killer kilts. Doesn't he look good? :)

St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Or St. Patrick's Catedral as the Irish say it. the "th" sound doesn't exist in their language or dialect I should say.

I was trying to get a picture of Nick in the air doing a heel click. Never did get one.

Another amazing scenery shot.

We ate at a place called Kate's Cottage one night and they had a live band with the bag pips and Irish girls dancing and everything. I even danced a little.

One day we did a bus tour called the RIng of Kerry which was just a scenic drive. It was very pretty but a little too long to spend in the bus. This was one of our stops. Very windy in case you couldn't tell.

Lakes of Killarney. Nick thought he was strong enough to hold me with one arm so right after this picture was taken he tries to hold me out and drops me on my head. Looks like I am heavier than a 5 year old girl. Kidding babe :)
Our last three night we stayed in a castle called the Dromoland Castle and they greeted us with Horse and Hound. I would have to say it was the high light of our trip. They had so many fun activities to do including Sardines. Ok they didn't offer that but it didn't stop us from playing one night. We even had Nick's boss playing. It is not easy finding someone in a huge castle. Not to mention creepy in some areas.

We took these bad boys for a spin. This is a view of the front of the castle.

Falconry. If you ever have a chance to go I suggest you do it! Very cool!


A little Archery. Not to brag but I did hit the bulls eye right on the X. Ok I am bragging.

Our last night there we dressed up in these lovelies and had a fancy feast. Felt like I was right back in that era.

Cliffs of Moher. VERY cool! This is where "Princess Bride" was filmed. It was such an awesome sight! It was a great way to finish off our trip. Why don't we have anything like this in Utah? Aside from the fact that we are inland.

Epic Fail. One day we will get one of these.

I can't believe this trip has already come and went. I remember when Nick first mentioned that I MIGHT be able to go. It seemed like forever ago! It definitely was a trip of a life time and I am so thankful I got the opportunity to go. Thanks babe for working so hard and allowing me to go on all these trips. As for you England and Ireland, I will be back.