CHAPTER FIVE: I got worms . . . that's what we're callin' it (Part II)

JMcS: I see London...I see France...I saw an Irishman's underpants. Two weeks ago Tina and I decided to fly to London for a night since it looked like "just a jump over" on a map. Ireland has consisted of LATE nights (aka early mornings) and waking up early for tourist attractions and such. This means I could probably count the hours of sleep we've had just on both me fingers (and I said that in me Irish accent for effect..which, by the way, has improved significantly). Actually, sometimes Tina and I respond to people in Irish accents without thinking and later hoping no one noticed because it sounds like we are making fun of them. Which we aren't! They just sound so grand!

What makes a good story when starting a new adventure always? Waking up late. Ask the Mc Calister family from Home Alone if you don't believe me. We went to bed at 2am canceling Tina's credit card that was lost at the rugby game and our roomies from Australia came back after a quite drunk night and turned on all the lights til 4am. Tina and I NEEDED to be awake and walk over to the bus stop by 5:45am...we got to the bus stop at 6:15am. Apparently, it wasn't even the right one according to some lady waiting with a eastern European accent. It would take us an hour to get there and we needed to be checked in by the hour. No time for these Shenanigans, Ireland! Tina and I looked at each other in looks of panic and I suddenly see her arm fly up and instantly get a taxi. haha Well done, Tina. Hello, quick ride to airport. Goodbye, savings account.



London was AMAZING. Although Tina and I were sooooo behind on sleep (and still are haha) that we could probably be declared to the same mental state as two drunk sailors. Imagine drunk sailors navigating around a foreign city and trying to find landmarks and understand historical meanings of things. We stopped maybe two times the entire day and the only reason was because we needed food, water, or a toilet. No exceptions. It was what we like to call the "See all of in London 12 hours or Less" tour.



McSchaap and O'Donaldson's Day in London Schedule:

10am: Take bus from airport to London city center.
11am: Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards.
*Mostly made commentary about their outfits and what they are probably thinking while switching...then spent a good 20 minutes taking pictures of us playing in dead leaves on the Buckingham Palace lawn...naturally.

12pm: Visited Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (where Princess Diana and many others had their funerals), Parliament Building, Winston Churchill Statue,and lots of old historical "stuff". haha
*Walked through multiple riots during our time in the UK. Syria, workers relief, protesters on economic crisis. (Tina joined one riot in Galway, Ireland...I couldn't stop her, so I just filmed it and watched for cops).
2pm: Fish & Chips with a cup of tea. I felt as English as Mr. Bean himself.
3pm: Shakespeare's Globe Theater Tour
*Didn't want to do the tour, but they won't let you see it if you don't have someone with you, so Tina and I stayed towards the back and took pictures of ourselves cheering for plays in the stands and tried to keep up with the group.
5pm: London Bridge
*Not much to talk about. It looked very "bridgey".
5:30pm: Tower of London
*Ran across with our backpacks flapping up and down across the Thames River in the dark trying to get to our next tour in time to buy tickets...of course we didn't get them in advance. I am traveling with Jantina Donaldson, not Linda Donaldson. :)

6pm: Jack the Ripper Tour: Walked around and heard about the London mystery about a serial killer in the late 1800s. It was very fun walking through the alleys on a dark night with a man-guide wearing a black jacket, black dress shoes, and a top hat thing talking about murder spots...probably the only time you will hear me say that sentence in my life.
8pm: Bus System back to city center with eastern European boys.

8:30pm: Dinner at a coffee shop
10pm: Abbey Road to see Beatles recording studio
*Pitch black trying to navigate maps down outside roads and signed the Abbey House walls.
10:30pm: Took pictures like Beatles album cover
*Random people jumped in on the photos...not even mad about it. They asked to be friends with us on facebook within 5 minutes of meeting them so I'd like to think we made a good impression. haha

**Shout out to the Donaldson Beatles Fans in front of the recording studio.**
11pm: Walked the streets of London to find the "Tube" subway
*Got a free ticket from some kid to ride it and we tried for 15 minutes to buy a subway ticket, but didn't understand their futuristic machine. I ended up getting through the pelvic gate bar thing (it's the fancy term for it) and Tina was stuck on the other side without a ticket. The train was about to come, so she followed a man once he swiped his card only to find her getting stuck half way through and an alarm going off. HAHA She squeezed through the bar that was trying to close on her and we ran to the train. Farm girls in the big city.
12am: London Eye
*Why does touring have to be done in the day time? We had no place to sleep anyways...
12:30am: Kicked out of a nice warm bar and grill. Tina had to use bathroom and tried to get into a restaurant as they were closing. They eventually let us in only to use the toilet. To stay warm we continued playing on the street doing Star Wars poses with the florescent lights on the sidewalks.
1:00am: Ran into a Rod Stewart look-a-like. Tina went around a corner and ran into a skinny 45+ yr old man surrounded by pretty young Australian women...she thought it was Rod Stewart. I thought it was Mac Jagger. Nonetheless, it wasn't either. He stopped to talk to us and it ended up being a man in tight white Christmas pajama pants, a blazer, purple crushed velvet shoes, and a scarf. He was Scottish and kissed our hands in between taking drags on his cigarette.
1:30am: Kicked out of Hotel.
*Waiting for our bus to airport we got cold. We went to sit in a lobby at a 5 star fancy hotel and when trying to blend in by ordering wine at a table by the bar, they looked at our wind blown hair and backpacks and told us they couldn't serve us. Tina and I went back into the cold.
2am: Ate a hot pocket with drunk Irish man on side of the road to stay warm...again, another sentence I probably won't ever say.
2:30am: Bus to airport
3:30am: Slept on table at airport and Tina looses feeling to her lower extremities for a good 20 minutes
5:00am: Flight Check in to go back to Dublin



Wish you guys could have been there. Back in Dublin and still have a checklist to complete...shout out to Ian Jones and Becca Erks for the list. ;)

CHAPTER FIVE: I got worms . . . that's what we're callin' it (Part 1)

TOD: After Magellan and Columbus' great find of the hidden hostel, we decided to treat ourselves and journey into the night enjoying fine authentic Irish food at a place called La Salsa. Okay it wasn't Irish it was Mexican but we needed a fix and after the day we had we felt we earned it. After we stopped at another pub in Galway. As we left we were almost attacked by a muskrat on the bridge. We weren't in Kansas anymore. The next morning we hopped in our small European car pretending we didn't care about our limited leg room and headed through southwest Ireland through the Burren. We became hazards to the road as we were constantly snapping pics out the window of the gorgeous scenery. We couldn't help it everywhere we looked there were green pastures and rolling hills. We even stopped to pet some donkeys. The locals were like celebrities to us! We couldn't believe an elderly man in a wool knit hat was actually real! Cliffs of Moher were breathtaking and we were enjoying the beautiful landscape of the country.



Next it was on our way to Blarney Castle. Of course we kissed the Blarney Stone, I mean who hasn't? That stone gets around not really earning a respected reputation if you ask me, but what happened next was even more magical. What do you first think of when you think of Castles? I would venture to guess you would say: princesses, kings, servants, etc. What does Jaci think of? Vampires, of course. One thing we haven't told you is that Jaci deliberately packed a vampire cape and vampire teeth in her checked bag. Why you ask? Well we were exploring castles and the two kind of go hand and hand. While touring the castle we each took turns wearing the cape with our vampire teeth re-creating a Celebrity Cribs: Ireland edition episode (videos to follow).


Weird? Jaci packed vampire teeth just because she wanted to do a photo shoot at a castle? Yep. hahahaha

Finally we were headed home. It was a long day of traveling across the country and our lack of sleep was catching up to us, especially for Jaci. Poor girl had been driving all over the past two days on limited sleep. While headed back to Dublin I suddenly hear her slapping herself to stay awake. Not good and a bit disturbing. I told her we could pull over a bit to give her a break but of course she wanted to keep going so we could get back at a decent hour to make it to our favorite pub, can't fault her for prioritizing. We ended up doing impressions of people and celebrities and trying to guess who each person was so she could stay awake. We also got a little delirious and started annoucning Jolly Rancher flavors as if they were accepting diplomas at commencement. "Peach Jolly Rancher . . . with honors." Yep, we were beginning to lose it. Finally we made it back and were able to enjoy a pint of beer at the local pub as we reflected at our successful trip across the country with no GPS.



One highlight was attending a rugby game. We didn't have tickets but were under the assumption that we could buy them at the booth when we got there. Apparently it was a sold out game. What did we do? Waited for the first elderly gentleman to offer a price for a ticket so we could make a deal. We weren't entirely sure if this was legal, until I heard the man say in his Irish accent "what just a minute the police are coming." I guess it wasn't. At any rate we made it through the gates and enjoyed the Irish sport over a foot long hot dog and a coca-cola, both of which we happened to spill on the backs of the people in front of us. It was the perfect ending to our Friday night.

CHAPTER FOUR: Dublin our pleasure Dublin our fun

JMcS: Our first full day in Dublin consisted of eating an Irish Breakfast. Food is always a priority with us Midwest girls. It didn't take over our whole day, but it could have with the amount of meat on that plate. Bacon...with a side of ham...with a side of sausage links...and to be washed down with minced patties. A meal that would leave a vegetarian convulsing.




Afterwards, Tina and I went shopping, explored the Medeaival quarters (complete with castles and we were yelled at for coming in during mass...my bad!), visited Trinity College campus and lusting for student ID cards, and finished the night at a local pub. Can you guess which part was the best of the whole day? Yes, all parts were indeed magical, but the local irish PUB won the award for being the most entertaining by far. What do you imagine a pub in Ireland to look like? What kinda atmostphere? Multiply that experience you just had in your head times ten! THAT is what happened in that bar that night. First night in country and we were not left disappointed...or thirsty. But before you judge, we drank responsibly of course. My personal highlights: 1. Meeting some new French friends named Sebastian and Ano. Who ended up planning our following day's roadtrip to Galway in a drunken slur. And for some reason...we ended up waking up the next morning and still following every part of the drunken advice. It was glorious. 2. I found Tina planking on the bar and dancing to a cover of Mumford and Sons in front of a packed room of people of whom were throwing their glasses in the air and clapping to the beat. I don't even have to make stuff up for this blog to be interesting...Tina "wow-ed" the crowd with her Riverdance moves and flopped ponytail. I stood behind her with a proud smile and a videocamera. 3. The last highlight for me was Tina winning the heart one French boy who put it best when he looked at me and Tina while the banjo music was pounding throughout the room and said in his best English, "Teeenah like experiences..." I almost cried with laughter. i didn't even need to know for what reason he would say that or even what he meant. Foreign people talk funny. ;) We had one magical night and our first day in Dublin, Ireland was set up right. I knew this was the start to something beautiful...and nuts.



TOD: Yes, night number one was indeed a success. It was everything you could wish for out of the Irish and pubs. We loved every second of it. The next morning we woke up early, not an easy thing to do after a night of pub shenanigans. We were on our way to Galway, Ireland by way of a car we rented. Since we opted for the most economical package possible we had a very small European car. As we drove off the lot we were high on adrenalin and the thought of the possiblities that awaited us. Since the car was a manual Jaci did all the driving. Jaci has grown up her whole life driving shift. One of the many qualities I've come to admire. She did wonderfully. However, we did run into one snag. The problem? We didn't know how to reverse the car. Yep, u-turns became our best friend. My job was to navigate. Let's just say I tried.

Once we got to Galway we went to a pub with wifi. Its not like a regular pub...its a cool pub. Somehow we got in because seemingly you needed to be recieving your social security check to be there. The room was filled with 50+ yr old men and there we sat. Googling our way to try find a place to sleep in an unfamilair Gaelic town bording the Atlantic.



Later we returned to the car but I could tell Jaci was searching for something. The key. Panic took over as I was thinking about the worse case scenerio saying "this could either make or break me." And it was true. I definitely would have lost my mind if we were stranded in Galway in the blowing rain without a place to stay. I began to rip open her backpack. Key found. Eventually we did ask a local about our reverse situation and he kindly showed us with a simple trick as easy as lifting and pulling and we were back in business. We drove for what seemed to be hours in circles on the hunt for our accomadation. Tension was building and the sun was setting. Finally, Jaci parked the car in a 30 minute zone while I went to explore in the rain. Hostel was found and we could end the anxiety.

JMcS: If I may interject, it was a long day. Tina's navigating responsibilities were put on probation after a series of missed exits and map confusion. She had the best of intensions, but we needed to get to our destination and so while I proceeded to drive on the left side of the road learn a new system of driving (roundabouts, sheep/cows crossing, etc.) in the rain across an unfamilair country, I also became "the navigator" with a lap of maps and reading road signs. Tina got a new job...and one she was great at. She handled the cd player.

The "not being able to reverse" was an added stress to us because at times I forgot to drive on the left side of the road and secondly, we couldn't park anywhere. We would never be able to leave unless Tina would push me out in the rain. That would be a site, so we eventually asked a pedestrian how to reverse our space machine and he stuck his hand through the window and shifted for me. Lesson learned. Thank you for not highjacking us, Sir. We were just two girls with no clue what we were doing...and I was relishing in it.

CHAPTER THREE: We Have Take Off

TOD: Jaci gets a phone call from a place she had interviewed at that called wanting an emergency interview before she left for our flight Monday at 10:14am. The interview was scheduled at 7:30. She knew it would be cutting it close but said yes as this could be a really good job opportunity.

JMcS: This is true, Tina. I took a risk to try squeeze as many things into one day as possible, but the risk is what I live for! Well, I won't go into details, but I returned back to my sister's house late the night before because I was celebrating Tina's birthday and I went to print off our plane tickets with Tina at USF (BOTH of our home printers happen to break down). Alex helped us by lending the USF computer lab and greeting us in a beaver costume. Needless to say, I stayed up making cds for our Irish road trip (prioritizing), still had some packing to do, and needed to wake up early to do a few things. My alarm the following morning had other plans. I woke up in a panic, got ready for my interview, came back, and had to do the final preps at 9:00am still. (Flight leaves at 10am).

TOD: Meanwhile back at my place I recieve a text at 9:12am from Jaci "Hey do you have an extra lock? Mine is broken and forgot the ones that work." Oh my goodness. Our flight was to leave in an hour didn't she have bigger fish to fry? At any rate around that time I notice the zipper on my suitcase is busted. Wave of panic strikes as I hastily try to look for another suitcase. Found one and began the painstaking task of transporting the 2011 fall collection into suitcase #2. Hey, I have boots, scarves, and other accessories that are vital to the trip. After the transfer I get another text "We're here." Jaci comes to the door just as I am finishing burning a melodic cd for our great adventure.

JMcS: So while Tina made me feel guilty about the delay I created in the morning and forgetting my locks, my sister is now waiting in the car to drop us off while Tina is finalizing her suitcase transfer. 9:19am. haha As if we weren't already running LATE to check our bags for the international flight, we managed to hit every single red light on our way there and tried dodging a train to avoid a bigger delay. My sister tried to get in front of it by plowing through Falls Park, but eventually leaving us off the beaten track and temporarily lost in downtown Sioux Falls. We laughed with hints of panic behind each giggle and constantly looked down at the clock.




TOD: We finally arrive at 9:35 thankfully we had already checked in and being that Sioux Falls airport isn't exactly the equivalent to O'Hare we successfully made it through security check minus a bag of liquids issue on Jaci's behalf. After getting through we spent a good 20 minutes laughing at the beginning to our great adventure.

JMcS: Yes, I was caught with liquids, but I was a true friend and served as a decoy for Tina who had an entire carry on bag full of fluids...this is true

We arrived minutes before the 1st class boarded. Tina, a commoner, and I had to wait patiently to get our world class seating way in the back where it was safe to scratch our fleas.

What a morning...but it wasn't over. Briefly what happened, I left my ipod and notebook on the flight from Chicago to Newark. I officially lost my mind. I had to run to costumer service, meet with airport security and file a claim all before boarding our final flight to Dublin. Our flight was boarding, so I had to leave before everything was finalized. Once we got on the plane, Tina sat next to the cutest Irish boy ever who was super charming and cuddled with her the entire time. I sat in the row behind her and had to try figure out ways not to look forward and didn't have an ipod or headphone to give me something better to do. Kings to you, Tina.

TOD: Yes, the flight to Dublin was not bad for me. As Jaci stated earlier I did have a great seat. Embarrassing enough as I was trying to shimmy my way to the window seat with my TWO carry ons I managed to topple over the cute Irish boy.

JMcS: The "topple" was so smoothly played...

TOD: The Irish boy and I had several things in common: we both ordered the chicken pasta and were Coca-cola enthusists. Yes, this could be it. While he was watching The Bourne Identity I opted for Avitar. The romantic glow of our screens must have been too much for him as I dozed off I would come in and out of conciousness with him cuddled besided me carressing my arm. I thought it was a bit odd but not odd enough to stop it.

JMcS: Once we arrived it was 5:30am. It was still dark, but the people on our flight were magical and so helpful. Tina's new boyfriend directed us to the right bus (although we still missed it) and a man hoped for good weather for us as he said, "because last week my wife said it was pissing rain..." I laughed and after he apologized for his language, we reassured him that Tina and I were not offended. We were final in Ireland! We jumped on a very empty bus to the city center and asked the "conductor" to bring us to our hostel area because us "country folk" can't read maps so good. He dropped us and pointed us in the direction we needed to walk in only to find out after 15 minutes of walking on the dark cobble streets of Dublin's city center, we were lost. After asking around to people walking by to get to their early morning jobs, we eventually made it to the hostel. Tina's multiple bags struggled to make it through the dainty European framed front doors, but we made it. We checked in 7 hours before we were supposed to, but they were forgiving and Tina and I found ourselves asleep in our shared bunk bed in no time.