We woke up at about 4 to get ready and get our 4:30am shuttle to the bus station. Then we had a bus to the airport and an 8am flight from Reykjavik to Manchester, which was only about 2 1/2 hours. We arrived and went through customs, which wasn't bad since we could go in the non-EU line and that was short. Then we had to figure out the train situation, which ended up being three (3!!!) trains to get from Manchester to Barrow-in-Furness. Once in Barrow, we were more or less stranded. No phone for a taxi, no pounds for a pay phone, and all the taxis coming through were prearranged. We sat around there for a long time, and got a cab to call us another cab. After awhile we made friends with another (older) couple who was also waiting. They were shocked to hear that we had come from Iceland that morning and when the first cab came, they let us take it. Cab to the hotel, and by this time I exhausted, and also very surprised to find out that we were the first people on site for the wedding.
We wandered the grounds a bit and then more people started showing up.
We had dinner and then sat outside with most everyone else, although we were crashing hard that night.
The hotel was a bed and breakfast and we got up early for a delightful breakfast in their little breezeway patio. Toast and jams and cereals and full cooked meals of salmon and pudding and eggs and everything else! Talk about bang for your buck (pound for your pound??)
I gathered up my stuff and went to Shannon's room to get ready, and saw this cute little piece on the screen in the lobby.
Getting ready was... interesting. My hair was WRECKED from the Blue Lagoon still. It felt like hard, broken, dry straw. It did make the curls stay though. The photographer was really surprised by the wedding details but seemed to be having a lot of fun with it.
The ceremony was small and very beautiful in the abbey ruins. I especially like the mead (and later champagne!) that was passed out.
The weather was positively heavenly, and after the ceremony there was a good break for pictures, which was hardly enough since there was plenty to take pictures of!
Then the lunch. I swear, that pea soup was almost the most memorable part of the day. Soooo gooood! And then we got to sleep off the five course meal with a two hour break slash nap. When going back for the reception, we walked back through the reception, and they had updated their little screen; I thought it was such a cute touch!
The reception had cake (mmmm) and a bar and AJ brought cigars and there was a dancefloor and the candy bar! I stocked up on Jordan almonds and AJ and I had those through the end of our trip. (Literally, I think I was eating some on the plane home a week later). And at the end, I had my first brother!
The morning wasn't too bad, but AJ and I also chose to conveniently "forget" what check-out time was and apologetically check out an hour later after breakfast, and then we were able to take the train with my mom and Aunt Jo Ann and Uncle Pat. They were going to Manchester and we were on our way to Liverpool, so we only got to ride the train together for a short time.
We were only going to Liverpool for one night, since we had a flight from there to Paris the following day, so it was a quick jaunt in the city, but it was quite pleasant!
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| The view from our hostel - right over Mathew Street |
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| It's behind the Yellow Submarine and it's even half sunk ahaha |
By that morning we had landed in Paris...!
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