The trip was memorable in several ways. First of all, it was my return to Bordeaux, where I lived for a year, for the first time since 2007. It was nostalgic AF. It hurt in some ways but it was cathartic and I was so overjoyed to see the place humming along mostly as I remembered it (and much improved!) and glad to have finally ripped that Band-Aid off, so to speak.
Then, I was able to squeeze in a quick trip to Switzerland, which I had never been to and had been on my list for forever because I had been to every country around it, with the exception of Liechtenstein! And, another new city for me, Belfast. Now I just need to visit Wales to complete my tour of the United Kingdom! Aside from that, "normal" adventures abound!
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| The elevator up to my hotel room LOL |
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| My beautiful little suite in Bordeaux |
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| Waking up to this was **heart eyes** |
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| The key to my room! |
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| Bordeaux cannelés... mmm... |
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| Where I met all my friends in France when we completed the pre-course stage of French immersion! |
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| My street |
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| My apartment! Top floor! That used to be a flower shoppe we were above. It's now a business that sells billiard tables...? |
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| I forgot about those damn turtles in Place de la Victoire! |
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| My French friend Emilie, who now lives in Spain, just so happened to be in Bordeaux at the same time as me and I was able to see her in the evening! |
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| That ad is a bit of an eyesore while they do construction LOL. The American consulate used to be in there... I think they've been relocated while they renovate |
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| In a cathedrale |
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| Place de la Bourse! |
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| View from Lyon... it was cool to see the Basilica up on the hill lit up at night |
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| Daytime view |
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| A funicular ride later... |
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| View from the top! |
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| Inside |
So I did the tiring thing and took the hour and a half train from Lyon to Geneva to spend about 2 hours walking around there. It sure was beautiful and worth it though!
I had seen pictures of this statue before online and it really struck me. When I just stumbled upon it in Geneva I was stunned! It was so cool to see it in person. And the brisk January morning caused for a pretty nice crowd-less park
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| This jet stream is a regular fixture. I don't get it. |
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| The Flower Clock! I knew it from a quick montage in Wolf of Wall Street. (L-O-V-E that movie!!) |
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| I visited a free museum for the city of Geneva. I liked it! And I enjoyed this display of keys |
Geneva was really beautiful and picturesque. Below is the Reformation Wall. Geneva has strong ties to the Reformation and I believe it was John Calvin who moved here with the goal to make it the "Jerusalem of the West" or something like that...
Paris was short and sweet. I really only just went to the fair and back from my hotel, but my super cool translator told me that the fair venue was close to La Géode, where Usher filmed parts of his Nice and Slow music video in the 90s hahaha
Onto Belfast! It was a very peculiar city. My French friend Emilie had spend a year on the Irish island, both north and mainland, and was telling me how bizarre it was, that many of the UK descendants lived in a very segregated fashion in enclosed communities. I didn't see that myself, but it was odd being in the "United Kingdom" when they market themselves as Irish and seem to consider themselves Irish with Irish customs. With lots of talk about Brexit not only around Europe, around the world, but on the BBC channels I was watching in my hotel in the evenings, it made an odd tense environment. Couple that with the fact that just prior to my arrival there had been a car bomb in Derry, it was certainly interesting. That being said, it is clear that the people of Belfast are welcoming and really eager to make their city a nice place to live and a desirable place to visit.
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| I don't normally take pictures of my food but O.M.G. this meal was the bees knees |
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| Part of their maritime history. (The city symbol is even a seahorse!) |
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| The giant fish to commemorate their maritime roots LOL |
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| Cathedral at day... |
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| Cathedral at night... |
Oh, The Giant's Causeway. This was interesting. I was exhausted AF. I did not have a lot of time, but I had about ten minutes to decide if I wanted to make this trek happen or not. Honestly, I was not in the mood, but I figured... I can sleep when I'm dead.
It was a long, tiring road. Only because I kept just missing the transportation that I needed, and it felt, as I texted AJ, that it was about 80% waiting and 20% doing. It was a rough, blustery day. Freezing, gusty winds with seaspray numbing your face, and a bit of a hike down to the Causeway. In the end, it was very beautiful to behold.
The hike back uphill in those frigid, damp conditions was not pleasant. Honestly it felt worse than Iceland at times! I caught a selfie but it still doesn't capture the mess I was when I wandered into The Nook pub...
After what I went through, I swear this was the best meal of my life. Delicious hot, thick potato and leek soup with Irish soda bread, warm garlic fries and an amazing Guinness lager. I also had never eaten so fast either..
Eating that meal in this surrounding was just what you'd expect and want!
My hotel was a mainstay of Belfast and liked to play to the city's roots, including this seahorse bath toy haha
Onto England! The trek from Belfast to Maryport was long... including a train from frigid Manchester station and a personalized carride from Carlisle! My welcome to Hotel Monica was also nothing short of amazing! Oh that Cadbury bar was long gone before I left... #countingcaloriesagainnow
Shannon and I mainly just spent the days lounging around, watching Friends and other great shows (Black Mirror's Nosedive! What We Do In The Shadows!), took some walks around during the day, and would have dinner and drinks with Luke in the evening, watching more Friends, Internet videos (Could be a crackhead!) and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days LOLOLOL
Walking along the promenade
Idyllic, isn't it?
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| LOVED this mosaic against the historic buildings! |
My last day we went to the Aquarium. It was awesome!! We both loved it and tried to do the scavenger hunt but couldn't complete it lolol womp womp
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| This was my favorite little guy that I proclaimed I would "take home" at the end of the visit (we both had to choose one creature) |
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| Do you recognize this fish? AJ and I snorkeled with dozens and dozens of them in Tahiti! |
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| Hullo der |
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| THIS BUBBLE WAS FRIGHTENING. I turned around and this insanely massive lobster was RIGHT THERE in the dark, in my face. You can kinda see his claws in the shadows on the left... |
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| Life cycles of lobsters! They're blue in this aquarium! Little babies... |
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| Teens... |
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| Full grown |
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| Swans; view from the aquarium cafe |
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| I'm including this to memorialize the insane photoshoot Shannon and I did for my color instagram hahaha |
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| Luke REFUSED to join in the picture He bought the fish and chips though, so I can't complain :P |
I thought the fact that Colin Farrell was in front of me in line and on my flight made him the most interesting person on the plane. It wasn't. My seatmate confused the hell out of me. Whatever she was watching kept terrifying her so much she would yelp, and jump and even knock her tray table, and then hide her face and eyes in her sweater. Everytime I tried to peek over to see WTF she was watching that was doing that to her, all I could see was what appeared to be your standard, run-of-the-mill action movie. Not even like a zombie action movie. Just an action movie. She was reading an LA travel guide book, and now I'm wondering how she's going to handle the big city if she couldn't handled that in-flight entertainment hahaha. I'll always wonder how she lives her daily life.
And that was it! AJ was waiting for me at LAX when I landed... but my luggage was not :(
First time in all these work travels that I didn't get my luggage! I didn't have the longest layover, but it was still the same airline and terminal. But, it was Heathrow #shitshow . Good news is that it was only delayed and I already have it back. First trip done!
