Home Sweet Home!

A big hello from Canada at last!!

This will be my last entry in this blog. Looking back on my trip I realize how much of an amazing trip I had. I experienced things I never would have imagined. I met great people, I learned about myself and I grew, I got to see the pure beauty of this world, and I had fun.

If you asked me what my favorite thing or place was I don't think I could tell you and pick one. However when I think of each country I would say: Greece was where I grew the most on an individual level, Ireland was the most beautiful and I enjoyed sight seeing, England was the most fun and I had a great time with friends.

I'm sure that in a few months I'll be looking back on this blog and saying "WOW, I miss it." Currently though it feels so good to be laying in my own bed writing this and how true the saying " There's no place like home" is to me right now.

These small entries, insights, and photo's of my trip are such a small portion of what I actually experienced and learned. It's hard because I will never be able to fully explain it to anyone since I was on my own. But I do honestly appreciate all the support and love each of you gave me while I was on my trip. It was so great to be able to update you on my journey.

I have come a long way in 5 weeks and I will always look back on this trip and I will smile.

Thanks for sharing with me everyone!

Cheers,

Maryse

London, England

Hello!

I'm not sure how many people are still reading my blog but its going to come to an end very soon. My trip is just about over. I arrived in London England today and this is where I will fly home from.

I had an amazing time in Central England. As I mentioned earlier I spent most of my time in the countryside which was great. I spent a full day in Nottingham yesterday, I went to the Nottingham Castle and the oldest pub in England. It was a really nice day to see the city. The day before that I went to Wollington Gardens, Museum, and Deer Park. It was an absoutely beautiful museum which was actually the home to a family long ago. Inside the museum is a whole bunch of life size animals that have been stuffed and they look real. The man who use to live their devoted his life to nature and animals as a study. It was really neat and I have some cool pictures.

Last night my friends (the ones who I originally met in Greece) and I had a big poker night at the farm, we set up the table in one of the barns and played poker and cards all night. This was so much fun. I enjoyed their company so much and I'm so thankful for the time spent in and around Nottingham.

This trip has truly been amazing and I have enjoyed it so much. However I must say I'm really looking forward to going home, being with my family, catching up with my friends, and sleeping in my own bed. ha I will update my blog at least once more for a final look back on my trip.

Can't wait to see you all back home.

Maryse

England!!

Hello Everyone,

England has been great so far. I don't have much time on the computer to update and I can't upload any photo's because I'm not on my laptop and can't plug it in here. So a quick little update:

England is just as beautiful as Ireland and I really like it. I'm currently in Nottingham England. I visited and did some sight seeing in the cities of Bristol and in Bath. I will be in Nottingham till probably monday or tuesday and then will catch a train to London for two days before I fly home.

It's been so nice to have friends tour me around here. In Bath I visited cathedrals, saw the university, got some great photo's. My friends that are touring me around live in Nottingham and one of them lives on a large farm with a famous abbey that is now in ruins. I spent a full day at the farm yesterday. We did adventures through the forest, went quading, saw some castles and breathtaking views of England. I've been quite lucky with the weather here and it's really beautiful. Tonight there is a local family festival in Nottingham with pubs, games, and events so were going to go to that tonight.

I'm looking forward to seeing London soon but I'm soaking up all my time here and truly having a blast. The country side is so beautiful and very serene.

Hope all is well back home and will update again when I can!

Cheers,
Maryse

Day in Galway

Hello,

Today I had a full day in Galway. It was really nice to walk around and see the city. I have decided I like Galway more than Dublin. Dublin is great for sightseeing but its very busy. Galway is a very artisy city with music playing everywhere, there are long shopping streets, square parks, and its right by the ocean.

I went to a little coffee shop, bookstore, and bible school today that was recommended to me by someone on my sailaway in Greece. It was really neat to meet some of the people who worked their and ran the ministry. I enjoyed a warm drink and a cookie while I talked with the director about the school and ministry.

Overall I had a quiet day but a very enjoyable one. I truly have come to love Ireland, even the rainy weather. I am sure sometime in the future I will be here again, whatever that may mean or be.

I'll be sure to write before I leave for England tomorrow.

Cheers,

Maryse

The Cliffs of Moher!

What an amazing day!!!

Hello everyone! Today was my best day in Ireland so far. I did a full day trip to the south west coast and saw the Cliffs of Moher. They are absoultely gorgeous. I met two other girls who were traveling alone on the tour so we hung out all day. This was really nice for me and we had heaps of fun.

I tried to take good pictures so that I could share this amazing view and place with you all and I hope they do some justice. This is somewhere I would tell everyone I know to visit. I'm quite tired since it was a long day but it was well worth it. Tonight Erin(Australia), Ashley(Toronto), and myself are going to make dinner and then go to a pub for a drink. This will be nice since I have yet to go out and experience an Irish pub. We are going to find one with live music which will be great.

Today was a great day and I'm excited to share ALL my photo's with you when I'm home from my trip.

Thanks for reading my blog! Truly hope all is well back home!

Maryse

Galway, Ireland

(The two photo's with buildings in them are taken right outside my hostel room. The photo of the green field does NO justice to the beauty of the countryside but it was difficult to take a photo with the moving bus.)

Hey,

I have made is safely to Galway Ireland. The bus ride to Galway itself was absoultely breath taking. I cannot express and I wish my pictures could show you just how amazing and beautiful Ireland is. I have yet to see a more beautiful place on earth. Galway is a small city on the west coast of southern Ireland. It is very close to the Cliffs of Moher which are a huge attraction here. Tomorrow I will be doing a full day tour of them.

My time in Galway is shorter than I would have liked but I have a feeling sometime in the future I will be back to Ireland for further travel. The hostel I am staying at has nice bunk beds, is quiet and is very clean so I should be getting a good nights rest, finally!

I will be sure to update my blog tomorrow evening once I've completed my day trip. Hopefully I will get some good photo's so I can attempt to show everyone back home the beauty.

One of the coolest things for me being here is that just looking at the green fields, the stone, the cattle, and the rolling hills is a huge testimony of God's amazing creation and existence. I'm truly in awe.

That's all for now.

Maryse

Bye Bye Dublin!

Hello.

Today was my last day officially in Dublin. I didn't spend most of the day here anyway though. I went to a town south of Dublin called Bray. As I mentioned its on the coast and it is really nice. There was a huge hill at the end of the beach and you could climb up it and see Dublin like 12km away...really neat. I enjoyed my short time here. I read on the rocky beach, got fish and chips, and walked up the hill and layed on the grass and sang. ha

This afternoon I had a nap for awhile because I was quite tired, had a quick phone call home to my parents which was nice and got my stuff ready to go to Galway tomorrow.

This evening I went to a place called Shelborne Stadium and watched the greyhound dog races. This was such a cool event! It's as popular as a flames game back at home for the locals. Basically they all bet on the dogs they think are going to win each race. I'm so happy I went out for a night at the dogs and experienced this. I did this with three other people from my hostel who were also traveling alone. Adam was from baltimore, Martin from France, and Anna from Germany.

Now i'm off to bed and ready to travel to Galway tomorrow.

Hope all is well back home.

Maryse