Lane End, High Wycombe

This is the village where my mum and brother have recently moved to.  Mum bought a little cottage on The Row at the beginning of the year.  They are both very happy here and the cottage is cute - rather like a Hobbit's house.

Me and my lovely dad.

Mum's new house

The village

The village pond

One thing I LOVE about England is the village pub. It is quitessentially part of British culture.  Every village has one or two or even three!  During the summer time, it is a great place to be because there is a wonderful community feel to the place.  People come together, share stories, talk about current events, eat pub grub and drink cool drinks.  It is a fun place to hang out with family and friends.

  

The village pub

I had a fabulous time in Buckinghamshire.  It was a lovely retreat from the hustle and bustle of London.  I spent lots of time with my brothers, mum and dad.  The last time we were all together was two and a half years ago.  My little brothers are no longer little!  They tower above me and have grown into gorgeous men.  I'm so very proud of them.

Rich and Spennie

Spennie, Rich and Dad.

London, 2012

London is a great city!  I had forgotten how much I loved it.  I moved from London when I was 18 and never really returned.  When ever I did, I always had contempt for the place because it was bustling, crowded, grumpy and bleak.  This time was very different.  I was reminded of how lovely London can be, especially in the summer time.

I arrived prior to the opening ceremony of the Olympics and most of my time was spent being reunited with good friends.  Kerry Watkins, my boss in Taiwan, was the first person I met.  We went on a little tour of Westminster and the South Bank.  It was brief, but it was fun walking along the River Thames with someone who had given me a wonderful opportunity. It was ten years ago that I moved to Taiwan. That experience changed my life.  It opened my eyes to the wonderful career of teaching and of course, it is where I met the love of my life!

Kerry and Michelle by Big Ben.

 On the same day, I was reunited with a very special friend, Steph.  The last time I saw her was on a hospital bed in Bangkok after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.  We stayed in constant contact and finally, after seven and a half years, we were together again and it was fabulous.

Steph lives on a river boat on the River Thames.  It is amazing!   When I visited Steph, she was docked up at the Floating Market in Mile End, East London.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/jul/27/east-london-top-five-culture?newsfeed=true  There were lots of artists selling their work and musicians entertaining the masses.  It was such a funky atmosphere.  I couldn't stop smiling :-)

After my very comfortable night on Mr Badger (Steph's boat).  Steph and I woke and had a delicious healthy fruit breakfast and then went for a walk to the flower market on Columbia Road.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Road_market

Here, I met my cousin, Lynda and her boyfriend, Luis.  We met in a very lovely pub and I drank some fine London ales!  Later on, my other cousin, Suzanne and her fiance, Alan, came to join us.  It was so lovely being with cousins, just sitting, laughing and having fun.  I could've stayed forever in that spot.  I was so happy!

Luis and Steph enjoying the ales.

Suz, Lynda and me :)

Alas, I had to leave and go on to be reunited with another great friend, Oliver.  Woohoo!!  Oliver and I were inseparable when we were teenagers.  We lost contact when I moved to Taiwan and thanks to Facebook, got in contact again after ten years.  It only felt like yesterday that I saw him!  We went to visit a mutual friend, Helen who is a great family friend of mine.  When Oliver and I were teens, we'd always go round to Helen's and watch Sunset Beach.  It was our escapism from college, study and teenage life.  We had a fabulous time!

My local tube station when growing up in London.

My old friend, Ollie.

My old house.  I spent 7 years here - the longest I have ever  lived in any house.

My old primary school.

On the Monday of this amazing weekend of catching up with old friends, I met another great friend of mine, Nick.  Nick got married to his beautiful wife, Laura last year.  I was heart broken that Robert and I couldn't attend the wedding because we were in New Zealand, but happy that they had such a special day and it was great to see them again!

That concludes my time being reunited with good friends.  It was a very special weekend, but there was one thing missing, Robert!  It was lovely having this time with all these special people, but Robert was not with me and I really felt his absence.  It would have been perfect if he was with me, but he had commitments to school and work so couldn't which was a big shame.  Everyone was pretty gutted that they couldn't meet him.  Hopefully, next time.

Limerick, Ireland

I must admit, I did not do much tourism in Limerick.  I wish I had, but it was nice just to sit with my dad and my sister and just chill out!  We drank lots of tea and visited various family members.  I did take a few pictures of King John's Castle and the Shannon River.

Aobh, my little sister, is so clever - she's only two!  She is speaking so much and can identify letters, make the sounds and count!  Amazing child.  Here she is with my reading, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.

Aobh identifying the letter 'O'

 One sunny day (sunny for Ireland) we went for a drive to Kilkee, a beach place that Limerick people visit.  It is Limerick by the beach because when you go there, you'll see Limerick people.  We bumped into my great aunts down there :-)

Aobh getting ready for the beach wearing her 'cool dudes'.

For Mom and Dad LeBlanc -  The trees in Ireland (and England) have trees growing over, making the look like a tree tunnel.  I spoke to my step dad about this and he told me it is because people in Ireland and England built roads through forests.  That is why the trees form the tunnels.  I'll take more pictures of the ones here in Wycombe.

Kilkee Beach - it was FREEZING and very windy, yet there were mad people swimming in the sea.  yes, I know it's healthy to swim in freezing cold water, but I think they are mad for doing it.

This was my first time being back in Kilkee since I was a child.  I was 7 years old last time I was here and I vividly remember eating these small barnacle creatures called 'Periwinkles'.  

Here are some great aunts and cousins we bumped into. 

We went North of Kilkee to a place called Lahinch which is close to Galway.

Random old castle.

Great aunt, uncle and cousins.

Strabane, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland

One thing I absolutely love about Ireland (apart from my family) is the countryside and the stone walls.  It is so beautiful and old.

Driving to Strabane was lovely.  We had great weather!  Strabane itself is a very small town with not much to do or see.  We got to my Nana's house, had a lovely dinner and we relaxed.

The next day, we had breakfast, a good ole Irish Breakfast with sausage, eggs, bacon, beans and black pudding.  After that, we got on the road and stopped off at a few churches to light candles for our lost loved ones.  I loved this prayer.  Hope you can read it.

All around Ireland, there are statues of Mary and baby Jesus.  The Irish love Mary.  Her image is everywhere.  I love that the Irish celebrate Mary so much because she was a woman and a mother.  It is important to celebrate our mothers because we would not be here or who we are without them.  I love my mothers, sisters and all my female friends.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

It's been a long time since I've been able to blog due to all the stops I've made and people I've met. Today is the first day I've been able to sit down by myself and relax so here is an update of what I've been doing. First stop, Belfast.

 I left Paris on July 12th and met my very good friend, Mary from Portaferry. We were great friends at university and our friendship has continued. It was lovely to spend time with her.

I also met up with my good friend, Natalie, from New Zealand.  It just so happened, she was in Belfast on the exact same day!  What a lovely coincidence.

Out for a meal.  We had a NZ wine :)

 July 12th is an interesting day to arrive in Belfast as it is 'Orange Man Day', the day that William of Orange won the battle of Boyne and took control of Ireland  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelfth.   In Northern Ireland, this day is celebrated by marching through the streets of Belfast playing songs and waving the British flag.

The flags are flying high.

 After the marching people stay on the streets and get very drunk, leaving an awful mess at the end of it. I was shocked at the state of the place - rubbish everywhere and it just felt weird, knowing I was in Ireland yet there are British flags everywhere and I am using Sterling. 

 Mary took me on a tour of 2 roads that are polar opposites - Falls road is Nationalist   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_Road,_Belfast)  and Shakill road loyalist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shankill_Road). They are divided by a massive wall because during the troubles there was a lot of fighting. The wall is now called The Peace Wall and people have graffitied it. Visiors can sign it. We didn't have a pen handy so I didn't contribute.

We also went to the Titanic Museum that opened this year to commemorate the 100th year of the ships sinking.  http://www.titanicbelfast.com/Home.aspx

I have ALWAYS been fascinated with the Titanic and felt a crazy connection to it. It's such an amazingly sad story!  A ship, built in Belfast by hundreds of men, sworn to be the most magnificent ship the world had ever seen and it SUNK.  It's shocking how we can be promised such a fabulous, happy story and then it all turns to custard.  Not only that, but you can totally see how people were treated so poorly, especially the working class who were left to perish.

My connection to the Titanic can be explained by the places I have been drawn to.  Places such as, Belfast, Southampton (where we lived in 2008) and Halifax (where Robert's family are living and also where the victims of the Titanic are buried).

Mary and I had a great time in Belfast and our next stop is in Strabane where we meet my 79 year old Grandmother; my last grandparent so it is important to stop off and see her.  She lives an hour and a half away from Mary who was kind enough to drive me there.  See you in Strabane.