Travelogue

Today, while cleaning up some files on my PC, I came across some e-mails I sent to friends and family a couple of years ago while the FW (Fab Wife) and I went to London and Ireland for Xmas and New Year's. Of course, she wasn't the FW back then, just the FF (Fab Fiance'). Anyway, I'm going to post them below, for posterity's sake:

Hi all,
Well, today jetlag got the better of us, as we didn't wake up until 11:00 am, despite the alarm going off at 7:00. Our tour of Parliament was cancelled, as they are closed for Christmas. Oh, well. Anyway, we decided to walk around the part of town we are staying in (Bloomsbury). It was a bit wet - okay it was really, really wet - but we toughed it out. Had a pretty lunch at Cafe London on Southampton Road, then walked over to see the house Dickens lived in (pretty appropriate for Xmas, eh?) Went to the drugstore for Amber to get some contact solution (loads of fun) and took a nap around 4:00.
Tonight, we met our friends Emily and Shona for dinner and drinks at Piccadilly Circus. They took us to a pretty cool little bar, then we went to a fantastic Thai restaurant for dinner. And the portions were normal sized, not our crazy American super sized dinners!! Afterwards, we went to Soho for more alcohol!! You wouldn't believe the number of drunks we've seen stumbling down the street - and the bars and pubs close at midnight!!
Tomorrow, we're headed to see Arsenal play Middlesborough, the real reason we're in London!! After the match, we're going to visit Amber's Aunt Hillary, who lives very near Highbury (Arsenal's stadium). Her son, my future cousin-in-law, is also a huge Arsenal Supporter. Guess it's a family trait!!
I'll fill you in tomorrow night our journey to my soccer Mecca!!
love,
Charlie

Greetings from London, everyone.
Well, today was the day I've been dreaming about. I was at Highbury Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club - Premier League and FA Cup Champions. Amber and I took the Tube to Finsbury Park in Islington, North London, where the team is based. Think of Adams Morgan, but substitute West Indians for Latinos. Very cool. About time I saw some color here!! Anyway, we met Jeff Lancaster, our connection for the tickets at the Moray Arms Pub. The owners, Sheila and Pat, are an older couple from Cork in Ireland. Jeff is great, by the way. He has 6 season tickets, and offers any Yanks who may be in London 1st dibs on any extras he has available. After downing a few pints with Jeff, we headed to the stadium. Oh, my God!! I was in heaven. Finally, after years of supporting Arsenal, we were at Highbury. Not only that, but our seats were in the famous North End, right behind the goal, 12 rows back. Words cannot describe how awesome it was to be there. I took a whole roll of film, and will have the prints scanned when I get home so I can share them with you. That may help show how close we were to the field. Arsenal didn't play their best game, but they still won comfortably, with a superb diving header from Sol Campbell just before halftime and a sublime finish from Robert Pires just before the game ended. After the game, we went with Jeff to Arsenal Fish and Chips for an after game meal. Delicious!!! The cod was fantastic, and Amber enjoyed her fried rice with veggies. We then headed over to the Gunners Pub for another pint. The pub is wall to wall Arsenal memorabilia. Awesome!! We then went to visit Amber's (and soon to be my) Aunt Hillary and her kids Paul and Siobhan. Again, we went to a couple of pubs and had the best time! It's great having relatives over here!
Tomorrow, we head to the South Bank of the Thames and will take a ride on the London Eye. I have no idea what else we're going to do, but we'll keep you posted, I promise. On Monday, we leave for Dublin.
love,
Charlie & Amber

London - Day 3
Well, today we become something that all of us who live and work in DC hate - tourists!!! I booked tickets for us on the London Eye (www.londoneye.com). It's a huge Ferris Wheel on the south bank of the Thames that you can see the whole city from. Each "flight" takes about 30 minutes. It was pretty amazing. Can't wait to see the pix we took. Afterwards, we walked across Waterloo Bridge to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, followed by a stroll through St. James' Park to Buckingham Palace (at which Amber informed me it's my duty to buy her a palace. Uh Oh!). And the strangest thing happened while we were watching the ducks and swans - the sun came out!! Woo Hoo!! Didn't know it actually happens in London, but sure enough, the clouds cleared, the sun came out, and people started smiling!
Amber's not feeling to well today. She's had a sore throat the last few days and today she has no voice - something you'd think I'd be happy about, but amazingly am quite bummed over ;-). She took a long nap after our day of walking around, and we're about to get some dinner.
We leave tomorrow for Dublin. Don't know how much access I'll have to the 'net while in Ireland, but I'll try to keep you posted on my adventures of driving on the left side of the road.
love,
Charlie
PS - I think I've discovered the secret behind the whole idea of the English being reserved and having a "stiff upper lip". It's because they never see the sun and are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder!! Seriously! Other than 2 hours this afternoon, it's been dark and raining non-stop. And not a regular rain. More like a fine mist that just soaks you to your core. And this would also explain why they drink so much. They'd put any fraternity back at UVa to shame!

Hello all,
We got to Dublin yesterday afternoon - only a 45 minute flight from London. The 1st thing that I noticed when we got off the plane was the amount of smoke!! More smokers here than in London, if that's possible. Amber's Aunt Ellen and Uncle Charlie met us at the airport and drove us to their home, our base in Dublin. They're really good people. After dinner, more of Amber's family came over and we proceeded to talk and drink. And drink. And drink. And a little more drinking. I think by night's end, I ended up doing UVa proud by drinking 10 pints of Guinness, along with a shot of Jameson’s, and God knows how much German wine. The Ricards (Amber's family) were duly impressed by their "Yank" cousin!!
Today, we're just walking around the city with Amber's sister Vienna, whose also in Dublin. She's on her way home from spending the past 2 years in Ghana with the Peace Corps. Activism runs in the family!! We're in the Temple Bar area, kinda like Georgetown. Very trendy. Tonight, Uncle Charlie is taking me to his favorite pub to show me off and buy me a "real" Guinness (the stuff last night was canned). I'll let you know how it goes!
I won't be writing again for a few days, so everyone have a very Merry Christmas.
Charlie

Howdy,
We've just arrived in Killarney, in southwest Ireland after driving all day from Galway. We got to Galway Friday night, and I, Charlie Hundley, stayed in a hostel. Never again!! I don't think the concept of showering has caught on in Europe, at least not among people under 30!! We hit a few pubs in Galway, and yesterday morning, caught a ferry to Inishmore, largest of the Aran Islands (off the coast of Ireland). Inishmore has only 800 inhabitants, and they survive mainly by fishing and knitting the famous Aran Sweaters (Mom, Dad - you got me one last year for Xmas). We got a great tour of the island from Tom O'Toole, who was about 100 years young! He knew everything there was to know about the history of the island, and was full of wisecracks. We toured Dun Aengus, a 2500 year old fort on the south shore of the island, on a very steep cliff. Can't wait to see how the pictures turned up. Since nothing was open on the island but the pubs, we created our very own pub-crawl and ran into a guy who lives in Mt. Pleasant!! Small world, huh? We left this morning and drove south about 4 hours to see the Cliffs of Moher, but the fog was so thick we couldn't see our own hands, much less the cliffs, so we hit the road again and are now in Killarney. Tomorrow, we do the Ring of Kerry and we head back to Dublin on Tuesday morning, about a 5 hour drive.
If I don't write back before Wednesday, have a safe and Happy New Year. We'll be home Saturday afternoon, and can't wait to see you all.
Charlie