Cheers from London!

Greetings from London!!  We are now in our second country, and have started the third week of our "trip of a lifetime".  We're having a great time, and have obtained a good taste of Irish and British culture and attractions.  It continues to be cold and rainy, but we are making the best of the weather and seeing all there is to see.

We finished off our time in Ireland with a trip to Connemara, Galway and the Cliffs of Moher.  We gave fly fishing a try, though we had more success in an Irish "Pitch and Putt" golf game.

We arrived in London on Wednesday, and will be here through this Thursday.  Its been nice to settle into one place for a week, giving us a chance to recoup, do laundry, and even make a few homecooked meals.  

We visited Stonehenge to enjoy the summer solstice.  It was a unique experience, where people from all over the world gather to watch the sunrise in the ancient landmark.    

We next went to Bath to see the ancient Roman bath houses.  These were built in the 12th century, and get heated water from an underground Aquifer flowing through the bathhouse - the term "aquifer" was never used on the tour, this is Gretchen's highly scientific interpretation. :)  

We have viewed several ancient buildings, previously Dromoland, Blarney, Bunratty and Ashford Castles, and more recently Warwick Castle and the Blenheim Palace.  It's been interesting to see how differently they have been maintained.  Some are turned into restaurants and hotels, some are preserved in their original form, and some have been turned into kiddie attractions.

We took a trip out to Statford Upon Avon yesterday to see Shakespeare's birthplace.  They have built up the whole town based on his plays.  There are boats you can rent with the names of different characters, you can tour his home, and many of the local restaurants have a Shakespeare theme.  It was neat to see, and interesting to remember how much of an affect Shakespeare had on so many other authors and people from around the world.

Thats all for now!  Thank you for following our trip, we miss you, and hope you are having a wonderful summer!!  Cheers!

Slainte!

Dia duit ("hello") from Ireland!

We're on day 6 of our great adventure, and having a wonderful time!  We are currently in Doolin on the west coast of Ireland, awaiting a ferry ride to the Aran Islands.

We began our trip in Dublin, home of the Guinness factory (picture below). We enjoyed our time in Dublin, although the constant rain made us miss Chicago weather.  Apparently an Irish joke states "Irish summer is the best two days of the year."  John witnessed this having arrived 2 days earlier, but Gretchen unfortunately missed any bit of sunshine.

In Dublin, we also sampled high tea (pinkies up!), toured the Newgrange ancient tombs and watched a traditional Irish music and dancing show.  We also toured the Waterford Crystal factory (Christmas gift heaven) and had lunch at Waterford castle.

As you likely noticed, John has been growing out his beard and has enjoyed his close resemblance to Irish folk.  We are both in good health, and have had good accommodations so far (highly recommend Airbnb).  Our first few nights were at an apartment in Dublin that we shared with a Spaniard - he was nice, fluent in English, shared native Spanish foods and very interesting to talk to.

Since Dublin we've been traveling southern and western Ireland.  This has entailed driving on the left side of the road, quite an adventure in itself.  John has mostly mastered the driving and is enjoying learning the nuances of the Irish road systems.  In these travels, we've kissed the Blarney Stone (you may find our writing to be much more eloquent now), had an amazing dinner at a countryside inn and attempted clay shooting.

We have a few more days exploring the Irish countryside before leaving for London on Wednesday.   

A special shout-out to our wonderful dads on Fathers Day.  We love you both, and appreciate your love and support.  You both are in are hearts and thoughts today as we honor you!

Welcome to Pubs to Grubs!

We're excited to introduce our travel blog through which we'll share highlights from our summer adventure through Europe ("pubs") and Africa ("grubs" - the worms not food, though Gretchen has been known to eat grubs!). 

We leave June 7 (this Friday!) and return August 11, visiting a total of nine countries. Here's the map:



We will be checking email regularly, can access Skype (john.rolston) and have international phones (just dial/text 312-600-7442). Out of sight, but certainly not out of mind - we'll be in touch and keep you posted throughout the summer!

We'll leave you with two quotes that summarize the inspiration for our adventure:
1) "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things" - Henry Miller
2) "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

John & Gretchen