Hop on, hop off

Jill says...Yesterday we took the hop-on/hop-off bus tour of Dublin. It takes you to all the sights of Dublin. The driver is also a resident of the city and offers commentary while you travel along. We hopped on/off at several sites through out the day, so we had the chance to have several different drivers each time we got back on a bus. The first driver we had was a funny, older gentleman who had a wonderful Dublin accent you could actually understand. The second driver was a female, and you could tell she was not reading a script. She sang during different parts of the tour (my favorite song was Molly Malone), told different stories, and gave historical facts. As we were taking the tour, it occurred to me that she is not just a tour guide, but a storyteller. I was mesmerized by the way she used her voice and the obvious way she loved her job. I did not want to get off the bus because I wanted to keep her as our tour guide all day. Later in the day, we had a new tour guide, and this is when it really hit home about why we are here. Yes, we are enjoying seeing the sites, but we are also learning how not to tell a story. This tour guide was obviously talking directly from the script, in a monotone voice, with a lackluster attitude. He did not add anything extra, and I did not want to stay on his bus. I really want to think about this experience this next school year when I have 20 four-year-olds sitting in front of me. I could read the words in the story, or I can captivate them and share my passion for reading with them.

Today we are going on a bus tour into the Wicklow Mountains for the day. I am super excited because this was one of my favorite parts of Ireland last year. I would be even more excited if the weather would reach at least 55 degrees. It is chilly! After the tour, we are heading straight over to the Brazen Head to hear a historical storytelling of Ireland and fairies (for adults) over a four course dinner. We won't get back to our hotel until midnight, so I will try to post about it tomorrow, which is when we will be leaving Dublin. Sniffle, sniffle.

Bethany says: The Hop-on Hop-off is an excellent way to get to all the spots you need to see while you are in Dublin. As Jill said above the guides all had different styles. On the tour we talked about how we can see the importance of passion in teaching. Just like to guides, the ones that were using song and humor were able to get across the facts with our full attention. (Note to self humor and song works.) And, I have to say that the accent also adds to the experience.

Dublin

Bethany says... We are staying at a very small, but very posh room in Dublin. I definitely prefer this to the Hostel that we stayed at in London (The hostel smelled like a huge locker room). We are not spending much time in the room. Today we visited The Ark in Dublin, a children's Museum. Their exhibit was Masks around the world, and they had Mummer Mask from Ireland. Jill and I talked about making some for our students when we get back. The mummer mask is woven with reeds (basket with decorations). I think the students will really enjoy creating a mask to use during interactive play (centers).

Our plans now are to go to Imaginosity...

Jill says......So much to do, so little time. After The Ark yesterday, we took the DART (overground train) for a ride out to Howth. I didn't know much about the town, other than it was supposed to be beautiful. I am glad we went. We ate some really fresh seafood and then hiked a mile or two up towards the cliffs that overlooked the ocean. Check out the pictures. It was gorgeous, and we took a million pictures. Unfortunately, the rain followed us out there after we had been there for a few hours, and we got soaked. Dublin has been very rainy and cold so far. We took the DART back into Dublin, got refreshed, and headed out to dinner. We decided to try Gallagher's Boxty House because Rachel Ray had gone there on a show about Dublin, and it is only one block down the street from our hotel. A boxty is a thick potato pancake that is filled with things like chicken or beef with different types of sauces. It was...interesting. I enjoyed Bethany's beef one, but I was not so happy with the one I ordered. I am glad that we tried it, though. It is a traditional Irish food, and we are in Ireland!

Last night we went out to listen to some live Irish music, referred to as trad in Ireland. This has got to be my most favorite thing about Ireland! I LOVE that music, and we are very fortunate to be staying across the street from many places that have live music every night. I cannot wait to go back again tonight, and I will definitely be purchasing some cd's as souvenirs before we leave.

Newcastle, England--the friendliest place on Earth!

Jill says...Yesterday we flew into Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which is located in Northern England. We had to leave our hostel at 5:00 am to take the tube and Stansted Express train to the airport. Needless to say, we were a little tired throughout the day. Another thing I should mention is that we flew in for the day. Our hotel was very nice (I highly recommend Premier Inn when you are in England), and we immediately hopped on the Metro train to head to the city. You might ask, why did you fly on an airplane to go to a city for only ONE DAY? Well, that is because I goofed a little when we wrote our grant. I found an excellent children's book museum, called Sevenstories and when I looked at the map to see where it was located, it showed the Millennium Bridge. I knew that the Millennium Bridge was located by Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London, so I added it to our grant. Well......I guess there is more than one Millennium Bridge. So, we flew to Newcastle (it only cost approximately $25 a ticket) for the day to go to the museum.

One of the things that we had heard while we were in London is that Newcastle has very courteous and friendly people. This couldn't be more truthful. In London, it is such a big city (think New York), and everyone is in a hurry. As much as I love London, having people breathe down my back or knocking into me constantly, was starting to wear on my nerves. Every single person we came into contact with in Newcastle was very helpful, kind, and just plain nice. I think that was my favorite part of that city. I definitely wish we could have had more time to explore Newcastle, but I will just have to come back again some day...

Bethany says...
Sevenstories was an amazing place for children to interact with books! I was very impressed with all of the costumes, art, books and materials for children to feel like they are inside the story. The building itself is literally 7 stories high...HaHa. Each floor had a different focus. There was a floor with original artwork used in childrens literature. Another floor contained huge couches and shelves and shelves of books for children to pick up and read and then off to the corner there was an AMAZING storytelling chair with benches and pillows surrounding it for enjoying a good story. The costumes were hand made and well loved...you knew that many of stories were acted out in those costumes. I was very impressed. The best was the floor that children were able to write responses and reports about their favorite characters they had read about thoughout the sevenstories. I will be bringing lots of new ideas into the classroom thanks to Sevenstories. Well I am off to enjoy a rainy day in Dublin...I will write later. :)

Debutots and Rain

Bethany says... Today was awesome! We were able to observe Debutots classes and they were very inspiring. I love the way the children spoke with accents. I will write more later. My time on the computer is up! Later y'all!

Jill says....Today we observed an interactive storytelling class for infants and pre-schoolers, called Debutots. www.debutots.co.uk Debutots is actually where we got our idea for our grant. What more perfect thing to learn about than bringing stories to life when you teach Pre-K? We oberved 3 different sessions, taught by Debutots teacher, Jennifer. I was hoping that Debutots was going to be exactly what we were looking for, and it did not disappoint. One of the owners of Debutots writes short stories (a different one each week), and they are told by the Debutots teacher with different voices and actions. The second time she tells the story, she has the children choose a character in the story and they act it out. All of this is within 30 minutes, and I definitely feel inspired to write some of my own stories to tell to my students. I really feel that now I have a good idea of how to be a storyteller--for young children atleast. The best part of telling stories to children is that the sillier you are, the better. It was amazing to watch 3 and 4 year-olds act the story out and see how enthusiastic they were. A big thank you to Jennifer for giving us the opportunity to observe and learn from her.

To Market, To Market

Jill says....Today was a wonderful walking journey through THREE markets--yes, three-- in London. Our day began at 10:00 when my cousin, Cindy met us to take us to the markets. As soon as we started walking, it began to rain--typical English weather! So, we stopped in for a cup of English tea (in a Mediterranean cafe) to catch up, since I had not seen Cindy since last summer. Cindy is one of my most favorite Londoners, and it's always fun to talk to someone with a British accent.

After our cup of tea, we headed over to a flower market (I can't remember the actual name) on a bus. It was a very small market, but absolutely beautiful. We wandered inside many of the stores that sold hats, perfumes, cupcakes, tea sets, and jewelry. My favorite part was definitely the flowers, though. The middle of the street was filled with every type of flower you can imagine, and it was quite spectacular. I wish we could have bought some, but we had a lot of walking ahead of us.

Next we traveled by bus to Spitalfield's Market. It is a covered, indoor market that is really quite large. There were several stalls that sold homemade fudge, breads, oysters, and pastries, as well as stalls that sold clothes. I really liked this market and had to keep fighting the urge to pull out my wallet. There were many things I wanted to buy, but I am hoping we will have a chance to head back there again when we are in London the following week. I can't afford to overload my suitcase before we get on all the airplanes in the next week who charge you $20 for each pound you go past 33lbs. We had a lovely lunch at Giraffe, my new favorite place to eat in London. It is a chain that sells very fresh food and is very family-friendly.

Bethany says...It was a fun day had by all! What else can I say!! Jill said it all... Cindy was great and the markets were everything I hoped that they would be! What an awesome day!!!

Exploring London

Jill says....We began our first full day in London with checking out of our hotel and checking into our new one. Yes, they had our room ready for us today. :-) After that excitement, we headed out for a free walking tour of London. It is offered by New Europe (http://www.neweuropetours.eu/). We walked through London for over 3 hours, and learned a lot about London's fascinating history and sites. It was actually very fitting because our tour guide, Lisbee, was quite the storyteller and is obviously an actress in her spare time. We walked through most of the city within that 3 hours--can you say blisters? We got to see many royal residences, and even got to see the changing of the guard, or maybe I should say a glimpse of it since we had to jump up to see over everyone's heads (see pictures). We walked past Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and many guards who seemed to be marching everywhere in the streets.

We headed back to the hostel after our 3 hour tour very exhausted and hopeful that Bethany's luggage would have arrived. No such luck, but Delta had found it and said it should be delivered today. Yay! After we freshened up, we headed out for our first meal of the day. We went to a bistro down the corner that I had fallen in love with last summer when I was in London. It did not disappoint. I love the food in London! Mmm... After that we walked around Bloomsbury and window shopped. When we got back to the hostel, Bethany's wish was granted and her suitcase was waiting for her. It is now 20:25 London time, and I can barely keep my eyes open. I think tonight will be an early night. Tomorrow my cousin, Cindy (a resident of London), is taking us out for the day. We'll definitely need our energy.

Bethany says...
I am so very thankful for my luggage! I was able to dress in clean clothes!! So very happy am I! Now that the luggage crisis is over...(I hope, there is still more traveling ahead.) I think I will be ready for anything! I am super excited about the plans for tomorrow. I cannot wait to see more of London!

Happy 4th of July--UK style...

Jill says....No matter how well you have things perfectly planned, you need to have a sense of humor. I was to arrive this morning at Gatwick at 7:30 am, with Bethany flying in from Indiana an hour later. (In case you don't know, London has several airports, and that's where our plans begin to fall apart). I will let Bethany fill you in on her flying adventure. Mine was uneventful. Then I landed..........

Bethany says....I was so super excited to get started on my adventure in London. Upon arriving to the airport, I went through the security and went to get my magazine and water. I sat down and watched the planes, people boarding, etc. I flipped through my magazine and before I knew it they are calling my flight! YES! I board the plane sit down and the guy behind me was laughing and telling jokes about the luggage crew and how he better have his luggage! The pilot gets on the intercom and very matter of factly tells us that the engine is leaking oil... but this is normal, should be in the air in a half hour. People around me are moaning and groaning, and I think to myself, "I am going to London, and its either a half hour here or a half hour in the Atlanta airport on my way to LONDON, oh well! " The half hour passes and the pilot gets back on the intercom and states that... "Not only is there oil leaking but that the tire is flat. Sit tight." I am starting to get a little worried... long story short I was put on 5 different flights... my luggage was lost in one of the planes... We got to London and arrived to the hotel and we were told that our room was under repair! We were tired and a little upset. And then... we realized that the hotel that we would have to stay at was 1-2miles away where we had just come. Luckliy we were able to have a bell hop carry JILL's luggage to the hotel!

We were not going to let all these things get in our way of having a good time so we went to a corner pub and reminded ourselves that we were here to have a great time--no matter what! And so we did.

Jill says....Next we are off to our hostel. It is an hour and a half hot bus ride to get into London, and by the time we arrive, we are beyond exhausted and sore. We get our oyster card and hit the tube (underground). After walking 1-2 miles through the city with our luggage, I mean my luggage, we finally find our hostel. All we want is to take a shower and collapse into bed, and we are so relieved to finally have made it to the hostel after all the chaos of earlier. Finally, our bad luck has ended.

I approach the counter, with the biggest smile I can muster and assure the friendly girl that yes, we have a reservation. She finds it, and then leans over to tell me in a low voice that unfortunately there are some problems with the private rooms and they have checked us into another hotel for the night, but our room should be ready by tomorrow. She prints me out the directions to the other hotel, and to my dismay, it is 1-2 miles back to where we came from. :(

I remind myself to breathe..........Bethany and I can barely walk, and I am not very happy that we have to go all the way back to where we started. As nicely as I can, I ask the check-in person who is going to carry our bags all the way to other side of Bloomsbury, because we are not. She finds someone for us, and he helps us with our things, and we follow behind him fuming. Luckily they do have a room for us--for the night. Tomorrow we will pack up our things and haul them back to our original hostel, keeping our fingers crossed that our bad luck is over, and that our room is ready.

We finally mustered up enough energy to head out to dinner. There will be no fireworks for us this July 4th, but hopefully there will be a good night's rest for tomorrow and some better luck.