Really ~ pack light. Especially when traveling with a group. There are always facilities to do laundry and you can always wear your souvenirs. I packed perfectly for the first time ever. I had three jackets; one for rain, a fleece and a fleece vest. Layers really help as you can use the jackets over and over again. Since the weather was beautiful, I could not re-wear my clothes as I would normally do because I sweated a lot from all the walking and riding. Go all natural ~ ditch the hair dryer, irons and make-up. Makes traveling so much easier. Bring the basics if you cannot do without make-up. It really helps to go all natural as it saves time and space.
I eventually donated my sneakers, flannel pjs and one long sleeve shirt to make room for the whiskey. I probably should have donated more but I could not part with any other clothing. I should have left all the rocks as that would have lightened Brad's bag. The strap torn as the 16.5 lb bag became 30.5 with added books, rocks and whiskey. The zip locks came in handy with grabbing food from the hotels. It wasn't as if there weren't places to eat but that we did not have time to eat between lectures and the days journeys.
Pack a few items for first aid, ibuprofen, e-mergen C packs and more than you need. If you have the room, squeeze it in. I ran out of the stuff early. With the lack of sleep and running from place to place, I came down with a cold that hampered my non-stop energy the last few days of the trip. If anything, e-mergen C and airborne are great cures for hangovers.
This was our mini-bus minus two women (and their baggage) who were flying in from Amsterdam to join our group. They are traveling for a few more weeks on their own to Dublin and Italy before returning to the states.
This was our first lecture at the Crescent Arts Centre with people from the Charter for Northern Ireland group. The youth are involved with a programmed called Crossing the Bridges. Some of the kids met Catholics for the first time two or three years ago. The communities have been physically divided by walls, gates and going back hundreds of years, they created their own little towns to be sustainable without having to interact with the other. Charter provides these groups with the tools to help the communities come together, teach each that we are not really different from the other (pray to the same God) and to respect what differences may exist.
We had free time in the afternoon and while others shopped or toured Belfast, we took in a half pint!! at the Kitchen Bar. We wanted a full pint but were too knackered. The World Cup is full on in Ireland. Just fantastic! But we did not get to watch much as we were on the go.
Many versions of the pound (Ireland, England, Scotland).
