On The Trot: January 2006

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season, we had a lovely time in Manchester, it was heart-breaking to leave, especially since we fell head over heels for new-kid-on-the-block Maddie. We're back in LA now, gearing up for a new year filled with new things. Andy and I have pledged to get our backsides to the gym and I am starting english courses at CSUN at the end of this month. It's all very exciting.

Here are a few more photos from our other brief trip up to the Lake District to see Nanan and Mike between xmas and the New Year. It was very cooooold!

Nanan & Mike's house looking very picturesque in the snow.

Sun, snow and ice - perfect day for a hike to see Ingleton Falls in the Yorkshire Dales.

Andy agrees

The waterfalls were spectacular, we saw several series of them on our 5 mile trek.

The biggest was Thornton Force:

Andy's favourite photo:

Yes we had a great time in Dublin too. It was incredibly busy with christmas shoppers, but we managed to fight our way into all the good pubs :) Here are a few snaps with the various highlights of our mini-break:

We stayed at the Grafton Guest House, a really nice hotel in the centre of Dublin, with a full irish breakfast included, yum!

St. Patrick's Cathedral.

On Sunday the 18th of December we went to the Christmas Services of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was a nice service, we sang a few carols because and we got there early so we had good seats up in the pews in the front.

Still felt a bit sacrilegious though...

We visited the Kilmainham Gaol, which was fascinating and a bit scary inside. The gaol was built in 1796 and in 1916 held the leaders of the Easter Uprising and was their place of execution by firing squad.

Andy's in the scary, 18th century part of the gaol and I'm in the newer, improved, porridge-style section built in the Victorian era. Much more inviting...