::The Manor, Newgrange, and The Wedding::

(i can't seem to make this part be not-underlined. sorry. i don't know what happened. it doesn't last for too long...)

ALRIGHT!! We've made it to the wedding part of our vacation. This part was totally different from the first, but still totally fun.

We woke up in Galway after little to no sleep (Two reasons: 1. we had stayed very late at the Crane Bar and 2. it was very loud outside our window) we awoke and went down for breakfast. We made a friend at breakfast, named Simon. He was from Germany but was doing a gap year in Limerick working in a boy's home. He was like a residential staff, or something, but all it seemed he did was drive the boys to the hospital when they were hurt playing rugby. He had very long blonde hair. And, it turned out, he was staying in the same room as us!

So, we packed and lugged our bags back across Galway to a different bus stop. Aliya had found us super deals on a CityLink bus. It was like, 5 euro from Galway to Dublin! THIS BUS was awesome. It was totes a Dave bus. Way nicer than the Bus Eireann.

We arrived in Dublin and walked to our next bus stop. We had some trouble finding the bus, and the stop, but we did. We were headed to Ashbourne. In County Meath. About 45 minutes North.

We arrived! And Noel was there to greet us!!!! It was great! He brought us grocery shopping, which we were all a little confused by, because we didn't know why we would need groceries. It was because we were staying in this super fancy manor! We had a kitchen, living room, dining area, three bathrooms, two bedrooms, three beds, a patio, and a cupboard under the stairs.

Noel's friend and the best man, James, drove us home from grocery shopping because their wasn't enough room in Noel's car for us, bags, and groceries.

The thing that was weird about being in the manor house (as we called it) was that it was really far away from everything, so we couldn't walk anywhere, we had to rely on others to come pick us up, drive us somewhere, and then bring us back. Whereas before, we just walked everywhere ourselves. We didn't have to depend on anyone else. It took a while to get used to.

But! The time spent waiting for people to come pick us up resulted in some great photo shoots:

living room shot.


entry way/living room shot.


fridge shot. (we got pretty crafty)

So, the day before the wedding we ventured to Newgrange, which was a 5,000 year old passage tomb. Older than Stonehenge and older than the pyramids.



the view from the hill.

entry to Newgrange. the stones you see here are actually a recreation of the original. hey, it's over 5,000 years old. give it a break. it needed some work done. like botox for passage tombs.



around the side.

the back.


swirly carvings in everything! this was one of the stones in the back.



the front again. nobody knows what the swirly pattern means. so, Newgrange was also built so that the sun shines in through it on the winter solstice. we went into the inner chamber, which was really small compared to what you would think. it only held around 15 people at a time. and, the walk in to the chamber was super narrow, and we were actually walking uphill, which was kind of amazing, because when we were standing in the chamber, our feet were actually level with the bottom of the window you can see above the door. and that's where the sun would shine through. amazing! our tour guide, Nicola, simulated the sun on the winter solstice with some fancy lighting they had installed. it was super cool.


Newgrange hotties. so, speaking of our tour guide Nicola, we made up this lovestory between her and the cute gatekeeper who had a tattoo of the moon cycles on his arm. they would have been so cute together. we titled the book, 'Temporary Tourguide, Accidental Stone Age Baby.' the rest of the people on the bus thought this was pretty hilarious. and they didn't even know it was an inside joke!!!

The next day was the WEDDING!!!!! 6 June 2009. Kerianne and Noel. Kerianne slept over in the manor the night before. We all got to sleep in on Saturday because Kerianne wasn't getting picked up until 12:15. So, we went next door and they had made brunch! We had eggs, fruit, bagels, coffee, juice. It was great! Nice hanging out with everyone before the big day.

Then, we needed to start getting ready. Shower. Makeup. Hair. Dress. And we were picked up to head over to Noel's parent's house. We all looked so pretty!!! It was cool to see what dresses everyone else picked out, and what they did for their red accessories. Elizabeth had hott red shoes!

So, here is Kerianne, in a dress her grandmother made:


there were little diamonds in her roses!


L to R: Megan (maid of honor), Monica, Elizabeth.


Aliya did some very hott curly flippy things to her hair.


wedding trad sesh!!!! they played during cocktail hour. they were great!


the inside of the marquee (tent). it was sooooo pretty. i loved it. it was a heated tent with real doors. like, real glass doors. it was amazing. and the bathrooms! okay, they were super fancy. but, they were portable! but you walked into this giant truck and there were three woman's stalls and three men's stalls. and the inside was wall-papered, there was classical music playing, they had purfume, tissues, tampons, q-tips, etc, all out on the counter. it was a real sink. it was crazy.


i loved the chandeliers.


this was my bouquet. each flower also had a little diamond in the center. we held them like you would a newborn baby. it was pretty classy.


TABLE SHOT: Aliya, Joe...


...Jeff, Monica...


...Matt, Henry, George (three super nice guys from Carnegie Mellon who just happened to be in Europe for vacation and stopped by the wedding. well, Kerianne went to high school with Henry, it wasn't like they were total strangers. but, it was super fun hanging with them. and they were all really great dancers.) ...


...Audrey, Elizabeth...


...Elizabeth and Julie!!!! What a great table!!!!


The fancy cake on it's fancy cake stand!!! It was like, chocolate, with more chocolate with even more chocolate.


Kerianne and Noel cutting the cake!


(hotties)


SPEECHES!!!! TOASTS!!! Kerianne's dad, Dan.


Noel


Noel's dad, Liam


Monica


Megan (maid of honor)


James (best man)


dance party....GO!!!



(guy in the blue shirt was the priest, Father Oliver. the only way i can seem to describe him is that he always seemed like he had just woken up. he is dancing with Noel's mother, Mina, who wore a super great red outfit.)


Noel's sister, Linda and her husband Eoghan (that's, Owen). Noel had the most gorgeous sisters, Linda and Suzanne, and they had the cutest husbands, Eoghan and Alan.




The DJ started at midnight. also the same time as the pig roast.




Aliya and I RIPPED UP THE DANCE FLOOR. We danced all night. The party went until 3am. We didn't get home until 4am. WE WERE TIRED.

And then we slept. Great wedding. Great wedding.