Hi everyone! We are writing from Cape Town. So, lots to catch you up on since our last proper entry in Germany. From Germany we went to Ireland for 4 nights, then to London for 4 nights, and then flew to South Africa.

We arrived in to Dublin late in the afternoon on October 3rd. As you can imagine, we were all a little beat up and tired from Oktoberfest....that weisen really got the best of us! Jules was still traveling with us (she stayed thru Ireland and our first night in London.) We decided to power through our tiredness and get out and see some of the city. Since we'd been so unhealthy at Oktoberfest, we all were craving something nutritious and managed to find a sushi restaurant in one of the hipper parts of Dublin. Dinner was great and we turned it in early - we were in serious need of a good night of sleep. The next few days we spent our time walking around and exploring the city. Dublin is old, but beautiful, and quite trendy. We found the best shopping street ever (shocking!), visited Trinity College, St. Patrick's cathedral, Christ Church, and, of course, the Guinness Brewery. Our favorites were the shopping and brewery tour! :) Our evenings were all very fun, but we kept it somewhat mellow the entire time. We visited a cool restaurant/bar we were told to go to, Cafe en Seine, twice, and of course, tried out a few of the local Irish pubs. On our last full day in Ireland, we took the train out to Dalkey and Killiney, two gorgeous towns on the sea just outside of Dublin. Bono (of U2) owns a home nearby (we walked right past it!) We walked from Killiney to Dalkey, where we had a great lunch at the famous Queens restaurant. We then strolled thru Dalkey and explored the town a bit. It was so cute and quaint! We took the train back to Dublin after our afternoon up the coast, got in a work out, and then headed back out on the train to Howth, a small fishing village about a 1/2 hour outside of Dublin (the opposite way of Dalkey) for the evening. We had the freshest and most amazing seafood dinner at a restaurant called Aqua and discovered what is now our favorite dessert, toffee pudding. It's heaven!!! The next morning we had an early flight to catch to London, so we called it a night after dinner and got some rest.

We arrived in London on October 7th and took the train from Heathrow all the way to the other side of the city to where we were staying. London is very spread out and it takes forever to get anywhere! Two of Rach's dear friends, Diane and Rob, took us in for our 4 nights in town. We had the best time with them - they're great hosts! Steph decided to stay in our first night there to chill out and do some laundry. Rob, Rach, and Jules went in to the city to meet Di for her "leaving do" - a last day of work party - Di got a new job! The party was a good time and Steph had a nice alone night at home. On Saturday we got up early to watch Rob's favorite team play rugby. We then had to say farewell to Jules :( She had to head back home to CA and reality - yuk! ;) Later that afternoon Di and Rob took us down to the coolest local farmers market right along the Thames. We all had yummy lunches at the market and bought some fresh fruit, veggies, and pies for lunch the next day. We walked all along the Thames, over some of the famous bridges, and experienced Saturday as local Londoners. We all really enjoyed ourselves. Later that night Rob, Rach and Steph met up with Caroline, another dear friend of Rach's, in town for dinner. We ate at a fantastic restaurant, had lots of wine, and then went out with some of Rach's DoubleClick London co-workers to a trendy club. On Sunday we were all pretty tired from the night before so we were mellow in the morning/early afternoon. We cooked our veggies and pies (they were to die for!) from the farmers market and then mustered up the energy to walk over to Greenwich. Rach and I loved Greenwich! The town is full of cute restaurants & shops and tons of good people watching. That night Rob and Di took us to their favorite local Italian restaurant for some serious Italian food. The waiters were authentic, the food was fantastic, the portions were huge, and the dessert was to die for. We could see why it was their favorite! Monday ended up being a "research" day for us...not super exciting, but necessary. We headed back to Greenwich to the internet cafe and researched what we wanted to do while in Cape town and where to stay. After numerous hours, we finally found something and booked it. Di and Rob were awaiting us when we got home that night with a fully prepared Indian curry dinner and a yummy bottle of wine. We all chatted and had a great dinner together. I'm telling you, Rob and Di were the absolute best to us!! On Tuesday, our departure day, we got up early, worked out, went to the store to replace a few things for Rob and Di and then headed off to the airport. We had a looong flight ahead of us to South Africa - 11 hours to be exact....wow. So, off we went! Goodbye Europe.....SA here we come!