England, Ireland, Slovakia, Bulgaria...Oh MY!

My holiday began on Mon, Jul 17 as I landed at London-Heathrow. Immediately to the Car Hire for my rental, then the adventure...driving in the UK..other side of the street, steering wheel in the "wrong" place and ROUNDABOUTS...we have two of these in the Los Angeles area..so they can be rather intimidating! Traveled to Portsmouth (Southern area) to see my good friends who were celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary...fun was had by all. Thu, Jul 20...Cork, Ireland Arrived at Shannon airport, Car Hire, then drove down to the Southwest, to a beautiful seacoast town named Baltimore. When I get a chance, I will try to post pics, but my friends' house is in an idyllic setting...huge picture window overlooking the harbor...awesome! Sat, Jul 22...Dublin, Ireland New city, old friends..and a shite load of craig (no, not a man, but the irish word for great fun). Visited with Colm's brother and his fiancee....it was good to see family again. Walked up and down O'Connell Street, the site of Irish Uprising of 1916. Then went to another friend about 90 mins outside Dublin to the west. Passed through Tara, the home of Celtic Kings! (Similar feel here to the Salisbury Plain with Stonehenge, and also the more powerful Glastonbury Plain.) Tue, Jul 25...Bratislava, Slovakia Why? Because it is there...no seriously, history is an avocation of mine, and I wanted something more than English/Irish history...so Eastern Europe was the next choice. Downtown Bratislava is undergoing a major renovation now that the Slovak Republic is a part of the EU. Opulence right next to poverty is everywhere. People are friendly, and the younger crowd seem to speak English quite well. Fri, Jul 28...Sofia, Bulgaria The remainder of my holiday will be spent in Bulgaria. Visiting a friend who has promised to give me the grand tour of his country. He was in L.A. in December, and I got to show him around my town. I look forward to seeing a country on the verge of EU acceptance...altho they are still recovering from way too many years of Communist oppression. Tha is all for now...I am trying to rival Tommy in length of posts...so... Anyways... Peace! (Tommy, thanks for the brain start...I remembered that I have to do this from my profile area. Doh!)