My darling daughter turned 21, and I got the great pleasure of treating her to a week in London. Of the many highlights, here are a few.
Taking photos of graffiti near Waterloo bridge. Getting a kick out of reading the names on the subway map & recognizing so many of them from pop culture
Playing tourist and checking out the locals.
Cramming in as many amazing exhibitions as our eyeballs and feet would allow.
Detail from The Gundestrup cauldren, c. 1,000 BC. (Creepy how this reminds me of the symbol in the first season of True Detective!)
An iron age meathook. Funtioncal art!
Being Irish I thought I had a clue about the Celts, but this exhibition was an eye opener in more ways than one.
Worn out!
Only through a bloody miracle and some marginally immoral behavior did we catch our flight for a quick visit back to the West of Ireland. She was looking mysteriously celtic!
Clew Bay, Co. Mayo
Lough Carra Floods
A small gem of sunshine
Mother and daugher
Melissa Shaw-Smith 
Beautiful. And cheers for your daughter’s 21st!
Thanks so much, Lisa.
Brilliant!
Thank you. 🙂
Lovely Melissa, and so true about the Gundestrup Cauldron and the first series of True Detective!…Creeeepy is right ! Clearly you both made the very most of your time on the “Islands” ! xox
Thanks, Kiki. Yes, so much to inspire us for the year ahead.
Love the picture of the half-submerged boat, your sleeping 21-yr old (happy birthday to her! What are the characteristic features of Celts?) and the mother-daughter pony/mule duo 🙂 And the phrase ‘gem of sunshine’ really appealed to me for some reason too.
Glad you enjoyed the photos, Munira. Good question about the Celts–there’s no easy answer but if you follow the “Celts” link in the blog it takes you to a very good description from the British Museum’s exhibition. Thank for reading!
Ahhh……fascinating!
Lovely photos Melissa. Happy Birthday to your daughter:)
Thanks, Karina. Yet another flying visit to Ireland. Hope to see you in the summer though. All the best, Melissa
Looking forward to seeing you in the Summer Melissa. Hope your parents are keeping well. K
Looks like an amazing time was had by both. Love your pics, especially of your Celtic princess.
Thanks, Jeanne. She’s a great traveling companion. I walked her off her feet in London but never a word of complaint.
Sounds like a delightful outing with your daughter. I really liked the photo of the sunken boat and the graffiti was fun.–Curt
Glad you enjoyed the photos, Curt. Yes, it was a special trip.
What lovely pictures! It must have been a wonderful trip.
Adele
Thanks, Adele. I’m a very lucky woman to have such a great daughter and to be able to take a trip like that.
Thanks for the post re: Nyssa and your trip. . . Looks and sounds like you both had a great time!
pictures are fab, even in grey London is one of my favorite cities. Or my fave, dunno. Montreal and Paris naturally are up there. Smaller would be Prague or Venice Glad you loved it, you can smell the excitement and affection.
Thanks, Laurie. It was a blast, even in mid-winter. See you soon!
Love how you narrate the photo story. The ending is perfect ❤
Thanks so much, Melissa. One of the greatest pleasures in my life has been getting to know my daughter as an adult and friend.
Thanks so much.
You’re welcome 🙂