HOSTELS

Ok Girls. I've been looking at Paris Hostels So this is mostly for Marina and Sheri. The first two are really promising and the second two could also work out nicely. Check them out on hostelworld.

Hotel Darcet
Avenir Hotel
Pavillon Villiers Etoile
Hotel Innova

Also, I looked into a hostel for Oxford and the only one that looked good was Central Backpackers. It's 29.08 for a weekend night and is very clean, although there isn't any breakfast. It looked like the best option though. Check it out on HostelWorld and see what you think. I'm calling them and Camden in the morning to ask questions about reservations and then I'm booking wednesday morning so I strongly encourage you to check these out to make sure they are ok for you before I book them. Also, I need your guys opinion about staying the night in Oxford. Good idea or bad idea? We're not going to Pooh's Corner anymore I don't think, so we could use our two day train passes to get to and from oxford, or we could save the second pass for another little day trip and just do Oxford in one day. Also Sheri I was thinking we could maybe use one of the day passes to get from Paris to London and then do Oxford in one day. Just ideas for trying to get the most for our money. Anyway, let me know what you guys think other wise I'm just gonna plough ahead so speak now or forever hold your peace.

Paris Day Trips

Ok, so I've been planning the Paris itinerary and as far as day trips are concerned, we'll have to go to Versaille, but I was wondering how you guys would feels about going to the Loire Valley as well and checking out the amazing castles if I can fit it in. In my high school French class for some reason we talked about these castles like ALL the time and I've done projects on at least half of them so I really want to see them. What we'd do is pick like 2 or 3 of them and just take a day and go see them. And I was going to post some pictures of them for you, but for some reason the picture thing isn't working. So instead, just go to google images and look up Chambord (largest castles in the Loire Valley and pretty dang cool), Chenonceau(x) (This one has some really cool dramatic history with like queen's being jealous of mistresses and soap opera-ish stuff. Plus, it's built as like a bridge over a lake, is that not cool?), Azay le Rideau (just pretty), Usse (Really goregeous castle that apparently was what Disney modeled their sleeping beauty castle after. Also reminds me of the castle in "Ever After" or something), Villandry (pretty castle but mostly known for its AMAZING gardens). Let me know what you think. Also, I'll post the itinerary soon, so you can see how it might fit in.
Sheri

Edinburgh (for Marina)

So here are some pictures of Edinburgh. It's got some cool castles and monuments and we could take a tour if you want too. It's apparently not all that big for a capitol city and it's easy enough to see a lot in one day. They said it has a population of only like 500,000 or so, so cool. If you want to learn more about it, go here: http://www.stuckonscotland.co.uk/edinburgh/attractions.html Anyway, any questions?

For Marina...again

Hey, ok, so here's what you need to do. Look at the London Itinerary and comment. Then, go back to the posts I made about Ireland and look at the descriptions and pictures for Dun Guaire, Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands and Dun Aengus. And if you have time, feel free to do your own search of that area online. Then, look at my Blog that I will creat after this which will provide a little info on Edinburgh. And by the way, the itinerary would probably be:
August 18th - Fly into Shannon and stay the night there.
August 19th - Go to Cliffs of Moher then take a ferry to the Aran Islands. Spend the night on the Aran Islands
August 20th - More Aran Islands. Spend the night again.
August 21st - Take Ferry back. See Dun Guaire then go to Galway and spend the rest of the day there.
August 22nd - Fly to Edinburgh and spend the day there. Sleep there.
August 23rd - Fly to Paris.

Pretty laid back and easy.

As soon as we have the London Itinerary approved, we're going to make our Hostel reservations in London. Also, on Monday I'll try to call the airport and see whether we need to buy the plane ticket from Galway to Edinburgh right away and tell you about that on Monday (leave a message if all else fails). Also, soon we'll figure out exactly what passes we're going to buy for London and I'll post that on here. We very well may buy those in Europe, so you probably won't have to buy those soon. Also, now that we have this Ireland/Scotland thing figured out, I'll be looking at hostels this week and making reservations. I think that's it. Just check here as much as you can during your freetime and do those things I said to do tonight or whatever. Thanks!
Sheri

You guys, We're going to EUROPE!

London Itinerary

Ok, so I broke it down into possible days to do everything based on the very complex schedules that some of these attractions have. As far as I can tell, a lot of these things would have to be done on these specific days and at these specific times. Like, it's hard to get this much stuff in and there's only so many ways to do it. i tried to make sure a lot of the must see kinds of things were concentrated later on to facilitate for Megan and Jenna, but the since some stuff was kind of fixed due to horus of operation and tour schedules, there are some pretty main things on the 30th when you may not be there. If that's not ok, maybe you guys could see that stuff Friday before the play or if there's some things on one day you don't care much about you could do it then? It's definitely feasable. Also, I didn't always include times for lunch and dinner and also for transportation, so these times are general and I tried to leave time in between for those things, they just aren't stated on there. Also, it doesn't include prices because the prices are so complicated and because it depends on which tour we take, etc. etc. etc. But I'd say most museum's etc. will be 5 Pounds or under. The London eye was 10 to 15 Pounds (depending on what exactly we do) and some things are free, so yeah. Tell me what you guys think!

Mon, August 28th - Do whatever we want, get familiar with the area, get tickets for things, see anything else you want to see that's not on the itinerary, go shopping, ride a double decker bus, etc.

Tues, August 29th - Pooh's Corner

Wed, August 30th - Get to Buckingham Palace at 11 am to watch the changing of the guard from 11:30 to 12:15 (it's recommended you get there a half hour early). Walk around, take pictures and eat lunch at Parliament and Big Ben from 12:15 to 1:30 (There are some things you could do in Parliament, but they looked either really hard to get into or not that interesting, if you want to check it out, go to http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting.cfm and there isn't really any way to get inside Big Ben, so hence the pics.) Tour Westminster Abbey from 1:30 to 4. Go to the National Gallery from 4 to 7. Ride the London Eye from 7 to 8 (or we can go on the London Eye River Cruise for 40 m in during sunset instead which is cheaper. It goes all the way from London Eye area to the Tower of London). Go home.

Thurs, August 30th - Ok, first we'd do the Tower of London from 9 to 12. Then we'd do the Tower Bridge Monument and Exhibition Center from 12 to 2. Then we'd see a play at the Globe starting at 2 (they start at either 2 or 7, so that's an actual time) that we'll say would last 3 hours and end at 5. Then we'd have dinner on the London Bridge somewhere (maybe a picnic) til around 7 and head over for our Jack the Ripper Tour that starts at 7.

Friday, August 31st - See Abbey Road from 9:30 to 10:30. Tour Buckingham Palace State Rooms and Gardens from 10:30 to 1:30. Take a tour of St. Paul's from 2 to 4. See a play.

Sat, Sept 2nd - On this day we'd start with at tour at Dicken's House from like 10 to 11:30, then do the British Museum from 11:30 to 1, take a tour of Highgate Cemetary from like 1 to 2:30 and take the British Library Tour from 2:30 to 5. Take train to Oxford.

Sun, Sept 3rd - Oxford. Take train home that night.

Mon, Sept 4th - Flight to Romania!!! It leaves at 12:30p

For Marina

Ok, for now just go to www.easyjet.com and reserve a flight from Belfast to Inverness on the 21 st of August (there's only one time available). If you have questions, call. Tonight I work a grave shift and have the rest of the day tomorrow to figure stuff out, so by tomorrow I should actually know what you need to do. That will involve looking at the London Itinerary I will have posted, doing what Shannon will want to do with the London Hostel, looking at hostels for every other location (including Scotland and Ireland) and telling me what you think, as well as buying a bunch more train tickets and maybe some other stuff too. Sorry I don't have it all by today.

Sheri

Sheri are you going to post the london list soon??
Jenna

Random stuff

Ok, so I think it's been decided that we are for sure doing Christopher's Camden. How are we going to go about reserving that, Shannon? And what is your phone number? I think we should do Paris Hostels now too because we've got to get going on that right away. Did everyone read what I wrote about Paris ones? Please comment. Also, Megan and I were talking about London last night and I'm going to post a sort of itinerary but just with times that things are open and approximately where they are and what they cost and what attractions might be able to be clumped into the same day. But I'd rather delegate the task of figuring out, based on the times I put down, whether they can be done on the same day and what days to do them and how to get there etc to someone else. Will someone volunteer? I've got to be working on Paris attractions too as well as a whole lot more for Ireland and Scotland and work 50 + hours a week so I would really appreciate it and it would help get everything done quicker. Let me know!
Sheri

Random

Hey, I found this cool little website for anyone interested in shopping. It's pretty good!

http://www.londontourist.org/markets.html#Camden

oh. and as far as location for Camden since there is no map on the site, It's on the east side of Regents Park and about the same distance as Astor Quest is from everything. We'd have to use the subway, but that would be King's Cross so we wouldn't have to go out of our way to take stupid touristy pictures of Plateform 9 and 3/4 ;-)

Sheri's Vote

Well, here's some food for thought. So St. Christopher's Camden looks fabulous, however, wouldn't it also be fun to stay at Astor Quest since we could like go shopping in mornings or something? But maybe not since we'll probably want to go to the stuff early to beat the crowds. Anyway, honestly I think my vote goes for Astor Victoria. I like the sound of the area, and as much as the atmosphere and surrounding area of Camden sounds good, Victoria, well, just seems better to me. But the great thing is, they're all so much prettier than all the hotels here and I'm basically madly in love with all of them and will be ecstatic to have this finally chosen no matter what we choose! Really though, I'm totally find with Camden. And oh my gosh, thank you so much Shannon!

St Christopher's Camden

St Christopher's Camden is my vote. As for sleeping arrangements I say the cheapest one, I think it was the 10 bed mixed. Thanks Sheri and Shanon for all that you guys are doing in planning. Have a MAGICAL week!!

P.s. I got hit on by a 30 year old drunk italian guy!! eck There's a story there!

JENNA B.

ST CHRISTOPHER'S VILLAGE

ST CHRISTOPHER'S CAMDEN

ASTOR QUEST

ASTOR VICTORIA

HOSTELS

All right girls here's the scoop: By now, I've already bugged most of you to comment on this. If not, good for you for checking and posting. There are four main hostels in London that look good. Here are your choices. All have lockers and luggage storage, no curfew, 24 hour reception, internet access, guest kitchens, and breakfast is included. Pick one:

Astor Victoria
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/AstorVictoria-London-524?

This one sounds like a nice relaxed place that could work out well for us. It's just south of Big Ben and right there in the middle of all the tourist spots. It ranges from 25 dollars a night to 35 depending on what kind of bunk you reserve. The choices are 6 bed mixed dorm, 6 bed female dorm, and 8 bed mixed dorm. (8 bed is the cheapest and the prices all jump a dollar or two for the weekend. ) It's average rating is 82%. Linens are included (that means no sleepingbag unless you want one), it garuntees hot showers and clean bathrooms that were recently re-done, and it accepts credit cards. The age restriction is 18-30 which I like because then there aren't kids running around and such. It sounds like a nice laid-back place to come home to after a long day of site-seeing

Astor Quest
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/AstorQuest-London-523?

Next we have Astor Quest. This is situated next to the shopping center of London. It's a bit away from all the touristy stuff but right next to Nottinghill Gate and Portabello market. The average rating is 82% and it accepts credit cards. The price ranges from 28 to 35 dollars a night. The choices are 6 bed mixed dorm, 6 bed female dorm, 8 bed mixed dorm and 9 bed mixed dorm. (9 bed is the cheapest and the prices all jump a dollar or two for the weekend.) It says that most rooms have bathrooms in the dorm rooms and it says that it has a nice chill-out lounge.

St Christopher's Camden
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/StChristophersCamden-London-505?

This one also sounds really promising and could be a lot of fun. It sits right in the center of London's artistic neighborhood. It's right around the corner from the Roundhouse, which is the club where Jimmy Hendrix, and Pink-Floyd both got their starts. Camden Neighborhood is where Oasis started out and where Britpop was created. It's where all the artsy people with pink hair, piercings and day-glow t-shirts can be found. It's in the center of Camden Market where you can find just about anything for sale and there are a lot of music clubs and cafes too. And it's next to two major metro stations so we can get to the touristy stuff easy. It sounds like it'd be a really fun place to come hang out and just wander after a day of tours and such. The average rating is 82% and it has key-card access so there shouldn't be too many weirdos lurking around. Bunk choices are 6 bed mixed dorm, 6 bed female dorm, 8 bed mixed dorm, and 10 bed mixed dorm. prices go from 25 to 40 dollars a night but it looks like if we get 10 bed mixed dorm bunks, that is the cheapest option out af all the hostels. Five nights at 25 dollars and two nights at 36. This one has my personal vote, but if you want to check it out yourself, feel free. Oh and linen is included and they take credit cards. Actually, I think all these hostel's take cards.

St Christopher's Village
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/StChristophersVillage-London-502?

Last, (and in my opinion least) is St Chris's Village. And here's my resoning. It says that it's party central and it sounds really fun and hip, but party central means there is a lot of drinking. There is a hot-tub, lots of bean-bags, live DJ's, karaoke, cheap drinks, etc. etc. etc. The aproval rating is 77% , air-port pick-up, and credit cards are accepted. IT has key card access and is in the center of all the touristy stuff but on the south bank instead of the north. So it's closer to The Globe and the Tower of London while the others are closer to the Tate Gallery, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and such. This sounds like a place where we could keep the party going all night after site-seeing all day. But like I said, it sounds like there's a lot of drinking and I don't think that's our cup of tea. Oh and your bunk choices are 6 bed mixed dorm, 8 bed mixed dorm, 10 mixed dorm, 10 bed female dorm, and 14 bed mixed dorm. Prices go from 25 to 40 dollars a night with the 14 bed mixed dorm the same pricing as the 10 bed mixed dorm in St Christopher's Camden.


Welp. That's basically it. Now your job is to Put down your favorite hostel and the sleeping arrangement you'd prefer in a comment tonight!. Once we've decided on a hostel and an arrangement, we'll start reserving. But that's gonna take some finagaling so first do this. I so command. Oh and pictures are above. Luv Ya!

Hostels in Paris

Ok, I'm going to reserve St. Christopher's Village for the people who have told me the days they'll be in London. That's Marina, Jenna and I. So, Shannon and Megan, since I'd only be guessing what day you'll get there, you're going to have to reserve it yourself unless you post before tomorrow. Also, time to get looking for hostels in Paris for the 3 of us. I was just looking at hostelworld and from what I found, the best one seemed to be "Perfect Hostel (ironically)." It had no curfew, no lookout, lockers, good breakfast, was close to a metro station, was comparatively cheep, was available and had pretty much all good reviews whereas the other ones that had availability all had some major problem with them. I'm gonna give you til Thursday to tell me whether you like it or not Shannon, then I'll just have to reserve it. If I can make a reservation for you too without it being a problem for you to cancel or whithout having to give them info, then I'll do that if you don't contact me cuz it would be pretty bad not to be in the same hostel! Also, I need to call Marina and talk to her about it as well.

Stuff that is Urgent

Ok, first of all, read my comment on the Hostels post and please respond. Second of all, time time to look for hostels in Paris. Please. Quickly. Gotta do this. I'm busy too (I worked on Thursday from 11-1 and 2:30 to 12am and Friday from 12am - 9:30 and 11 - 1 and 5 - 9 and theeeen came home and did more Europe stuff!). Also, we should look into getting rail passes. For those of you only going to London, I would suggest going to Britrail.com and getting the London Plus Pass for 2 days in 8 (because we're only going to take like one day trip) for the Youth price. It's like 53 dollars. Not bad. For you Shannon, well, I don't know that there are any good ones for France, so maybe just the London one, but there's one on raileurope.com for 3 days in a month (which is all we should need) that costs like $149 I think. And, what do you guys want to do for figuring out London sites? You want me to post a bunch for you to rate or just want me to pick some and you can all say yay or nay or do you want to do something else. I need imput! Anyway, for Marina, I thiiink the Ireland video is due tomorrow (Saturday) and so either you can drop it off there by 6 or I can come by and get it right after I get off work (4pm). I'll call you tomorrow to make sure you get this. And for railpasses, I should just talk to you on the phone because it's coooomplicated. Thanks guys!

Hostels

Ok, since we're definitely running out of time, how does everyone feel about St. Christopher's Village?

Hey Guys! I'm still alive in case any of you were wondering ;-) . I was camping for a week so no internet, and then I came back and was right in the middle of dealing with the hill cumorah pageant for this whole week. I'll explain what that entails later, but let's just say I worked 60 hours in five days.. yeah. Anyway, there's one more week of pageant and then you all will have my undivided attention. I haven't had a chance to read all the posts but I'll try tomorrow night after work. I'm really sorry I've been totally absent. Whatever's cheapest is best for me and I trust yall anyway. Have a great week and I'll talk to yall as soon as I can!

Oxford

Are we going to Oxford at all or no?? Also, how far away is it from where we are in London?
Jenna B.

London

Ok, so Megan and I are going to meet on Wednesday and finish figuring out London (where to go/where to stay). Then we're going to post what we've decided on here and you guys can just tell us if you have problems (please do) and if so we'll take all that as it comes. Also, if everyone could just put a comment on this post for when you will be arriving in London, so that we know exactly how many days at the hostel we'll need, that would be fabulous. Marina, since we still need to figure out Switzerland/Germany, I'm gonna give you a call and we can try and figure that out so that we'll also know how many days in London we'll need. Sound good? K, post your comments!

Puhleeeeez?

Can you guys please look up hostels/talk to me about the Ireland stuff (just Marina for that one I guess)? Pretty please? I'm getting nervous cuz it's getting close and we have done like...nothing. K comments! Yay for comments!

I can't go the whole time

Hey you guys I went and bought my tickets last night and I wanted to let you guys know that I can't go all three weeks with you guys. I can only get a loan for $1000 and that will pay for half of my tuition at the beginning of the semester. So, I can only go to London, so whoever is figuring out hostels I fly into London on Thursday, August 31, so I guess I'll just have to meet up with yall there. I gtg I'm going to my aunt and uncles, but I'll send more news later.
Jenna B.

Ireland PIcs 3 (Last ones!)

Inishmore (one of the Aran Islands)


Aerial photo of Dun Aengus (Aran Islands)


Those spikey rock things surrounding Dun Aengus that I was trying to describe


Cute little donkey trying to get through too small an opening on the Aran Islands


Aran Islands
safasdfaf

Ireland Pictures 2 (Sorry they didn't all fit on the first one)

Cliffs of Moher


Clonmacnois


Tullynally Caslte


Blasket Islands


Blasket Islands


Blasket Islands


Dingle


Kylemore Abbey


Dunguaire Castle


Dunluce Castle (Ballycastle area). Sorry bout the lame "Dunluce" title thing.


Dunseverick Castle (Ballycastle area)

Ireland Pictures

Newgrange Tombs


Bantry House


Carrick-a-rede rope bridge


Giant's Causeway


Bantry Bay (or rather next to it)


Altar in Sligo (Carrowmore)


Glencar Lake


View from Carrowkeel (in Sligo)

Whew.

I like that just today i've posted like 3 times all y'all, period.

Ireland

Ok, planning what to do and where to go in Ireland is going to be much different, I think, than how planning London was. I envision picking a few cities to go to and then picking a few things for each city. Either that or just picking a bunch of sites and just stopping by each as we go, and then picking cities we want to sleep in. We're not going to be having much time there, so we're going to have to be very sparing. In fact, since we're flying into Shannon, it makes sense to me for us to just follow a rout up the Northwestern coast to Northeastern Norther Ireland, where we would take a ferry over to Scotland. Besides, that's where most of the cool sites are anyway. Because of this idea, I've only included those sites. Also, there aren't going to be as many things there that you recognize, so it'll be more of an adventure. But I LOVE Ireland. I can't find my binder right now, so I'm not sure on the dates. But, I think we'll be in Ireland and Scotland from the 18th to the 23rd (please correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, on to the more interesting stuff. Here's a list of places and why they're cool:

- Sligo : Sligo has many attractions. It was home (and is now the burial place) of the poet, William Butler Yeats, it has amazing beauty, such as Glencar Lake, and it has tons of great historical stuff, including the oldest piece of freestanding architecture in the world (7,400 years old in fact) among countless really cool ancient Ireland stuff. It would do you guys well, by the way, to learn about Irish history because it's fascinating and will make you way more excited to go. I mean, half of Irealand's charm comes from its history/folklore (they tend to be a little mixed). Some particular suggestions for doing this would be watching Braveheart (the cleanflix version of course) because even though it's totally historically inacurrate it's got the right mood, learning the story behind Queen Maeve or reading a summary of the Tain Bo Culaigne (which is the same thing, reading at least the beginning of Churchill's The History of the English Speaking People, reading "How the Irish Saved Civilization" or at least the part about St. Patrick, or any other number of things. K, enough on that.
- Newgrange: More really really cool old Irish stuff. Has the best collection of ancient Irish art and also lots of cool Megaliths and Tombs. You should learn about old Irish Bronze age/Stone Age tombs, cuz they're different.
- Bantry Bay: Really Pretty. Also has really pretty Bantry House.
- Ballycastle: Close to here are Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Dunseverick Castle, Carrick-a-rede rope bridge and a few other things. Learning the history behind especially Giant's Causeway and Dunluce castle, especially, would prove pretty interesting.
- Clifton: Has really pretty Kylemore Abbey
- Dun Guaire: Just a pretty castle
- Dingle/Blasket Islands: This isn't exactly on the route. It's more South. But it would just make me really sad to take it off the list right from the beginning just because it's like my favorite one. Ayway, Dingle Peninsula is just gorgeous. And it's one of those places where people still actually speak Gaelic and they still have the cute little Irish cottages and lots of sheep and stone walls. The Blasket Islands are right of the coast of Dingle Peninsula. They were inhabited by a few people up until like the 50's, when they were just abandoned. Now they're all mysterious and spooky with abandoned brick cottages and lots of sheep.
- Clonmacnois: Taken straight from the Tour Guide, "Resting silently on the east bank of the Shannon, this is one of Ireland's most profound ancient sites....[It] became one of Europe's great centers of learning and culture (sheri note: read more about that stuff in "How the Irish Saved Civilization")...Today you can see the remains of a cathedral, a castle, eight churches, two round towers, three sculpted high crosses, and more than 200 monumental slabs." I say sounds cool.
- Tullynally Castle: Pretty castle.
- Cliffs of Moher: The coooolest cliffs ever. They're gorgeous and huge and very unique and if you stand on the end and look out you're looking at all the ocean inbetween there and Canada, so it's pretty amazing. They're an Ireland must.
- Aran Islands: Like Dingle, this is where you'll find the cute little cottages, and sheep and gaelic people. Also, it has this really cool structure called Dun Aengus. It's on the edge of a cliff and though they don't know exactly what it was used for, the theories are that A.) it was a circular fortress, but the cliff eroded and half of it fell off, it was just a semi-circle shaped fortress (the idea of the fortress comes from it consisting of several walls plus being surrounded by all these pointy rocks, eh, you'll see in the picture.) and C.) that it was a theater.

Ok, and since these are probably pretty meaningless to you without being able to visualize them, I'm going to make another post with just pictures of them all. Anyway, please let me know, hopefully this week, how you rate these. The easiest way, I think, would be for you to just rate them 1 to 11. 1 being your favorite one and 11 being your least favorite one. Also, if you look at a map of Ireland and decide you don't want to go the Northwestern route, let me know.

Ok, enough of this post.

Hostels/Ireland/Scotland/Random

Yay! I finally got one of the invites! Thank you Marie (been fighting the urge to address you as such for a long time) for the multiple tries! Anyway, I agree with Megan that Hostels should be like our first priority right now. I say we should try to have hostels picked by next Sunday (the 9th). We're probably not going to get anywhere unless we have deadlines, so there ya go. I think www.hostelworld.com (the one Jenna mentioned) is the one I would suggest too. So everyone start posting about good hostels you've found right away so that we can actually be picking them by next Sunday. And that means hostels for London and Paris (not Ireland or Scotland yet because we still need to be figuring out where to go there).

As for Ireland and Scotland, since we're going there first, it's even more important for us to figuring out everything for that right away. So, in addition to you guys finding hostels for Paris and London this week I think we should also try to plan where to go for those this week. I'm going to compile a bunch of info about good places to go there and post a blog or two about it.

Anyway, that's it for now! Yay for Europe!

P.S. To make it more organized, instead of posting separate blogs for the hostels, lets just make comments on this blog about what you find so we just know where all the hostel info is, ok? Thanks!

P.P.S. If i'm being too bossy, then yell at me and tell me how you want to do it! I'm ok with that!