A long long time ago, I decided it was a necessity for me to go to Ireland. Ever since then, it's been number one on my bucket list. Why Ireland?? I have NO clue. I think the rolling green hills and pubs really called to me... although, at that age, it was probably just the rolling green hills. Buddy was happy to oblige and we had decided that after we were done having kids, and I was no longer breastfeeding so I wouldn't have to take the pump along, we were going to check that off the bucket list. We decided that we should obviously do both Scotland and Ireland because Buddy was drawn to Loch Ness (he's a bit of a mythical creature buff -- a little too in love with Nessie and Big Foot.) In talking about it and dreaming plans up, we became a group of four and our buds, the T's decided to come along as well. We put together a list of **MUST SEES** and started planning. We decided that we would pick the places we wanted to see, book an AirBnB close to it and just drive from place to place... stopping whenever we saw a pub that needed visited. So we did just that. We decided to fly through Iceland for the free layover and see a bit of that country too and that's where the trip started!
Day 1: We landed in Iceland after flying over night and not sleeping a damn wink!! We were sure we would all snooze and be ready to go when we landed but, we were quite wrong. That coupled with the airport that was unable to control the large influx of tourists, the first stop started off a bit rough.. not to mention my random puking spell as we landed. But.. we rented our car, started driving and were kind of blown away by how beautiful Iceland was. We didn't get to see a whole lot of it but we drove to Reykjavik, did a little shopping.. well.. looking... Iceland is freaking EXPENSIVE, then drove to Keflavik, visited a giant cave, grabbed something to eat, then went to bed to try and get our bodies on the right timeline before taking off for Scotland.
 |
| Reykjavik, Iceland |
 |
| There were these little stone mounds all over the place and we kept wondering what they were. We finally stopped and these three read about them. I pulled my pukey self out of the car to take this picture and honestly can't remember what the mounds were.... whoops |
 |
| These things were EVERYWHERE!!! Wish I knew why! |
 |
| These guys were everywhere too (the stones AND the humans) |
 |
| The cute little town of Keflavik. To the left there was the Giant's Cave... I think her name was Giganta. |
 |
| No longer pukey |
 |
| Keflavik, Iceland |
Day 2: The next morning, we took off first thing and headed to, what turned out to be my favorite part of the trip, Scotland. We landed in Glasgow, rented a car, and took off on the wrong side of the road headed for Inverness and our first castle. This place was my FAVORITE place. Beautiful rolling hills right behind it, super cool history with lots of ghosts and a bar that stayed open until 4am. We stayed up, went a small ghost tour of the castle, drank wine/beer, held a sword, drank more beer/wine, looked up Scottish real-estate, drank some Scottish gin and then went to bed. This wonderful stay checked off one big must see on all of our lists.. staying in a real, historic castle.
 |
| Tulloch Castle in Dingwall, Scotland |
Day 3: The next day was a HUGE Buddy must see followed by one of my favorite things!! We drove to Loch Ness and looked for Nessie. We stopped at Urquhart Castle which was super cool and gave Buddy a chance to put some of the loch into his super high quality Loch Water Transferring Device (a plastic water bottle.) One of the biggest things we learned here was that we have to go back and ride a boat on the Loch. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was and how HUGE it was. One of my favorite parts of the trip.
After we were finished with the Loch, we sped dangerously, because we were insanely late, to our Train. We had no clue where we were going, on the wrong side of the road and Google maps was telling us that we were going to be 5 minutes late.. all while assuming trains don't wait for four crazy Americans. When we finally pulled in to the train station (after getting lost) we had to SPRINT to the train.. only to realize we didn't pay for parking. So Buddy and Trever sprinted back to pay for parking, realized they didn't have cash for the parking, had to buy chapstick to get cash for the parking, then finally got back to the train.. which left 15 minutes late... a built in buffer for people like us! The trip was amazing, going over the viaduct in the Harry Potter movies... felt a bit like Harry himself. The train took us to Mallaig Bay which was a gorgeous little port town. We had some yummy Fish and chips and jumped back on the train to head back to Fort Williams. The ride back was a bit rough.... think super hot weather on a steam engine with no air conditioning or great air flow, but still something that I wouldn't have done differently. Maybe next time, we just go and take a picture of the train going over the viaduct :) After we got back to the car, we drove to the great town of Perth
 |
| Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness |
 |
| Life Goals: Hanging on a yacht on Loch Ness |
 |
| Urquhart Castle |
 |
| Looking for Nessie, found a Trever |
 |
| Loch Ness!!! Goes on forever!! |
 |
| Nessie!!!!!!!!! |
 |
| Buddy scooping up some Loch Ness H2O |
 |
| Not sure what the flowers were... but they were everywhere!! |
 |
| HARRY POTTER!!!!!! |
 |
| The Glenfannin Viaduct |
 |
| The Jacobite |
 |
| Mallaig, Scotland |
 |
| Pit stop on the drive to Perth |
Day 4: Another favorite day!! We woke up and walked around Perth a bit then took off to head to St. Andrews Golf Course. On the drive, I googled for a quick history lesson and noticed the Obama was showing up on the search.. he had apparently just been there. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was clear that he was still there. We walked out onto the course and sure as shit.. there he was!! Kind of a crazy occurrence. After we walked around the course a bit, we stopped by a pub (naturally) and then headed to Edinburgh to go on a haunted city tour. It was one of the coolest things we did. So much history in the tunnels under the city!!
 |
| St. Andrews Golf Course |
 |
| I had to take a picture of the ball that almost hit us as we were walking around. This is one of two that almost got us. |
 |
| Obama finishing up on 18 |
 |
| The Elephant House is the coffee place that J.K. Rowling would go to get coffee when she was writing Harry Potter in the apartments across the street. The coolest coffee place I have ever been!! The cemetery behind The Elephant House is known to be where she got some inspiration for a few names in the book. We were able to find Tom Riddle's grave after being chased down by a drunk Scottish man. Oh memories |
 |
| The Royal Mile in Edinburgh |
 |
| Greyfriars Kirkyard: Where Tom Riddle's grave is |
Day 5: Off to Ireland!! We landed and headed straight to a pub to have a Guinness and some Bangers and Mash. This is the day ... a historic day.. when Buddy had his first ever Guinness. We then drove straight to Coalisland where we stayed with the best family in the cutest house and had Chinese food.
 |
| The house we stayed in in Coalisland, Northern Ireland |
Day 6: Our most productive and touristy day yet!! We started the day off thinking we would just do Giant's Causeway and ended up doing the Causeway then of too see the Black Hedges and finished up with a quick trip over the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Couldn't beat all of the sites we saw this day!! Pretty awesome and lots of checks off of the ol' must see list. This is where my infatuation with tiny flowers and paths takes over (there's already been a few already)!
 |
| Walking to Giant's Causeway |
 |
| These rocks were said to be put together by giants to create a bridge between Ireland and Scotland. The Irish giant built it because his wife told him he needed to conquer Scotland but the Scotland giants were much bigger. So he broke down the causeway as he ran back from Scotland in fear... at least I think that was the story. |
 |
| It's hard to think they weren't actually made by Giants |
 |
| Unfortunately, this sheepherders trail was closed when we were there... such a cool trail!! |
 |
| The Dark Hedges are used in the first season (i think) of the Game of Thrones. |
 |
| Pictures don't do them justice at all!! |
 |
| The beautiful walk to the rope bridge |
 |
| The island on the other side of the rope bridge was absolutely beautiful!! Fishermen would cross the bridge to come to this island to fish |
 |
| Our final stop of the day: Our sheepherders cottage |
Day 7: We woke up and hung out around one of the coolest places we could stay, our sheepherders cottage. We had to soak up some of the ocean and beautiful scenery and then took off to head to Belfast. When we got to Belfast, we checked into our hotel room, which was right above a pub, and started walking around to do some shopping. The camera didn't come along so shots of the cottage and it's surroundings are about all we have for the day.
 |
| The view from our cottage, right out our front door |
 |
| The converted sheepherders cottage!! |
Day 8: Castle Day!!! We woke up after a night of Irish brews and took off to head to Kylemore Abbey and Walled Victorian Garden! Another place that was full of so much history and beauty!! We spent a good chunk of time here this day before heading back to Belfast to have some more brews! The drive to this Abbey was one of our favorites as it was slightly terrifying and full of sheep on the road (one of Trever's goals to see) Be ready for more paths and flowers
 |
| Kylemore Castle |
 |
| Wishing stone! Stand in front and backwards and throw a rock over your shoulder over the rock. |
 |
| The amazing Victorian Garden. Beautifully maintained, flowers and fruits/veggies. |
Day 9: Cliffs of Moher day!!!!
Day 10: Final day, we drove back to Dublin to catch our flight the next morning and hit up the Guinness brewery. After a few questions to a the perfect pour man, they got us into the Guinness "secret" brewery call the Open Gate Brewery. I may just think it was a secret because we had never heard of it.. but it was delicious and so much fun! Best way to spend our last day!
 |
| The view of Dublin from the top of he brewery |
I can't believe it's been two months since we went on this trip and I can't believe we left our kids for almost two weeks!!! Such a fun trip... but so great to be back and be able to relive it through the million photos I took. All of these are only a small taste of the whole shabang... here's the full link in case you wanna take a gander at all 450ish pictures!! PHEW ... that was the longest post I have EVER done and BOOM done!!!
http://stevieferreiraphotography.pass.us/scotland-ireland-trip-2017/
No comments:
Post a Comment