"Why would you want to go to Scotland in November?" Pretend that that was said with a Scottish brogue and you will get the picture of our last dinner on our most recent cruise with some newfound friends from that part of the planet. I didn't have a good answer. I suppose I mumbled something about this being the time we could fit it in. Yet there's another reason we travel off-season: frugality. AKA cheapness.
Edinburgh
Lady Adventurer and I did indeed travel to Scotland and Ireland on the cheap. At least, as cheap as we could: Aer Lingus from Cleveland to Dublin, then Ryan Air over to Edinburgh for a few days before returning to Dublin for the Ireland part of this trip. Just getting across the pond wound up being fairly arduous, but we muddled through it.
Revising our original plans, we decided to spend four days in Edinburgh and get out and about from there, as opposed to renting a car and traveling to different hotels. Therefore we had a full day to spend hopping on and hopping off the Hop-on Hop-off bus. Although it made us a little jumpy, we were pretty hopped-up about it. We were able to visit places that were somewhat more than a hop, skip, and jump away, and we were quite hoppy to do it.
Visible from all over the hilly city of Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Castle commands a high outpost in the middle of town. It's about as extensive a castle as I've seen anywhere. Although the panoramic views from the castle were breathtaking, Lady A. wanted to spend at least some time indoors, out of the cold, raw, wind. So we did visit several museums, some relating to Scottish war history, and others that were of more interest to us, personally. As the day wore on, it finally got warmer for us.
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| About to enter Edinburgh Castle |
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| Edinburgh Castle panorama |
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| Inside Edinburgh Castle |
The other major stop for the day was the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden. Even though it was late autumn, the gardens were wonderful. We walked for hours, and we could have done more, had we had time.
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| Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden |
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| Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden |
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| Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden |
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| Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden |
After some other walking around (including being lost in a nearby shopping mall) we decided we'd done enough. Maybe next time we will check out the Royal Yacht Britannia and the Dynamic Earth Museum.
Highlands and Loch Ness
Because we were spending our nights in Edinburgh, it would be day trips to get around to other parts of Scotland.
The Highlands are cool. There are craggs, moors, hillocks, and thousands of lochs. Incidentally, there is only one lake in Scotland, yet tens of thousands of lochs. That one lake is named for the traitor who informed the British of William Wallace's location.
The Highlands are only a couple of hours north of Edinburgh, and they were just as I'd pictured them. Unfortunately, there was some rain, but that was mixed with sun, wind, clouds, rainbows, and more rain.
Glencoe is the location of the famous treachery of the Campbells, who killed nearly all of the MacDonalds because the King of England asked them to. Only a few MacDonalds survived, but we saw the house that the family still owns. It's in a spectacular location.
Loch Ness was further into the area, so it took even more time to reach that area. We visited the town of Fort Augustus, located on the edge of the loch. It was all quite nice, though not quite as scenic as some of the other lochs. We skipped the boat ride. Did you know that you can walk right up to Nessie and pet her? She's very friendly.
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| Glencoe |
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| Glencoe |
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| Loch Ness |
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| Loch Ness |
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| Dinner at a pub in Fort Augustus at Loch Ness |
St Andrews & the Fishing Villages of Fife
For our next trick, we took another day trip to St. Andrews and the Fife Coast in Northeastern Scotland. The wee fishing villages were quaint, and we enjoyed strolling around in them. St. Andrews is the home of a) The University of St. Andrews, b) an ancient castle and cathedral, all now in ruins, c) the place where golf was invented, where some of the world's first golf courses, and d) the location of the beach scene from the movie, Chariots of Fire. Of course, I had to check that out.
Did you know that the people of Scotland have the 'right to roam?' We were informed of this by several different people, and the Scots are quite proud of it. It means that Scots have the right and freedom to walk anywhere (within reason), regardless of property ownership. I think it's a pretty cool idea, especially since so much land had previously been owned by outsiders.
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| A fishing village in Fife |
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| Chariots of Fire beach |
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| St. Andrews Golf Course, one of the first |
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| St. Andrews Castle |
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| St. Andrews Cathedral and Cemetary |
The Scottie Dog statues everywhere were cool, but the 30p public toilets, not so much.
Now, it was time to say goodbye to Scotland, and hello to Ireland. We loved Scotland and its wonderful, colorful people. Lady A. and I were recalling how some of the Scots pronounced cows as 'coos.' They even have their own special 'hairy' ones. The tram to transport us to the airport was a little bit late. "Maybe there was a toad in the road and they had to unload," I said. Lady A. responded, "Or there was a coo in the loo." That had me laughing all the way to Dublin.
Dublin
Did you know that Ireland's capital is the fastest-growing capital city in the world? Every year, the population is doublin'.
Dublin would be the start of our 8-day Gate1 tour of Ireland. It's the capital and largest city of the Republic. Of course, it's also home to a great deal of the island's culture and history. We witnessed some of that by viewing and walking through some of the old streets with their lively pubs. We did the self-guided tour of St. Patrick's Cathedral which is very impressive. Especially with so many people buried within its walls and floors. One of them is Jonathon Swift, who also authored Gulliver's Travels. Guinness, founder of Guinness Stout was another famous patron.
Speaking of Guinness, it's a big thing in Dublin. After sampling several pints, I can say that it definitely tastes better here than in the States. And it's in every pub. We weren't able to take a tour of their facility, though, because you have to buy the tickets online whilst waiting in line outside, and Luddite Dan (not to mention Lady A.) can't do that. What we did do, however, was visit Dublin's (and possibly the World's) oldest pub, the Brazen Head, established in 1198.
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| St. Patrick's Cathedral |
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| St. Patrick's Cathedral |
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| Brazen Head Pub |
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| Along the River Liffey |
Our final night in Dublin's Irish dinner and entertainment was a hoot. After a dinner of Irish Stew and plenty of Irish Whiskey and beer, three old guys sang and played Irish instruments to mostly fun tunes. Of course, they encouraged a lot of audience participation to increase the fun factor. The Irish dancing was great as well, but I only wish there was more of it.
Galway
Galway is on the western side of the Island, opposite to Dublin. It's quite lively and crazy crowded, especially the pedestrian tourist area. There was a Christmas market going on, and that increased the crowds. Also, the cathedral was impressive.
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| Galway dining |
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| Galway Christmas Market |
We learned from our guide that the man who invented the crossword puzzle was from Galway. As we drove by the cemetery (we'd just passed the city center, and this was dead center), he said you can visit the grave: it's four across and six down,
We also stopped at a sheep farm called Rathbaun Farm. We had tea and scones and listened to the owner talk about the workings of his farm. Seeing it all (including the sheep, sheepdog, and ponies) and listening to his stories was pretty cool.
Donegal and Derry
Overnight, storm Debi hit. She caused major flooding, high tides, and furious, near-hurricane-force winds. We were lucky to not lose power or have our trip disrupted. On the way from Galway to Derry, we stopped for a half-day in Donegal.
A medieval wall surrounds Donegal Castle and we went in to get a self-guided tour. Except that the door to the castle was not a door to the castle. It led to a courtroom, which we entered whilst court was in session. You can bet that we very quickly shuffled back out before we found ourselves accused of something. When we finally found the correct door, we got our tour of the tiny, but historic castle.
For the rest of the time in Donegal, after taking a walk, we attempted to sample beer at each and every pub in town.
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| Donegal Castle |
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| Donegal Pub(s) |
Derry, also known as Londonderry, is home to a great deal of Irish and World History. We learned all about it from a local guide, who took us on an unforgettable walking tour.
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| Derry |
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| Derry City Hall |
Belfast
Near Belfast is the Giant's Causeway. We spent an afternoon exploring this awesome area. Well, I should correct that: *I* spent an afternoon there. Lady A. and I hiked down to the geological formations, but it was cold and rainy. It didn't take long for us to decide to take the bus back up to the visitor center. But then, the sun came out, so I hiked and ran back down again. This time, I kept going and going to a lookout point along the side of a cliff - as far as one could go on that popular trail. Of course, by then it had started to rain once again. I'd love to spend more time hiking in that area.
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| Giant's Causeway Trail |
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| Giant's Causeway |
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| Giant's Causeway |
After a very long day, we set out to find a decent restaurant for dinner in Belfast. The city center is far away from our Titanic Hotel, but we were on a mission. An unsuccessful one. We couldn't find anyplace suitable for our dinner, and wound up back at the hotel.
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| Looking for dinner in Belfast |
We had a nice city tour of Belfast. Turns out, there's even more to Northern Ireland than we learned last time. We signed the Belfast Peace Wall that (to our surprise) still separates some neighborhoods. Next came a visit to the Titanic Experience Museum, located adjacent to our hotel. It was much more interesting than I had anticipated, with all kinds of information, exhibits, and fun ways to understand the building, sailing, and aftermath of the Titanic's sinking. Finally, we visited Hillsborough Castle. It's a Royal Residence, the one for Northern Ireland.
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| Signing the Belfast Peace Wall |
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| Hillsborough Castle |
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| Hillsborough Castle Gardens |
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| Hillsborough Castle Tea |
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| Titanic Experience Museum |
County Meath
County Meath is close to Dublin, so this would be our last stop before heading home. We're staying at the Johnstown Estate, a large mansion (that they call a castle) converted into a comfy hotel. Nearby is Trim Castle, which I visited 15 years ago, but something we only drove by this time. What we did do this time was to stop at the site of the Battle of the Boyne on the way over.
Oliver Cromwell eliminated Britain's monarchy, but he was a mean SOB to most everyone, including the Irish. James II re-established the monarchy and became the first (and only) Catholic King of England. He was forced out of power by his nephew, the Protestant King William III of Orange and also of William and Mary fame. James, also related to Louis XIV of France, formed an army in Ireland, where he met Charles with his army at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Charles and his Protestant army were victorious. The battle involved tens of thousands of soldiers from many European countries. It had major implications for Ireland, England, and much of Europe.
As we visited the location along the River Boyne, we learned all about the battle and its implications. The visitor center is in a historic mansion.
And that about wraps things up for this trip. As always, we couldn't see or do it all. But we did get a nice taste of Scotland and Ireland. If we make it back again, we'll know more of what to do.
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| Battle of the Boyne Site Garden |
