Scotland Day 1

The morning we were to leave for Scotland started off a bit rough.  We had an 9 something flight with a cab coming to pick us up at 7.  However, since I was the one in charge of setting the alarm and completely forgetting to do so, rushing around to pack, pick up and get dressed made for a crazy morning.  Luckily Cameron woke me us around 7:30 and we were all out the door by 8.  We hailed a cab, explained our predicament to the cab driver (who was awesome) and got there in 10 minutes.

He asked us where we were from in the states.  I told him Pennsylvania.  He asked if I lived in Philadelphia.  A little insulted (but understanding he wouldn't know any better) I answered Pittsburgh.  He then asked if I lived in the country.  I answered no that Pittsburgh was on the other side of the state from.  I said it took about 5 hours to drive from one side of the state to the next.  His response: "For F*cks Sake!!!" (in an Irish accent obviously).

Alas, we arrived to the airport and made our flight with additional costs and having burned a few calories from running through the airport with our luggage we met up with K (who had been there since 6ish to see her Belgian off) and arrived safely to Glasgow.  We got to K, Barry and Simon's (which originally brought us over) around 11, dropped our bags off, relaxed for a little then headed out in the rain (yet again) to visit Barry at work.  Barry works at The Hunterian  on the University of Glasgow Campus as a curator in the Mackintosh House as part of the Mackintosh Collection.  It was great to see her even if it was for 15 minutes.

Afterward, she suggested we check out another museum (I cannot remember the name of it since it was back in June and I was rather exhausted) on the campus.  Since it was raining and not far to walk we decided to do that.

Dont' know who this woman is but way to ruin a photo lady!

These reminded me of my Great-Gran (my Great Grandmother).  She loved nature and had butterflies displayed like this of all different colors and sizes in the hallway outside of her apartment.  I could almost smell the peppermint:) 

Wonky street lines outside of the Univeristy. 

Since it was raining again and we had some time to kill before Barry and Simon (Barry's fiance) were off work we headed to a bar for a few drinks and a late lunch.  My first introduction to Aspall Cider.  Delish!

Since it was still raining and getting close to when Barry was getting off work we headed back to the flat to dry off.

View from a bridge

high-steppin.  

Flat window. 

Besides our crazy start to the day, our first day in Scotland was pretty chill and uneventful.  A nice change of pace from the constant going in Dublin. 

Dublin Day 3

Our last day in Dublin was my favorite.  And it wasn't only because the sun and blue sky decided to show itself - although it did help.  It was our most productive touring day even if we were lagging a little because of a hangover or two.  The day before we made sure to make reservations to tour Dublin Castle so we went back there first.  Like Trinity College, pictures were not allowed inside here are some more photos of Dublin Castle grounds.

 I love the flags, cobble streets and of course GORGEOUS architecture.

En route to our second stop for the day we headed to St. Stephen's Green which is a public park in the center of the city.  One of my favorite things about Ireland (and Scotland) was how green everything was.  So even though I complain about all the rain throughout our trip it sure does make for beautiful scenery. 

One of the many entrances to the park.  Reminded me of Hansel & Gretel.  

Beautiful swans.  Did you know the Queen protects all swans (well Mute Swans to be more precise)?  Yeah, I didn't either. 

This one says "take one step closer and I will F your day up."  I believed him. 

This guy was feeding all the pigeons and swans.  Kinda cool and creepy at the same time.  Does this remind anyone else of the lady with all the pigeons in Central Park in Home Alone 2? 

This cool building greeted us as we left the park.  There's a tree growing on the side of it!

Stop #2 was St. Patrick's Cathedral.  It really is a beautiful church but so are a lot of the churches in Dublin - and even in the states in some cities.  While it was neat to see it in person I was not overly impressed.  I was however overly impressed with my sister Cameron's ability to translate a transcription from Spanish to English for us Americans.  I forget she minored in Spanish (do I have that right, Cam?).  

Park next to the Cathedral.  

Stop 3 was what made Day 3 in Dublin my favorite - Howth.  I was not much involved in the planning process leading up to our trip.  Cameron and Melissa took care of all that research - I have ADD and not really able to concentrate for long periods of time (like typing this blogpost is hard).  Howth is on the outskirts of the city but still considered to be Dublin.  It is a beautiful harbor town on a peninsula on Dublin's bay.  I heard of Howth from my mom's dear friend from HS, Elaine, who went there last year with her then boyfriend.  Her description of the city was exactly how I pictured Ireland to look like.  And I was not disappointed AT ALL.  Simply put: Breathtaking.

If you are ever in Dublin I HIGHLY recommend making the trip to Howth.  It's only an hour train ride from the city.  Full of B&Bs, restaurants, shopping and pubs.  If I ever head to that area again I would much rather stay in Howth than the city.

Lucky thing I wore my red Toms.  Helped identify who I was when I got separated from the rest of the group:)

Howth jumper. 

Howth sisters (and my awesomely bad side pony-tail).  

I love reflections.  I doubt everyone was excited to pause half-way up a hill for this photo opp. 

Imagine looking out your window with a view like that!!!  And check out their "fence" made from what looks like stone from the Middle Ages.   

After lunch we headed up a nice hill to climb and check out the cliffs.  Apparently there is a two hour hike around the cliffs.  Something I so very much wish we had more time for and one of the reasons I would love to return to Howth.  Isn't this gorgeous?  And look!  Blue sky!!!

What a great ending to a great first 3 days in a different country.  

Our last night in Dublin was a very calm one.  K and her Belgian went out to eat while the Brantleys stayed in and enjoyed Chinese.  Here are my last photos of Dublin. 

Millenium Spire

Walking back from ordering Chinese we didn't understand because it was still light out why everyone seemed so drunk.  It does not get properly dark there until 11 in the Summer!  That was very hard to adjust to.  

The next morning started out quite hectic.  Stay tuned for that story and Scotland... 

Dublin Day 2

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, we got a bit of a late start to our second day.  Jet lag is a killer, man.  Anyway, after we finally got around to getting out of the door around 1230/1 we headed to  back out into the rain for a tour of the city.

We headed across the Ha'Penny Bridge (right down the street from where we were staying).  We didn't spy any trolls though.  

Our first stop was Trinity College.  However, we took a little detour.  We first came across this Church thinking it was Trinity College.  Wrong.  This is Christ Church Cathedral.  What a gorgeous church.  Once I stepped off the bus from the airport I was immediately blown away by the gorgeous architecture of the different churches and buildings in the city and Christ Church Cathedral was no different.  As I mentioned in my last post, this was my first time in this part of the world and I was - and still am - amazed at how much detail is in the architecture and all without modern technologies.  Just amazing!

PINK DOOR!!! I want a pink door.  

Anyway, we walked in a few more circles (this was the kind of detour that took us about an hour to find Trinity College but only 5 minutes to get home) but finally found Trinity College.  I was just thankful for a dry place to hide out for a few hours.  Now, I know the draw to Trinity College is to see the Book of Kells, which was really cool and beautiful to see, but I was more excited to see the library. In case you do not know (or may have forgotten) I am kinda obsessed with Harry Potter.  Pretty much anything Harry Potter and I get excited.  So I was thrilled to be in a place that inspired the Hogwarts library for the all the movies.  Since cameras were not allowed I was not able to get a photo with my DSLR but being the sneaky photographer I am, the trusty iPhone saved the day yet again.  

Can't you just see Hermione searching for one of her books to help save Harry's and Ron's asses? 

Since it was still rainy and cold we decided to next head to Dublin Castle.  Because it was later in the afternoon when we got to the castle the tours were over but the nice reception/ticket collector lady suggested we head over to the Chapel Royal that are also on the grounds. What a beautiful building.  Again, I was completely blown away by the detail that went into building it and hundreds of years ago - and hundreds of years before America was even "discovered."  A fun little fact though, Chapel Royal was the set for scenes of The Tudors - a Showtime series about King Henry VIII and all his wives.  I just finished the series before our trip so I was pretty excited to learn that.  Look familiar?  

Since it finally decided to stop raining for a bit we decided to walk around the grounds a little (and search for a toilet). 

We decided Friday night was to be our night out since we had an early flight Sunday morning (that was an adventure that I will tell you more about in a later post...) so we headed back to the apartment after a pit stop for wine, beer, champagne and snacks for pre-gaming with UNO before heading to The Temple Bar for a night out on the town.  

Euros are so much prettier than American money. 

I quit my job of 6 years and my last day was the day I left for our trip.  It was decided without talking to any of us that each room on our floor was to have a purple wall (must have been cheap because who else buys Purple paint for walls?).  It was hideous and continued to be running joke among everyone I worked with.  But go figure, our apartment we stayed in had purple walls.  I seem to not be able to escape hideous purple walls. 

Guinness 'staches

group shot

For grandmal? 

And of course a night out would not be complete with a feast of greasy deliciousness.  

The next day was slow going as some of us (cough Melissa cough) were pretty hungover but we were able to accomplish a lot and was my favorite day of our weekend in Dublin.  

Stay tuned...