Scotland & Ireland Trip, 2013 #1

[denmcdough]

Well, I've procrastinated on loading these since returning from our trip, which was July 6 - July 20. What a wonderful holiday...two weeks of no rain and temps in the high 70's and mid 80's. Pretty unusual for them, really, but great for us vacationers!

I'm only posting two sets, as I took over 1000 photos. If you want to see them all, send me a PM, come over for a visit!!!!

We started off flying into Dublin for a day. Gosh we killed it the entire day, walking everywhere (good thing we're in shape), and into the wee morning hours....saw a ton of central Dublin, and finished off the evening singing and drinking Guinness at the Merchant's Arch, just off the Ha'penny Bridge.

Next day saw us off to Edinburgh to meet our son Colin. Wow, I love that city! And the only kilt wearers we saw were there for us tourists; especially delightful on an 80* day. Walked the normal tourist stuff, going from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Castle, and walking way up the Salisbury Crags to have a wonderful view of the city. I swear, in two days, we probably walked 15 miles.

Also, we did a side day-trip up to Dunfermline, sight of Andrew Carnegie's birth place. Being from the Pittsburgh area, we were quite familiar with all the pictures in the museum, and had a wonderful talk with the museum folks. Being just up the hill, we toured the Dunfermline Abbey...incredible history! Our tour guide, a retired navy guy, Willie Donaldson, showed us a wonderful time and explained the history like no other. And, he filled in all the gaps about Robert The Bruce, who is buried there.

Quickly now, we drove north to Culloden, Inverness, passed on Loch Ness, but did Locharran, and onto the Isle of Skye. Skye was one of the many highlights of the trip. Our dinner, in Portree, was superb, as was the visit to Dunvegan Castle and the Coral Beach, just up the road. The the next day saw us drive, quickly, back to Ft. Lewis, and then to Edinburgh for a flight back to Dublin. Yes, Scotland, in 4 days was a whirlwind, but I wouldn't change it for the world. And, by the way, in between Edinburgh and Skye, we saw a ton and walked a ton. Next trip will be a minimum of two weeks!!!!

Our tour of Ireland, which was self-guided, just like Scotland, was wonderful. We did another day of sightseeing in Dublin, then drove north to Tara, then to Colraine, N I. ..went to Carrick a reid, Giants Causeway, Bushmills, Port Stewart, and west to Derry/Londonderry. From there, we went to Donegal, one of my favorite small, quaint towns. On to Sligo, Cong and the Ashford castle (that's a story in itself), Limerick, Killarney, Dingle, Cork, and back to Killarney. Our flight out of Shannon was sooooo sad. Two weeks just flew. It was, for me, a trip of a life time, as this has been on my bucket list for 30 years. Now, I just need to get back there .

Hope you enjoy! These are just some of the photos!! Cheers, Den

Dunfermline


Isle of Skye, Coral Beach



Above Coral beach, near Dunvegan castle


Giants Causeway, 10PM



Leaving Giants Causeway



B&B in Colraine, NI



Slieve League Cliffs (Cliffs of Bunglass), weat of Donegal Town


Cong Village. The Quiet Man, where the movie was made with John Wayne & maureeen O'Hara


My namesake in Galway



Cliffs of Mohr

[cessna152towser]

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

[StevieR]

Gosh Den, you certainly made the most of your fortnight and it sounds like you had a blast. Hope you make it back sometime soon. Great pics as well, thanks for sharing them.

[mattie]

Fantastic pics of my two favorite countries. My question is where are the pics of you wearing your kilt? If you have some would you please post for the rabble to see! Best regards Mattie

[tulloch]

Wow, fantastic photos. Thanks.

[denmcdough]

Fantastic pics of my two favorite countries. My question is where are the pics of you wearing your kilt? If you have some would you please post for the rabble to see! Best regards Mattie

Well, I had not planned to take a kilt, unfortunately, being so hot anyway (70-80* days), a wool kilt would have been soaked from perspiration. Now, I could have taken my USA Casual but, to be honest, we had no room for extras, as we flew Ryan Air and had to take only one small bag. Sorry Ramble.....mea culpa, mea culpa, mea a maxima culpa! Next trip, and I do hope there is one someday soon, I'll take my casual.

[CMcG]

That sounds like an amazing trip! Given the local customs surrounding the kilt and the type of traveling you were doing, I probably wouldn't have brought a kilt either.

[Liam]

Great pics! Looking forward to more.

[Jack Daw]

Very nice pictures. You looked like you had fun.

[denmcdough]

Very nice pictures. You looked like you had fun.

Steve, it WAS a blast!! It was the perfect trip, and then some. Having a stretch of unbelievable weather sure helped. And, the things that popped up, not on our itinerary, just added to the experience.

In my short stay in Scotland, I made quite a few friends, also. They all were consummate Scots!!! They were helpful, delightful, and more than willing to go out of their way to help the stupid tourist.

I was thinking of you this year at the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem. Can't believe that it was a year ago that we met. Where did the time go? Ever consider returning?

Cheers,
Den