Hello!
I arrived home on Wednesday afternoon from Ireland. In total, I spent 7 days in Scotland and 8 days in Ireland. I'm both sad and happy to be home.
For a little background context, I've wanted to go to Ireland since I was in high school. I'm 41 now, so it's been a long time coming. When I decided to do the trip, my wife didn't have any interest in traveling internationally and told me to take my best friend. Of course, he said yes, and he asked if I would be willing to also go to Scotland instead of just Ireland. Originally I intended to do 2 weeks in Ireland, but with adding Scotland, that meant we had to break up the time to a week in each place.
Unfortunately, that meant making some sacrifices on things to do because two weeks just isn't enough time to properly explore 2 different countries. Despite that, it was an amazing time. Here's a recap of our itinerary:
Day 1:
We left late Monday evening for an overnight flight and landed in Edinburgh on Tuesday around noon. We grabbed a quick lunch, then headed to the John Knox house. It's the oldest original medieval building on the Royal Mile and was built in 1470. It's was also the home of John Knox, who was a Protestant reformer in the 16th century.
After that, we went to an exhibit called Illusions, where we saw a lot of interesting artwork and whatnot that were all illusions. We ate dinner at one of the many pubs, then called it a night.
Day 2:
We started the day with a 4 mile walk from our hotel to Craigmillar Castle. We didn't have to walk 4 miles, but we thought it would be a great way to see the city. By the end of the day, we talked over 11 miles. Needless to say, my legs were not happy, ha!
After Craigmillar, we went to the Gladstones, which is a tenement house from the 17th century. There were many original furniture pieces inside, and we got to see how people would have shared the space back then. It's interesting to me that people back then didn't have much sense of privacy.
We ate lunch, then went to see Edinburgh Castle. It was supposed to be a guided tour, but we arrived a few minutes late and it was raining, and we didn't find our guide until we were about to leave. It all worked out, but I'm sure we would have learned a lot more with the guide.
We went to a pub and then ate dinner.
Day 3:
We went on a guided Harry Potter walking tour, where we learned about some of the real people and places that J.K. Rowling based her characters and locations. I had no idea a lot of it was inspired by Edinburgh.
After that, we went to the Scott Monument, which is one of the largest monuments dedicated to an author. The first floor was 90 stairs, then 46 to level two, and then another 46 to level 3. It provided an amazing view of the city, and all of the intricate details were beautiful.
We then did another walking tour to see the underground vaults that were used for everything from shops to where people lived. It was interesting, and slightly on the spooky side.
Then it was dinner and back to the hotel.
Day 4:
We rented a car and drove an hour and a half to Pittenweem, a small fishing village on the coast where we got a key from a chocolate shop to unlock the gate to a monastic cave. We explored the coastal trail for a few hours and since it was low tide, we roamed the "beach" and collected shells and neat looking rocks.
We headed to Kellie Castle and did a guided tour, then spent some time in the castle gardens.
Day 5:
We took a bus to Glasgow and checked into our hotel, then headed to Glasgow Cathedral. It, along with all of the other cathedrals, was amazing. From the stained glass windows to the high vaulted ceilings, it was hard to fathom how long it took them to such architecture. We explored the city afterward and walked through a park, taking pictures of a few monuments and just enjoying the beautiful weather.
Day 6:
We jumped on the Hop On Hop Off bus and took an hour tour of the city. Then we went to the Tenement House, which is a museum that showed how people lived back then, including some things like mustard that was still intact. Then we took an Uber to the Pollock Country Park to see and pet some Highland cows, as well as visit the museum there. Then we did a walking tour with Vas, who was an amazing tour guide. Then dinner and back to the hotel.
Day 7:
An all day bus tour to see Stirling Castle, as well as a few other sights.
Day 8:
We flew from Glasgow to Belfast, and went straight to the Belfast Cathedral. We went to the Titanic Experience and got to step foot on the SS Nomadic, the Titanic's little sister ship and the only surviving White Star Line ship in the world.
Day 9:
We took an all day bus tour to see the Giants Causeway and Dark Hedges. Both were very cool!
Day 10:
If you've listened to the audiobooks of my Dragon Riders of Osnen series or Fallen King Chronicles, then you're familiar with Andrew McDermott's voice. He lives in Ireland, and we took a train to meet him. He picked us up and took us hiking in the Silent Valley, which was an absolute blast. He's just as epic in real life as he is online. He even paid for lunch even though I had planned to do that as a thank you to him for picking us up and taking us hiking.
Day 11:
This was technically a free day where we had nothing specific planned, but there were some things we had on a list that we could do. We went to the Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum. We also walked to the Peace Wall, which was decorated with all sorts of art. There were still some other things we wanted to see, but we just didn't have enough time.
Day 12:
We took a bus to Dublin, and after checking into the hotel, went straight to Dublinia, which is a museum that goes into the details of Dublin's Viking past. It was extremely informative and eye-opening, covering the era just before the Vikings all the way to the more current history. It was my favorite museum we visited.
After that, we went to see St. Patrick's Cathedral, then did a tasting tour at the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. I don't drink, so I gave my samples to my friend, but the experience itself was cool.
Day 13:
We did the Book of Kells experience (amazing), took a Hop On Hop Off bus to the Dublin Zoo, hit the National Museum of Ireland, then did a guided tour of the Jeanie Johnson tallship, which is a recreation of an original ship from the famine era. Then we went to Christ Church Cathedral.
Day 14:
This day's itinerary was thrown off by a few places requiring reservations that we weren't aware of, so we switched up when we did them. We did the Guinness Storehouse, then a coastal tour, and then explored the city.
Day 15:
Our final day, we did a 13 hour bus tour that took us to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway.
On some of these days, we also went to some cemeteries and wandered around taking pictures of very old headstones. We averaged 20,000 steps every day, with the lowest day being 17,000, and the highest being 28,000. I got a few blisters on my feet, but it was well worth it.
If you want to see pictures (I literally took hundreds), let me know. I may create a page on my website with all of them.
Now that I'm home, I've got some catching up to do, and then I'll start working on a new book.
Until the next newsletter!
Below you'll find a free ebook promotion and 2 Author Spotlights!
What I’m reading: I'll be starting The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim once I get caught up.
What I’m watching: On the place ride home, I watched Protector. It had Milla Jovovich, who I'm a fan of. The ending of the movie wasn't great, as I felt it was a lazy ending, but otherwise it was a good action flick.
What are you reading/watching?
As always, a huge thank you for the support!
Richard
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