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