Nicole, I have been keeping safe I promise! I didn’t eat a single cucumber while I was in Germany! The mermaid in Copenhagen is just resting on the rocks - I’m sure she dips back in the The Sound when necessary! I had to look up erin go bragh, I was a little confused. But yes, “Ireland Forever.” Although, I did enjoy Scotland more.
Alex and I took off for Dublin which included a two hour train to Bristol, England where we got a flight to Dublin. As we were pulling into the airport at Bristol, I realized I had forgotten my passport. Alex went on to Dublin without me as I waited around at the airport trying to switch to the next day's flight and trained back to Swansea to get my passport. It was so frustrating, but I made it the next day! Since I only had one day now, we had to pack in the site seeing which wasn’t too hard. We toured the Guinness factory, saw some famous monuments, and saw Trinity College. When we visited the college they were advertising for a performance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, since we had gotten everything else done we decided to go back that night and watch. It was kind of hard to understand, what with the old time language. However, much easier to understand than it was just reading the play in 8th grade literature since we got to hear and see it acted out! Here are some pictures from my day in Dublin.
After Dublin we flew back to mainland UK to visit Edinburgh, Scotland. I absolutely loved Edinburgh. We ate at some really cute cafes and ate lots of Haggis, a Scottish dish made mostly of sheep or calf internal organs, which is actually quite tasty (don't wrinkle your noses.. you have probably enjoyed a hot dog or two in your day ;). We also did a little climbing to get great views of the city. First we got a walking tour from our hostel, they showed us Greyfriar Cemetery and told us the story of the watchman over the cemetery. He had a dog named Bobby who, after Greyfriar died, kept sneaking into the cemetery over night and was just sitting at Greyfriar’s gravesite every morning. They even have a statue of Bobby.
Next we saw the present-day school which was the inspiration for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. Didn’t really see how the Hogwarts in the movies could have been seen from this little school, but realized it was the idea in the book not necessarily the Hogwarts pictured in the movies.
We saw some other things that had inspired JK Rowling’s books and also got some tea at a café she regularly wrote in, The Elephant House. We learned about the Flodden Wall which was built after the Flodden Battle in 1513 to prevent attacks. We climbed Calton Hill to see its monuments, and we got a view of the city. Later we climbed Arthur’s Seat as well, a pretty exhausting day.
Our second day in Edinburgh was considerably colder, they had some freak sun the day before and it was gone the next. After seeing the castle we took a day trip to North Berwick, a small village on the bay. We saw a castle there as well, also the shore was really pretty.
After our day in North Berwick we went back to Edinburgh. Of course, I had to get a shot of the castle when it got darker!
The next and final day of our trip we headed to Glasgow, Scotland. Here we saw the Armadillo building and some cool monuments. We also did a self-guided walking tour from my Rick Steve’s book which told us about all the history of the architecture in the city. We also learned about the tea rooms that were started in Glasgow and fully designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (down to the tables and chairs). Apparently the only picture I felt like taking in Glasgow was at George Square:
Well this completes my trip to Ireland and Scotland. I wish I could have spent more time in Ireland, not just in Dublin but also seeing the countryside, but I suppose I will just have to come back someday. :) I really enjoyed our Scotland experiences. Next up is Greece in 2 days then HOME on the 22nd! Can’t wait!
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