Ireland: From Dublin to Dingle

Our previous two nights in Scotland really tired us out and it finally caught up with us. When we arrived in Dublin, we both felt like we were getting sick. We only had one day to spend there, but neither one of us wanted to get out of bed. It was raining anyway, so we justified spending most of the morning in. When we did venture out, we took it easy. We walked around a little, read in a park, went to a museum, and had a great dinner. And that is "taking it easy" for us in cities!

Little tidbit: If you ever go to Ireland or the UK, remember to "Look Right" instead of left when crossing the road. I almost got hit the first time I stepped out into the street.

Trinity College

Shopping street jam packed with people...

The National Museum of IrelandWe weren't allowed to take pictures, but I found this image on the internet. This is a bog mummy that we saw. We had never seen anything like this. Most of the bodies have been preserved in the bog for over 2,000 years and were just discovered around the 19th century. It is unbelievable how well the skin is preserved!
Dublin pub street in the evening. The famous Temple Bar is the first on the left.

Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. It was SO yummy!

The next morning, we drove to the Dingle Peninsula, which is the southeast tip of Ireland. By this time, Nate was an old pro at driving on the left side of the road, but nothing could prepare us for this...

The road was really narrow and to make it worse, we were in a cloud! I had to laugh at this sign... it says, "Turn Back Now," but it only applies to buses and big trucks.

The clouds broke for a bit, so we stopped for a break. It was a gorgeous spot.

Downtown Dingle

We had a late lunch on the road and we weren't too hunger for dinner, so we just bought some popcorn at a festival that was going on and found a nice place to sit on the water... so peaceful.

Sleeping with Strangers in Loch Ness

Our last night in Scotland was a little unexpected. Our room in Portree was given up (that's a long story, so I'll spare you the details), so the first night we stayed in Portree, we had to sleep in a single room, which means we had to share a single bed, as in, for ONE person. That was not a pleasant night's sleep, especially when you're used to a King sized bed! The next evening we decided to go on to our next destination, hoping that we'd have better luck finding a hotel or b&b on the way there. We had no such luck. We saw the sign, No Vacancies, about 301 times. But we continued on towards Loch Ness and tried to enjoy our evening. We had great views on the road and I even got to drive a little! It was really scary and unnatural to drive on the left side of the road. I didn't last that long because driving just shouldn't take that much concentration! So I handed the driving reins back over to Nate.

I hate this picture, but Nate thinks it's funny...

We stopped to take a few pictures of this castle. The setting was simply beautiful.

Back to the hotel search. We finally found a Holiday Inn and the parking lot was pretty empty... but we soon found out that there were no free rooms there either! The lady at the front desk tried calling around and she said there was nothing available in the area. I explained our situation to her and then asked what we should do... sleep in our car?! It was certainly looking that way until she said... "you know what, I get off in 30 minutes, why don't you come stay with me?" So I went back to the car to tell Nate the situation and he was a little skeptical of staying with strangers, but he agreed and it turned out just fine! They were a sweet family from Latvia, but had been in Scotland for over 5 years. Her 15 year old daughter just loved us (she was texting all her friends that Americans were staying at her house!) We stayed up late hanging out and talking with them. They kept saying how we sounded like actors from the American movies! (Haha) It was such a crazy, fun, and certainly, unexpected experience that we will never forget. It's too bad we forgot to take a picture with them because they were a great family to take us in like that and we were very grateful.

The next day, we went to the famous Loch Ness. You can't go to Scotland and not visit this place! Nate & I had always thought of the Loch Ness monster as a silly myth, but while we were there, we were actually keeping our eyes out for it!

The Castle on Loch Ness

I think I see the monster! Okay, just kidding, I didn't. But I think I made some people actually look where I was pointing.
Me & Nessie
That concludes our Scotland part of the trip. Ireland posts coming soon!

The Isle of Skye: One of our new favorite places on Earth!

In order to see the beautiful countryside of Scotland, we had to rent a car. It sounded so nice...driving at our own pace, windows rolled down, music on, but... there's one small drawback:
Yes, that's right. We had to drive on the left side of the road. It was weird and scary at first, but once Nate got the hang of it, it was kind of fun! As you can see here, the inside of the car is flip-flopped. That took some getting used to... especially when we hopped in and out of the car. We kept going to the wrong door!

The views from Edinburgh to the Glencoe Valley were amazing.

If you've seen a Harry Potter movie, you probably recognize this bridge. They show it each time Harry travels by train from London to Hogwarts.

This lake appears in the background of the scenes when the train is riding over the bridge.

After driving through Glencoe Valley and the land of Harry Potter, we took a ferry to the Isle of Skye.

Words cannot begin to describe the beauty of the Isle of Skye. As we drove from the ferry to the town of Portree, we were amazed at the island's beauty.

Portree. The main town on the Isle of Skye.
The sunset became even more brilliant later in the evening. I don't think this would be a bad place to own a sail boat!

The next morning, we woke up to this:

Then we headed on a loop of the island. This was our first stop.
Can you find Nate? Hint: He's wearing a blue jacket.

The rock in the distance is called Kilt Rock... because it looks like a kilt!

Everything was SO green!

To break up our trip in the car, we decided to take a recommended hike. When we started, we had beautiful, clear-blue skies.

And then...the clouds rolled in.

It started to rain and my hooded jacket was not exactly water proof!

The rain quickly stopped and we enjoyed the rest of our hike. We had absolutely gorgeous views!

To complete our Scottish experience, we had to see some sheep in the road (like in the movies) and we did! I'm glad I wasn't driving, because I was so excited that I might have veered off of the road.

This was our last stop on our loop. How would you like that white house to be your vacation home?

Nate & I spent a lot of time here just relaxing and taking in the view. We had the ocean, rolling hills, rocks jutting out of the water, old castle remains, sheep, and... each other. Not a bad combination!

Coming soon... our adventures in Inverness & Loch Ness!

Anniversary in Edinburgh

After a long journey from Bath, we finally arrived in Edinburgh. As we rode the bus from the airport to the hotel, both of us were in awe of how beautiful, and almost magical, the city looked. The buildings were very different from anything else we'd ever seen in Europe. That evening, we enjoyed walking around and getting a feel for the city. It was so laid back and relaxing. While we were out, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a marching band of drummers and bag pipers, was having a dress rehearsal, so we took advantage of a free mini-concert. As they left their rehearsal, we snapped a quick shot. I would not want to be wearing a skirt on such a windy night as this. Excuse me, it is a kilt.

The next morning was our 3 year anniversary! So I woke up and fixed myself really nice for the special day and Nate says... I think we should go for a hike. A hike!? I thought he had lost his mind. But it turned out for the best. There was a perfect hike that led to spectacular views over the city. We found some interesting ruins on our way up.

It was another windy day, but it was gorgeous the way the wind blew the grass.
We made it to the top! The wind made Nate look like he had a mohawk!

It was a breathtaking view!

The hiking trail was over a point called Arthur's Seat. You can really see the trail and the Edinburgh Castle in the distance.

Edinburgh is known for it's Royal Mile, which is a road that stretches a little over a mile from the Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The Palace of Holyroodhouse. Another one of the Queen's many vacation homes.

At the other end of the Royal Mile is the Edinburgh Castle. We spent the afternoon exploring the castle grounds.
Every August, Edinburgh hosts one of the largest festivals in Europe. We arrived a few days too early, but many performers had arrived early as well and were putting on street shows along the Royal Mile. We were able to watch a juggling act, a bed-of-nails act, and a Houdini-inspired escape act. As you can tell by my face, we really enjoyed watching these shows!
Edinburgh was once the most crowded city in Europe; the result of some of the world's earliest skyscrapers.
As we ate a delicious desert, we watched the sun set over the Royal Mile. It was a great way to conclude a wonderful anniversary day!