Scotland, Ireland, and Everything...

I'M IN LOVE! My whole life I'm going to look back on this trip and sigh with "remember when" moments... Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Wales were all unbelievably beautiful (well, when the rain let up enough for you to SEE the beautiful). All I have to say is that I'm moving to Scotland!

NOTE: I can't get the pictures to stay without making this blog entry explode (probably some bad blogging karma or something...), check them out using our photo link on the side bar...over there, on the side bar...nope, not here, there, on the side bar, nod nod, wink wink, hint hint...

In our bitterly-cold-and-rainy-but-neither-really-mattered, whirlwind, eight-day tour, we drove about a million miles, ferried between the islands twice, and went to Edinburgh (Scotland), Inverness (Scotland), Glasgow (Scotland), the tip of Northern Ireland (the Bushmills area), Dublin (the Republic of Ireland), Cork (the Republic of Ireland), and Cardiff (Wales). Along the way we saw/visited the Preston temple, Hadrian's Wall and Birdoswald Roman Fort, Edinburgh Castle, Loch Ness (on a boat tour), the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, the Giant's Causeway, Dublin's Celtic Experience tour (which included the Hill of Tara, monasteries and high crosses, Monasterboice, and a prehistoric tomb), Blarney Castle, and Caerphilly Castle. WHEW!

And everything we saw was absolutely my favorite thing ever until I saw the next thing, so I've decided not to choose any favorite and just love it all...

SO, here's a quick breakdown of the adventure:

Day 1 (October 25): Driving & the Preston Temple (six hours total drive time)

Since we decided to stay in a city named Workington in the middle part of Scotland so that we could go to church Sunday morning, we had a six-hour drive to our B&B. We weren't ready to leave until 2:00 p.m., so it made for a rather long afternoon and evening. To make it even more fun, it started pouring rain a couple of hours after leaving London, and the rain pretty much never let up. Despite the torrent, the high point of the drive was stopping at the Preston temple. We were able to walk around the grounds and feel the spirit of this beautiful place and were VERY glad we stopped. We even learned a very important lesson about staying out of the grass when it's raining that hard in Scotland so as not to get completely covered in mud...

Day 2 (October 26): church, Hadrian's Wall & Birdoswald Roman Fort, and driving to Edinburgh (3 1/2 hours total drive time)

I don't know what it is about the daylight savings time change that messes us up so badly; I think the "fall back" part of it all makes us feel like we have WAY more time than we really do. By the time we left for church, we were almost half an hour behind schedule, and then we ran into significant construction on the way. By the time we arrived at the chapel we were so late that we considered not going in at all. When we went into the building, though, a very nice brother invited us into the meeting and told us it was absolutely no problem that we were late. They then moved people around to make us room, and the bishop even welcomed us to the meeting half way through. After getting over the embarrassment of being late, we enjoyed a wonderful meeting, getting to hear about staying committed to the Savior in our tumultuous world--AND the people had such fun accents! Everyone was very friendly afterward, and we enjoyed talking with people before getting back into the car.

Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire around 100 A.D. across the width of what is now Northern England. It was built "to prevent military raids on Roman Britian by the "Pictish Tribes" (ancient inhabitants of Scotland) to the north, to improve economic stability, to provide peaceful conditions in Britian, and to mark the physical frontier of the Roman Empire." The fort was one of the key defense points along the wall, and the ruins have been surprisingly well preserved. Hadrian's Wall was only about an hour from the church building, and, wouldn't you know it, it was raining again when we got there. The rain did let up enough for us to walk among the fascination ruins and along the wall for about an hour before it started pouring again, and we thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of the wall, the fort, and the surrounding area.

Day 3 (October 27): Edinburgh Castle, The Honours of Scotland, and driving to Inverness (3 hours total drive time)

We've seen many castles now, but Edinburgh is definitely one of the most impressive. It perches above Edinburgh on solid rock like a great protector of the city, the structure massive and intriguing and the grounds complete with a tiny chapel and dog cemetery. The castle dominates the landscape, with the only other thing in the area even coming close to it's grandeur the hill opposite it, called Aurthur's Seat. While there, we decided to take a very entertaining and informative guided tour, and we definitely enjoyed our visit--even trying haggis at the cafe (it wasn't bad, by the way, but I don't think I ever need to have it again because of the "icky factor").

The Honours of Scotland (Scotland's crown jewels) are on display at the castle and are the "oldest regalia in the British Isles." The stunning crown, sword, and scepter all date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. The interesting thing about the Honours is that they were locked away a chest in Edinburgh Castle after the Treaty of Union in 1707 and were literally forgotten; they weren't found again until 1818 when Sir Walter Scott ordered a detailed search of the castle. (I don't know, but I think that if I knew the whereabouts of millions of dollars worth of jewels and history, I'd remember where they were... Go figure!)

Day 4 (October 28): Loch Ness and driving to Glasgow (3 hours total drive time)

Because of the legend and history, exploring the mystery of Loch Ness, especially with kids, is an exciting, energizing, and almost magical experience. We decided to take a boat tour so that we would be out on the water for Nessie's visit, and Aubrey and Laurel both say they're sure they saw something... Our tour guide, who sounded EXACTLY like Sean Connory by the way, claims several sightings of the creatures over the years and (mostly) jokingly invited anyone who truly doesn't believe in the creatures to get off his boat. The boat, Nessie Hunter, was even equipped with radar, color sonar, gps, and underwater cameras/video equipment for finding the elusive creature. Though Kyle and I didn't see Nessie, we did thoroughly enjoy hearing about the lake (I had NO IDEA how deep it is) and experiencing the loch for ourselves. (I have to admit, I've wanted to go to Loch Ness since I was a little girl...)

The drive to Glasgow was actually quite fun, too, as we stopped on a whim in a little town so that I could take pictures of a quaint little bridge, only to realize we were next to actual locks. THAT was interesting. Also, we were able to get up close and personal with a stag later in the day when we (again) stopped so I could take a picture (of a mountain range covered with heather) and ended up a few feet from a stag who really didn't care an ounce that we were there.

Day 5 (October 29): driving to Cairyan, ferrying to Ireland, and driving to Bushmills (6 hours total travel time)

In our travel itinerary, for this day I wrote "stupid, boring travel day." I had no idea when I wrote that how accurate it would be! We thought we were doing fine and would make it to our ferry with time to spare, but about 10 miles from our port, the police had closed the road because of a wreck. To make things exciting, we were rerouted MILES out of the way with very little clue where we were going, ending up driving for ever on a single-lane, mostly-paved cattle track through people's fields with traffic going both ways and minuscule turn outs for passing. Let's just say that this was NOT the highlight of our trip. We did eventually make it to the port for the next ferry to Ireland and weren't even penalized for missing the first one. It was an excruciatingly long day, having hours added to our travel because of the road closure, but we did eventually arrive in Ireland in one piece, finding that our B&B for the night was delightful. Who knew that the light at the end of the tunnel is actually a charming bed and breakfast!

Day 6 (October 30): Derik's Birthday, the Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, and driving to Dublin (3 hours total drive time)

No matter what man creates, the most stunning works of art on the planet are still found only in nature. For Derik's birthday, we visited the Giant's Causeway, often described as "the eighth natural wonder of the world." The Causeway is 40,000 interlocking basalt stone columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea, and most of the columns are hexagonal. Climbing all over this cooler-than-cool structure is quite an experience, delighting old and young alike IF you can brave the cold breeze off the Atlantic! We loved it, and Derik pronounced it an "awesome birthday experience."

The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, on the other hand, is underwhelming at best. I think people flock to it in droves because they're already at the Causeway, and the bridge is only five miles away. So, it is exactly what it sounds like, a rope bridge from the mainland across to a tiny island where fishermen have been going for hundreds of years for the salmon and reportedly great birdwatching, neither one of which happens at the end of October. The bridge itself is marginally interesting, spanning a chasm 80 feet deep and 60 feet wide , but the little island is the "ok, we crossed the bridge and there's nothing to see except that ruined shack, now can we go back" variety. The most exciting part of the rope bridge experience was when the kids starting jumping on it, but, surprisingly, the guard stopped them; what a strangely excitable old guy (big grin)!
Happy Birthday, my wonderful TEENAGE (gulp) son! I love you tons!!!

Day 7 (October 31): "Celtic Experience" day tour out of Dublin (The Hill of Tara, monasteries and high crosses, Monasterboice, and a prehistoric tomb) and driving to Cork (3 hours total drive time)

The unfortunate-mysteriously-missing-credit-card-incident aside (which ended up being my fault, by the way), this was also a great day. The ancient Celtic sights were fascinating, and our leprechaun-sounding tour guide, who spoke gaelic, was delightful. We enjoyed actually going into Fourknocks barrow (a 5000-year-old tomb site that looks like a circular grassy hill with a door in the side--kind of like a hobbit hole). We've seen them all over the U.K. and have wanted to see the inside of one since Stonehenge in January. It's amazing to me how much beauty the people in those days created with such rudimentary tools; the stonework in the tomb was impressive, and the experience was just plain cool.
We then went to see two of the oldest surviving celtic crosses in the U.K. and a couple of interesting old monestaries (well, what was left of them anyway).
The day ended at the Hill of Tara, where kings were crowned thousands of years ago (which consisted of large hilly rings which might be impressive from above but just look like moguls from the ground and an erect stone right in the middle). Like the other sights, hearing the history and just being there is the magical part, even if what you're looking at (like the grassy rings) isn't much.

All said, we enjoyed this day immensely, and it was nice having someone else drive us around for a change!

Day 8 (November 1): Blarney Castle and driving to Rosslare (3 hours total drive time)

The guide book I swear by, Rick Steve's Europe series, actually called Blarney castle an "underwhelming hulk," but we found it rather wonderful. (Sorry, Rick!)
We sincerely enjoyed exploring the old castle and then leaving our germs on the Blarney Stone with those of millions of our closest tourist friends. Hanging somewhat upside down and backward by your feet while some old guy holds your ankles so that you can kiss it is quite an experience, BUT there was no way I was leaving Ireland without doing it (also something I've wanted to do since I was a kid)! The best part of the castle experience was exploring the grounds--what an incredibly beautiful place! We enjoyed the stunning fall colors, rock garden, waterfall, climbing trees, and even the witch's wishing stairs (where if you can walk down and back up with your eyes closed, thinking only of your wish and nothing else, your wish will be granted by the castle witch). We even traded some British money for some great coins from all over at her offering stone, apparently you have to pay to have your wish granted... All in all, I have to say this was one of my favorite visits of the entire trip.
So, here we are hanging upside down(ish) to kiss the Blarney Stone:

Boy, this place was beautiful! What a great day!!!

Day 9 (November 2): ferrying from Rosslare to Fishguard, stopping to see Caerphilly Castle, and driving back to London (5 1/2 hours total drive time)

Caerphilly Castle was not on our original itinerary, but ferrying and driving for hours without anything interesting to break it up is not very wise when traveling with children, so we got out the guidebook and found something to see on the way home. I'm glad we did, too. The castle, though significantly more of a ruin than some of the others we've seen (including Blarney), was still fun to explore. Our favorite parts were the trebuche and leaning tower. Even if it had been completely not worth seeing, the stop was nice and the children enjoyed stretching their legs before the last few hours' drive home. Besides, you can't drive through a country and not stop anywhere! It was Wales, after all!

Whew! Tired yet? I'm getting tired again just THINKING about all of the driving we did, but IT SURE WAS WORTH IT! Sign me up again, please! And this time you guys can all come. I think we're going to need a bigger vehicle, though...

Thanks for coming with us, Dustin!!! We love you and were glad to have you with us.

(Day 10 (November 3): Back in London (thankfully, no trip-related driving time)

Do you know how much dirty laundry a group our size generates in eight days and how long it takes to wash it all with toy appliances? I'll get back to you when I'm finally done!!!)