we had a short wait in glasgow so we stopped for a cup of tea at the famous willow tea rooms, designed by charles rennie macintosh. next we were on to oban. our first day we decided to spilt up and do our own thing. jules saw highland cows, some castles, and standing rocks by landrover. erica saw the islands of mull, iona, and staffa, by boat and bus. the next day we went on a tour of the oban whisky distillery, climbed up to and explored mccrae's tower, and then decided to do some retail therapy (we tried on matching dresses).
we headed north for the isle of skye, making our main location the small town of portree. our first day we took a hike while singing songs from joseph and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat. we also explored the town, and while trying to find the aros centre, a wrong turn took us to a marine store, where the manager who had plenty of children was kind enough to give us a ride to where we were trying to get. we decided to be brave and rent a car so we could see more of the island than we would be able to see without a car. our route took us to the old man of storr, kilt rock, the quiraing (where we did a 2 hour hike up and around a mountain), duntulm castle, the museum of island life, and dunvegan castle. at night we played trivial pursuit with dennis and jim (our mountain climbing buddies from wales). the last day was spent doing nothing.
our next stop was inverness. we arrived early in the day and headed straight for the culloden battlefield. since erica was there last they built a multimillion £ visitors facility and we were provided with gps navigated audio guides. back in inverness, we were hungry, and decided it was time to try haggis. that night we decided to celebrate julia's fake birthday. we met up with some people we had met at the hostel and danced the night away at johnny foxes. sometime over the course of the night we were invited and accepted the invitation to jump in loch ness the next morning, on camera. it was cold. after warming up we headed for drumnadrochit, where we saw urquhart castle, and some lame nessy exhibitions. while waiting for the bus we were ambushed by an irish looking fellow, who turned out to be a lonely amerian named justin. he had booked a romantic bike tour with his girlfriend. too bad she broke up with him a week before they left. we invited him to inverness and promised to show him a fun night. we went out to hootenany. it was a hoot. some of the people we met those nights will be in edinburgh when we arrive there in a few days so the party shall continue!
we went to pitlochry. all we did was laundry. and watched cool runnings.
all for now
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
the scobie clan
and now to conquer scotland!
we took a ferry across the sea and brian scobie met us in cairnryan. on the way to kirkmichael we stopped at peggy's tea room just in time for tea. that night eleanor and brian took us as well as their daughter emily, brian's dad bertie, his sister carol, and her husband stuart, out for a nice italian meal in ayr. never had julia seen so many scobies in one place! the next day brian took us for a tour of the area. we visited the cottage where robert burns was born, toured culzean castle (where we took the lego man challenge), and stopped for tea many times along the way. that night they cooked us a wonderful dinner, they were excited for us to have 'tatties'. to show our gratitude for their hospitality we presented them with gifts. we got brian whiskey for his collection, and eleanor maple syrup all the way from canada. with much anticipation came june 19th, and julia turned 24! we all had breakfast together in the morning, and that's when julia was presented with her cake, as well as surprise birthday cards that erica had everyone send from home. they kept emily off school and we all went to portpatrick, where they treated us to a birthday lunch. after lunch and a little bit of shopping we headed home for a movie night. sister act one, and sister act two "back in the habit". another successful birthday.
thank you to the scobies for their hospitality and for spoiling us rotten the past few days!!!
until next time...
the great green north
derry started off our tour of northern ireland. we went to see the bloody sunday monument, the bogside murals, and walked along the wall that contains the old city. unfortunately we didn't make it all the way around, we got rained out, and headed back for the hostel. the hostel had a tv and comfy couches that were way too inviting, and we ditched our plans to go out and instead watched "there's something about mary" with reese, our aussie friend. the next morning we headed off to the train station this time, instead of the bus station, to take our first train to portrush. we arrived in portrush to our first b&b, erna and victor were our gracious hosts for the next 2 nights. the rain finally decided to get in the way so we made the most of it, chatting in coffee shops, and over dinner. our time in portrush took us to the giant's causeway, the bushmills irish whiskey distillery, and dunluce castle. getting from place to place was a bit unsure and ended up involving multiple buses, 2 feet and a heartbeat, and a little bit of hitchhiking. after an eventful day we finished off with a beautiful sunset at the beach! each morning in portrush we were presented with an ulster fry that was so big that even 2 hungry backpackers couldn't finish it! but luckily erna was kind enough to let us take our leftovers along to keep us nourished.
belfast was our last stop in northern ireland. we wandered the botanic gardens, ate lots of candy, and treated ourselves to a night at the movies, which ended up being crazy tuesday, and only cost us 3 pounds. we saw angels and demons.
finishing off ireland
its been about two weeks since we left dingle. our next stop was doolin. the hostel there seemed a little cold in atmosphere but was also cold temperature wise too. it had a bit of "the shining" feel to it... and seemed like we were the only ones staying there. while in doolin we rented bikes and after finally getting one that was road worthy for erica, her back tire burst as we were riding away, we were off to the cliffs of moher, or as all the rest of the world knows them, the cliffs of insanity from the princess bride. the bike ride was only 8km, but it was uphill the whole way, but then that means that its downhill all the way back!
next on the schedule was galway. after arriving around mid-day we decided to try a hop-on hop-off bus tour to get ourselves familiar with the city. it was a little lame, especially compared to the one we took in berlin last summer, but it did the trick and we were officially oriented. that night we played games in the dining room and ended up meeting twins, cute twins, over a game of uno. the next morning, to our surprise and pleasure, the weather was holding up and it let us have an undisturbed day on the beach in a suburb of galway called salthill. we walked along the promenade and "kicked the wall" just like all the locals do. while at the beach julia found a new friend for the day, a black shepherd-lab cross that loved to play in the water and fetch. we weren't quite sure who's dog it was or even if it belonged to anyone, but that didn't really matter as long as we didn't have to prove to the garda the it wasn't our dog. our last day we went to the museum of galway, found lynch castle, which is now a bank in the middle of town, and just hung out in eyre square.
off to derry now, as we say goodbye to ireland and hello to northern ireland
until next time
Monday, June 8, 2009
we love the dingle crack!
as soon as we got to dingle thursday night, we dropped off our bags and headed for the grocery store (our goal was to not eat out in dingle at all!...success!) after our mexican meal of tacos, we decided to find some live music, and ended up at a pub that we can't remember it's name, then at murphy's, for a murphys (julia not erica)
friday morning we had our free breakfast then headed off to the bike rental. we biked the 47km slea head drive. sorry we aren't being descriptive, but when we get home the photos will tell the tale. except we will tell you about the sheep we saw. it was very friendly and we had a great conversation, which actually was mostly just us laughing at his cracking voice. he must have been going through puberty. after we f i n a l l y got back from our epic bike, we made a more irish meal of baked potatos and sausages. that night there was an impromptu story telling session in the sitting room. it was very entertaining, but also too relaxing and we decided to go to bed instead of out on the dingle town.
saturday brought sea kayaking our way. we were out for three hours with a guide who took us around the harbour and the bay, and a stop on the beach. en route we were joined by fungie, the famous dingle dolphin. that afternoon we attempted a walk to the lighthouse but got our first real dose of ireland's weather, and quickly turned around and headed for the hostel, where we would be safe and dry. it was then that we met graham, our first canadian friend along the way. after our american inspired meal (hamburgers) we all went out to catch the football match at o'conners. after the game we moved onto another pub which we can't remember the name of. we were a very ecclectic group. our countries ranged from america, scotland, australia, germany, netherlands, and canada. after erica had her drink spilled all over her, we decided a change in location would brighten the mood, so we moved onto the draughead, for some more traditional irish music. and beer.
sunday morning we had decided to unset the 8am alarm and sleep in. it backfired when we were both up at 7:45. but instead of rushing out, we read and relaxed in bed for a few hours. we had our second attempt at the lighthouse walk, and it was a success! along the way we climbed on rocks and explored some caves, scared some sheep, and took lots of pictures. that afternoon we missed our fishing boat, so we joined graham on the eco tour instead. we toured around the blasket island, and saw lots of different birds including puffins (our favourite), red deer, seals, a minke whale, and fungie the dolphin again! since it was our last night, we wanted to use up all our food so we invited graham and rebekah (a dingle convert from colorado) to join us for some pasta! after our dinner party, we were off to dickmacks, where we had pints in the snug with tom the storyteller. our next stop was a neccessary trip to foxy john's, where we could get a shot of whiskey, and any of our hardware needs in one location. it was a short stop because we had an appointment to keep at 9 at the draughead, where we were meeting our australian friend scott (another dingle convert)
monday came too soon and we had to leave (erica's) favourite town so far.
until next time
friday morning we had our free breakfast then headed off to the bike rental. we biked the 47km slea head drive. sorry we aren't being descriptive, but when we get home the photos will tell the tale. except we will tell you about the sheep we saw. it was very friendly and we had a great conversation, which actually was mostly just us laughing at his cracking voice. he must have been going through puberty. after we f i n a l l y got back from our epic bike, we made a more irish meal of baked potatos and sausages. that night there was an impromptu story telling session in the sitting room. it was very entertaining, but also too relaxing and we decided to go to bed instead of out on the dingle town.
saturday brought sea kayaking our way. we were out for three hours with a guide who took us around the harbour and the bay, and a stop on the beach. en route we were joined by fungie, the famous dingle dolphin. that afternoon we attempted a walk to the lighthouse but got our first real dose of ireland's weather, and quickly turned around and headed for the hostel, where we would be safe and dry. it was then that we met graham, our first canadian friend along the way. after our american inspired meal (hamburgers) we all went out to catch the football match at o'conners. after the game we moved onto another pub which we can't remember the name of. we were a very ecclectic group. our countries ranged from america, scotland, australia, germany, netherlands, and canada. after erica had her drink spilled all over her, we decided a change in location would brighten the mood, so we moved onto the draughead, for some more traditional irish music. and beer.
sunday morning we had decided to unset the 8am alarm and sleep in. it backfired when we were both up at 7:45. but instead of rushing out, we read and relaxed in bed for a few hours. we had our second attempt at the lighthouse walk, and it was a success! along the way we climbed on rocks and explored some caves, scared some sheep, and took lots of pictures. that afternoon we missed our fishing boat, so we joined graham on the eco tour instead. we toured around the blasket island, and saw lots of different birds including puffins (our favourite), red deer, seals, a minke whale, and fungie the dolphin again! since it was our last night, we wanted to use up all our food so we invited graham and rebekah (a dingle convert from colorado) to join us for some pasta! after our dinner party, we were off to dickmacks, where we had pints in the snug with tom the storyteller. our next stop was a neccessary trip to foxy john's, where we could get a shot of whiskey, and any of our hardware needs in one location. it was a short stop because we had an appointment to keep at 9 at the draughead, where we were meeting our australian friend scott (another dingle convert)
monday came too soon and we had to leave (erica's) favourite town so far.
until next time
Thursday, June 4, 2009
what we did in week 1
after a long and tedious flight from toronto we finally arrived in dublin, only to leave right away for kilkenny. we had a private room, so we stashed our stuff, and went to find a pint of guinness. erica found it, but julia was side tracked by the local kilkenny cream ale. after a drink and dinner, we went for a walk around kilkenny castle, but didn't get to go inside. the next morning we made the somewhat confusing journey to the rock of cashel, getting to see cahir castle en route. the journey home proved to be longer than expected, so to pass the time julia bought a 6 pack of stongbow cider that we shared. maybe not such a good idea, since we still had an hour bus ride with no bathroom. yikes. but we made it back to kilkenny with dry pants, ready to keep the night alive. after freshening up, and ready to head out the door, we came across a bunch of irish lads doing what irish lads do best (drinking). they invited us to join them so we did, drinking out of boots and yardys (sp?). the night involved pub and bar hopping until the wee hours of the morning, when we realized we only had a few hours until check out :(
not a good series of bumpy, windy, FAST, bus rides, as we made our way to kinsale. kinsale was a quaint, little village, that we didn't get to spend enough time in. just enough time for dinner in a pub and a walk around the harbour.
the next day we attempted to make our way to kenmare, only to get as far as killarney and find out that the bus doesn't run to kenmare on sundays. also, it was the bank holiday weekend and the buses on monday followed the sunday schedule. so once again no bus to kenmare. we made the most of it, and changed our destination to where we were. julia felt a little under the weather so she slept it off, while erica explored the town. we managed to get a hostel room for 5, where we met kate, from conneticut, and a couple from switzerland. that night kate joined us as we searched for some live irish music. our first stop was a failure, so we moved on to the danny mann inn, where with much luck, we found it! they even played our favourite song that the boys in kilkenny had taught us "she is handsome, she is pretty, she's the belle of belfast city". the next day we decided to go for a hike in the killarney national park, which would take us to ross castle, where we got a tour! the rest of the day was spent hiking, and staring at cows. that night we made our first dinner! Our new roommate was joe dixon, a doctor from north carolina with a nice smile and some good medical advice.
the next morning we took a bus around the ring of kerry as far as cahersiveen, but were on our own to get to portmagee. we got there by taxi for 20 euros and found out why the buses do not go there. there were 3 pubs, 1 grocery/post office/drug store, and a handful of b&bs. so before we could check into our hostel we sat on the patio by the pier and had some bulmers (cider). that evening we decided since we were right by the ocean that we should treat ourselves to the catch of the day at the fisherman's bar. it was here we met denis murphy, who has lived on valentia island for 55 years, and is a farmer/fisherman. he gave us his life story, AND his 3rd cousin ted kennedy's phone number. ted kennedy drives a commuter bus from portmagee to cahersiveen (this will come in handy later). early to bed means early to rise for our boat trip to skellig michael. we enjoyed watching the puffins that live on the island, as well as exploring the 8th C monastery atop the island. the boat ride back took us around little skellig, a nesting ground for 60000 gannets (smelly island). the day in the sun tired us out and we were early to bed again, also due to the fact that the only other thing to do there was spend money at the pub. the commuter bus/van (driven by ted kennedy) arrived the next morning at 9:50 and we hopped in the back of the crowded van to get back to cahersiveen, where we can catch our bus to DINGLE! the ride cost us 2.50 each!! a bargain compared to the taxi. thanks denis!
so far, we have not seen any rain, or four leaf clovers. the rain can stay away, but julia hopes to bring the luck of the irish home with her.
until next time
not a good series of bumpy, windy, FAST, bus rides, as we made our way to kinsale. kinsale was a quaint, little village, that we didn't get to spend enough time in. just enough time for dinner in a pub and a walk around the harbour.
the next day we attempted to make our way to kenmare, only to get as far as killarney and find out that the bus doesn't run to kenmare on sundays. also, it was the bank holiday weekend and the buses on monday followed the sunday schedule. so once again no bus to kenmare. we made the most of it, and changed our destination to where we were. julia felt a little under the weather so she slept it off, while erica explored the town. we managed to get a hostel room for 5, where we met kate, from conneticut, and a couple from switzerland. that night kate joined us as we searched for some live irish music. our first stop was a failure, so we moved on to the danny mann inn, where with much luck, we found it! they even played our favourite song that the boys in kilkenny had taught us "she is handsome, she is pretty, she's the belle of belfast city". the next day we decided to go for a hike in the killarney national park, which would take us to ross castle, where we got a tour! the rest of the day was spent hiking, and staring at cows. that night we made our first dinner! Our new roommate was joe dixon, a doctor from north carolina with a nice smile and some good medical advice.
the next morning we took a bus around the ring of kerry as far as cahersiveen, but were on our own to get to portmagee. we got there by taxi for 20 euros and found out why the buses do not go there. there were 3 pubs, 1 grocery/post office/drug store, and a handful of b&bs. so before we could check into our hostel we sat on the patio by the pier and had some bulmers (cider). that evening we decided since we were right by the ocean that we should treat ourselves to the catch of the day at the fisherman's bar. it was here we met denis murphy, who has lived on valentia island for 55 years, and is a farmer/fisherman. he gave us his life story, AND his 3rd cousin ted kennedy's phone number. ted kennedy drives a commuter bus from portmagee to cahersiveen (this will come in handy later). early to bed means early to rise for our boat trip to skellig michael. we enjoyed watching the puffins that live on the island, as well as exploring the 8th C monastery atop the island. the boat ride back took us around little skellig, a nesting ground for 60000 gannets (smelly island). the day in the sun tired us out and we were early to bed again, also due to the fact that the only other thing to do there was spend money at the pub. the commuter bus/van (driven by ted kennedy) arrived the next morning at 9:50 and we hopped in the back of the crowded van to get back to cahersiveen, where we can catch our bus to DINGLE! the ride cost us 2.50 each!! a bargain compared to the taxi. thanks denis!
so far, we have not seen any rain, or four leaf clovers. the rain can stay away, but julia hopes to bring the luck of the irish home with her.
until next time
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The day Julia mounted a plane, and Erica came too!
Welcome back to our blog.
Today we leave for Ireland, Dublin to be exact, with a stop over in Montreal.
It is raining in Orangeville and it's not really that warm. But the forecast for Dublin is 20 and sunny! Definately looking forward to that. Internet will be fewer and farther between this trip so dont get too addicted to following us around. When we do post though it will be a good dose to tide you over till next time. We have last minute errands to run before we are off so bye for now and next time it'll be from the UK!
Today we leave for Ireland, Dublin to be exact, with a stop over in Montreal.
It is raining in Orangeville and it's not really that warm. But the forecast for Dublin is 20 and sunny! Definately looking forward to that. Internet will be fewer and farther between this trip so dont get too addicted to following us around. When we do post though it will be a good dose to tide you over till next time. We have last minute errands to run before we are off so bye for now and next time it'll be from the UK!
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