Destination #13 - Dublin, Ireland

Top o' the mornin' to ya!!!

If you didn't say that in your head in an Irish accent, then I have failed you.

This trip began in usual Liang family fashion, running to the plane before the gates close. As I go on trip after trip (tough life), I'm getting more relaxed before departure and as seen on Saturday, it's most likely not to my benefit.

Nicole and I arrived late afternoon in Dublin after a short flight from London. We booked a 4 bed hostel and to our relief, we had 2 beds that were not a bunkbed. Get this though, Nicole got a double bed where as I got the single. Nicole is pretty much 4 feet tall! It was quite a funny sight.

We rushed over to Kilmainham Gaol after we checked into the hostel and made it just in time for the last tour of the day to start. For those that don't know, this is a former prison built in 1796 and was used for many revolutionaries in the 1916 Easter Rising, which eventually led to Ireland's independence from GB. After that, we visited O'Connell Street and had some dinner at, of course, an Irish pub.

We picked an excellent weekend to go to Ireland because as some of you may know, Ireland held a referendum to their constitution on the 23rd to legalize same-sex marriage. By popular vote, the Irish did the right thing and people were then allowed to marry whoever they liked! The vibe in the city was rocking Saturday night! Nicole and I headed out to the famous Temple Bar that night and it did not disappoint. Many people were in great moods and the support for the LGBT community was overwhelming. Good job Ireland!

On Sunday, we decided to do an organized tour outside of Dublin to see the Cliffs of Moher. Unfortunately, it's way over on the other side of the country so we had a long coach ride to our destination. Along the way, we stopped at a place called Corcomroe Abbey, an early 13th century monastery. It was a neat place to see but boy did the tourists piss me off. The place is pretty much a graveyard and people were walking all over the tombs, taking selfies, and taking pictures with their friends. Personally, I felt that that wasn't the place to do such things. We also stopped at a location that our tour guide deemed the "mini-cliffs". The amount of stone around the landscape of this country was amazing. There were some hills that were just completely covered in stone with just a few patches of grass poking out. After hours, we finally arrived on the West coast and spent some time at the Cliffs of Moher. Words and pictures do not do this place justice as it is breathtaking...and quite frightening. It was pretty windy so getting close to the edge was at your own risk. Nicole and I easily could have spent many hours there and we were reluctant to head back.

Corcomroe Abbey

Cliffs of Moher

On our last day, we ventured over to Trinity College where the famous Book of Kells is kept. We decided to do a walking tour of the college, and although it wasn't that exciting, we learned from our tour guide that Jack Gleeson attends the college, better known as King Joffrey from Game of Thrones. After we had finished touring the Old Library and seeing the Book of Kells, we went and had some lunch with some Irish coffees! Needless to say, they were delicious.

Our last and final spot was the Guinness Storehouse. Much like the Heineken Brewery, the company does a really good job of making the tour appeal to tourists with different activities and things to look at...but...are we all just thinking about the free beer at the end of the tour? I didn't get to pour one of my own because the line was too big but it was nice to finish off the trip with a nice, cold pint of Guinness...and Nicole's as well since she only took a few sips. The amount of people taking one taste of their beer, setting it down, and leaving was quite a sad sight to see! All that beer gone to waste.

Later on, it was time to head home and head back to reality. Dublin's a pretty cool place, although I maybe would have liked to see more of the country, like I did with Scotland. I also must say, there was an exhausting amount of Americans in Dublin? Maybe there's a connection there that I don't know of.

Next destination won't be for a while but here's a hint: where the bubbly comes from.

Destination #12 - Scotland

Aye...

Took a wee trip to Scotland for the first long weekend of May. This is a country that I was looking really forward to seeing and the views did not disappoint. However, I severely underestimated how the weather would be. Word of advice: If you go to Scotland, bring lots of layers and a rainproof jacket!

To explain this trip better, I`ve included a lot of pictures as we crammed much of Scotland in 3 days!

My flatmates and I arrived in Edinburgh late Friday night and I was immediately in love with the city for it's architecture, streets, and 18th century feel. Our tour started the next morning with a group of about 18 young, like-minded travellers....mainly Aussie's...again. Our end destination for the first day was to Inverness. Along the way, we stopped at:

Dunkeld - A small village we stopped at for some coffee.

The Highland Folk Museum - An outdoors museum that showed how the highland folk use to live.

Culloden - This is where a battle between the British Government and rebellions called the Jacobites took place in 1746.

Clava Cairns - An area near Inverness that still contains ring cairns, which are believed to be graves, dating back to over 2000 years ago.

Loch Ness - If you're wondering, no, we didn't see the Loch Ness Monster.

That night in Inverness, we got to know a few of our trip partners a little better over dinner and drinks.

The next day, we headed over to the Isle of Skye. If you haven't heard already, Skye is beautiful. Along the way we stopped at:

Urquhart Castle - This castle may look familiar as the Loch Ness monster was spotted here back in the day.

Eilean Donan Castle

Kilt Rock - My flatmates and our tour guide below

Sligachan - Our guide told us that if we put our faces in the water of the river for 7 seconds, we would be eternally youthful...

Duntulm Castle

And a couple of other really cool, unknown, random spots that our tour guide knew about.

We settled down that night in a small village called Kyleakin and I must say, it was really nice! We all went to the local pub that night for a meal and drinks. I tried a bite of Haggis and it wasn't too bad actually. I also ventured in trying a number of different Scottish whiskies that night. After it was time to head back to the hostel, I really appreciated just how quiet and quaint the village was. It was easy to fall asleep that night, that's for sure.

On the third day, we made the long journey back to Edinburgh. Along the way, we stopped at:

Glen Shiel

Glencoe

Doune Castle - If anyone is a Monty Python fan, many scenes were filmed here.

Our tour ended late that afternoon and although a lot of time had spent on a small bus, our tour guide kept us entertained the whole time with tall tales that usually linked to the next place we were going to see. That night, we got some dinner with a couple that we met on our tour and then went on a ghost walking tour of Edinburgh. We went through this underground area that is supposedly haunted and went through a graveyard as well. It was neat but unfortunately, we didn`t see or hear any strange phenomenon!

On our last day, we attempted to explore Edinburgh. Of course, it was particularly wet and cold this day so we really didn`t get much joy out of seeing the city. I`ll admit, after seeing Edinburgh Castle, we sat in a pub for some time and then after seeing Holyrood Palace, we sat in Starbucks for some time! Lame, I know. It was around late afternoon that we made our journey back to London and some nicer weather.

I would highly recommend Scotland and especially going to see the Highlands and Skye. I would also recommend bringing proper attire. Next week, Dublin!!

Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood Palace - where the Royal family stays